Vader Garage Rehab Will Take Your Breath Away!

Written by Preston Koerner | May 30, 2008 | read more: Green Building, Green Roof, Modern architecture, Modern design, Residential, Single-family

My man over at 100k House ran into a guy in Philly that just finished this green garage rehab and has it for sale on Craigslist. Long and short, three University of Pennsylvania Master of Architecture majors agreed to forgo the traditional route of finding summer internships and decided to buy, design, and rehab a house in Philly. The result is this stylish renovation with undeniable appeal. My two favorite aspects of the design are (1) the Cor-Ten facade that provides both privacy from the outside and visibility from the inside, and (2) the courtyard area that separates the living room / kitchen and office / bedroom area (it's nice to have a buffer between the noisy tv room and sleeping areas

Here are some of the green-ish aspects of the renovation:

• Interior courtyard leading to rooftop
• 600 sf green roof
• 200 sf rooftop patio with recycled tire pavers
• Bamboo flooring throughout
• On-demand electric water heater
• 5 min. walk to downtown subway

Other than adding some on-site renewables, I can't imagine modern, green living getting much better than this.

Canühome Shows Smart Sustainability

Written by Preston Koerner | May 16, 2008 | read more: International, Modern architecture, Modern design, Prefab, Residential, Single-family

Canühome is an impressive 850 sf home with a smart design that includes a kitchen, bathroom, living room, dining room, and bedroom. Designed by Institute Without Boundaries, canühome is a healthy, sustainable, and affordable home. Perhaps, it is best suited for young couples, seniors, singles, and/or small families as either a “starter” or “finisher” house, but the possibilities are truly infinite. The home pictured above and below is the display prototype used at the Green Living Show in Toronto. Bloggers Mariela Campo of Green Design Girl and Lloyd Alter of Treehugger both had pretty interesting things to say of the Toronto exhibit.

I like the idea that a canühome could go anywhere in most any environment, whether on the roof of a downtown building or in the backyard of a your parent's suburban homestead. It could be an off-grid retreat, if built with some combination of solar, wind, geothermal, or any other alternative energy technology. If built, the real canühome is designed to capture, clean, and channel water and waste as part of a natural cycle.

I understand the demonstration home shown here was built with FSC-certified wood throughout. All the materials were non-toxic, but in addition, the design is healthy too. You may notice the universal design, which is particularly evident in the kitchen photos. Canühome also has a network of sensors throughout the house that monitor the usage habits of the homeowners and provide feedback relating to the their lifestyle and carbon imprint.

Like Lloyd and Mariela, I like what I see and think it would be interesting to see this design realized somewhere, maybe as a community of canühomes or even as one canühome in some exotic location. If you were going to buy a canühome, where would you put it?

Whitehead-Elniski Residence, Green Adaptive Reuse!

Written by Preston Koerner | March 18, 2008 | read more: Conservation, Green Building, Modern architecture, Modern design, Residential, Single-family

This is a refreshing story of a another innovative green home in Chicago. Frances Whitehead and James Elniski recently had their green home featured in NY Times. It's a fantastic rendition of green adaptive reuse. Check the images of the living rooftop and two twirling turbines (by Windside). Those turbines cost about $40,000,including installation, and provide about $500 per year in savings. Still, the owners don't mind the payback of 80 years because their perspective is guided by the realities of a carbon cluttered world. Drastic times require drastic actions?

This live/work residence has some of the following green features: cellulose insulation, geothermal heating and cooling, solar thermal hot water and cooling, photovoltaic panels, rainwater collection cisterns, and water-saving appliances and dual-flush toilets, etc. Perhaps the greenest feature of all is that the building used to be a blighted, 3000 sf, brick warehouse on a chunk of land with a contaminated underground gasoline storage tank. Ugh ... removing USTs can be nasty, expensive, and fraught with administrative burdens, too.

Or maybe the greenest feature about this project is the occupants that made it happen. For instance, take this exchange from the NY Times -- does it get any greener than this?

“When people ask me why I have those wind turbines, I always wonder why they don’t have them,” Ms. Whitehead said. “It’s like when Thoreau was in jail for an act of civil disobedience and Emerson visited him. ‘Henry,’ Emerson said, ‘Why are you in jail?’ To which Thoreau replied, ‘Ralph, why are you not in jail?’ ”

We, including myself, do a lot of talking about the costs associated with environmental action, but sometimes, you just pay the price, whatever it is. Wouldn't you say?

Source Inspiration:
++Whitehead-Elniski Residence [GreenBean]
++In Chicago, Tinted Green [NY Times]
++The New Face of Green Design [Chicagoist]

Photo Credits: Michelle Litvin + The Green House Chicago + GreenBean.

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Wow! Industrial Container Home in New Zealand

Written by Preston Koerner | April 19, 2008 | read more: Container Design, International, Modern architecture, Modern design, Residential, Single-family

Sure, this New Zealand home is heavy on the industrial, nuclear reactor look, but it has a certain draw to it, don't you think? I was pointed to these images in a flickr photoset owned by petraalsbach and was struck by the interesting use of containers -- as you can tell, the home was built right up to, and possibly into, the hill. Containers are strong and stackable,and it seems like lots of people are using them right now in home design. Container homes may just become more popular than modern prefab ...

Via Equity Green.

Colorado Home Pictures with an Industrial Construction Theme

These Colorado home pictures show the Crowder House designed by Faleide Architects of Denver. What's interesting about this home is its strong industrial theme. Where many of us might be thinking mountain cabins or lodges, the Crowder House draws its inspiration from concrete panel construction combined with metal. Often the ceilings reveal trusses and general steel work where its structural strength becomes a design statement. I also find the stairs and hand rails to be very interesting. The stairs feature metal steps with holes for traction. The hand rails compliment the steps offering its own metal work in a nice designer's flair. There is one room where the floors and ceilings blend in an interesting concept. The fixtures in the ceiling are matched by round accents in the floor to create a unique feel in the room. Though the overall feel of these Colorado home pictures may not be as warm as the mountain lodge, if you appreciate industrial construction there are some clever takeaways here. Source: Faleide Architects.