While studying to take the Green Associate Exam, I stumbled across this recently completed modern LEED home In Virginia done by Kaplan Thompson Architects.
First off, the house has an annual heating bill of $185 and an annual cooling bill of $125 respectively. Unbelievable! Thats what I pay in one month during the winter here in Portland with a gas furnace. The home has a Livewell green roof, geothermal wells, and a ground source heat pump. Energy efficient structurally insulated panels (SIPs), and cutting edge nanogel glazing keep the building nice and insulated. In addition to that, they applied spray foam insulation to further insulate the house. High efficiency appliances, and an energy recovery ventilation system provide even more energy savings. As a LEED home, the building has a HERS score of 51 (0 means energy neutral, and 100 means that it would be a typical home). so the home performs roughly 49% better then most. One additional interesting fact is the site design; designed in a way to eliminate any runoff from the property in the event of a 1 inch rainfall. On top of all that, the home was well designed and aesthetically intriguing… more photos below!
Posted 2 years ago at 2:03 pm. Add a comment
Allied works has done it again! The firm unveiled its newest creation, a music center in Calgary, Canada. As principle Brad Coepfil explained, the building resembles music cases on the exterior, while the interior of the allows for more “freer” forms for expansive spaces and represents the spontaneity of music itself.
My initial reaction to this project was “what am I looking at?” but after examining the plans and sections accompanied with the article, the building seems pretty interesting. I have always been a fan of Allied Works, having taken a studio with them in Graduate school. I find that this new project reminds me vaguely of the recently completed Columbia circle building, for its monolithic character. I suppose this sort of thing is a bit more popular in Canada.
The entire article can be found here.
Posted 2 years ago at 6:47 pm. Add a comment
Architecture 2.0
The competition entailed designing massive affordable housing with a goal of zero energy. In fact, the minimum requirement for the projects are zero energy, so your in good shape if you can give energy, clean air, and clean water back to the grid. This project was one of two that successfully followed the energy requirements of the competition, out of one hundred or so entries.
The Architecture 2.0 building form is directly related to sun angles, and the steep incline of the building is covered with PV panels on every inch. The building crawls from four vertically stacked units at the lower level to 12 stacked units on the upper level. In addition to the massive PV array, the building was designed with passive ventilation strategies. Regardless of all that, I think it looks pretty provocative…. I wonder what program they used to render this… Maya maybe?
CF MOLLER WEBSITE
Posted 2 years, 2 months ago at 2:21 pm. 1 comment
If anyone has not seen this pbs series, i suggest you check it out. I thought it was an excellent series to get people interested in sustainable design. If you have the time, (each episode is only 25 minutes) its a great little series with provocative imagery and interviews with many starchitects that we know and love.
Sustainable buildings require forward thinking and faith in our technology to perform as designed. Integrated technological infrastructure can provide us with immense energy savings when implemented properly. Season one is available on youtube here – http://www.youtube.com/show?p=dF9tP5oI9HY&pl=FD7D8AE7F6A74055
The other seasons can be watched at the design e2 website here http://www.e2-series.com/
Posted 2 years, 3 months ago at 4:28 pm. Add a comment
Architecture – Design – Innovation
Posted 2 years, 4 months ago at 5:52 pm. Add a comment
