Tag Archives: architecture

Furnace Free Houses

January 9, 2009

What if you lived in a house without a furnace in Minnesota? Or the frozen, windsept tundra-like landscape that is central Illinois right now? And you didn’t have a wood burning stove, fireplace, or radiant floor heating.

You would freeze, right?

Not if you lived in a Passive House. These super-insulated, air tight homes that use the heat from the sun and the heat generated by appliances and body heat to heat the entire the house. Even when it’s below freezing outside.

I was here today.

p1010316

This is the South side of a Passive House built in Illinois. Today, it was in the mid 20’s and sunny. No one is living in this house yet and there are no appliances running or any sort of heater turned on. It’s been about a week since anyone has been inside. And it was about 60 degrees inside. Pretty amazing, huh?

p1010325

This is the main living space (picture taken last summer).  The floor is actually the concrete slab. It works as a “thermal mass” to help regulate the temperature inside the house. It  retains its heat (or lack of) for a long time and therefore helps to keep the house warm in the winter and cool in the summer.

p1010320

This is a den on the first floor. All of the windows on the South side of the house are this big to let a lot of sunlight into the house in the winter. In the summer, exterior shading keeps the sunlight out, helping to keep the house cool. The windows all have 3 panes of glass, low-e coatings, insulated frames and are argon filled. Translation, the windows are very well insulated when compared to you typical single pane window.

p1010329

A whole house mechanical ventilation system keeps the indoor air fresh and an Energy Recovery Ventilator reuses the heat (or lack of… “coolth”?) from outgoing air to condition the incoming fresh air so that is warm or cool before it is distributed into the living spaces and the bedroom pictured above.

Add some super energy efficient appliances and the house uses about 75% less energy than a house built to the same size with standard construction methods. A Passive House in a nutshell.  It’s possible to build them anywhere (even where cooling is your primary concern). And they’ll help conserve our world’s scarce resources and the money in your wallet.

One of these is definitely on my wish list! Now I just need the money… (p.s. they only cost about 10% more than a regular house!)

Check out more projects at passivehouse.us.

Also tagged , , – No Comments

You know you’re an architecture student when…

November 10, 2008

If you are lucky enough to know an architecture student, you have probably heard at one time or another “how hard their major is” and about “how little sleep they get.” If you don’t know any architecture students (and especially if you are considering going through the lunacy of 4+ years of “architorture”!) then I am hoping to entertain you with some true life stories about being one of these sleep-deprived, half-crazed creatures that populate architecture studios across this country (and rumor has it, abroad too!).

If you don’t know one and you’re not contemplating becoming one… why should you care? Because it will make you thankful for all of the times you got to sleep in and skip class in college. Or because it will give you a greater appreciation for all of the architects in this world who went through similar tortuous experiences in order to pursue their profession. (Note: I am not maintaining that architecture is the most difficult of professions or of majors. Just read the following and have a laugh!)

Most of the following are from a popular “Facebook group” with a few of my own additions.

You know you are an architecture student when…

  • you ask Santa for architecture supplies
  • you can sleep with your eyes open in class
  • your favorite drink is Red Bull and you can down half a dozen in one night
  • you know the phone number to Jimmy John’s and the menu by heart
  • you know the people in your studio better than your roommates
  • you can survive without sunlight, human interaction, and sleep but you will consider ending your life if the plotter (aka giant printer) refuses to print your work
  • you’ve fallen asleep in the bathroom of the architecture building
  • you’ve fallen asleep in the shower (on more than one occasion)
  • your roommates don’t see you all week and then try to ignore your snoring when you sleep all weekend
  • your parents are worried that you’re not having ENOUGH FUN in COLLEGE
  • you see showering as a waste of time
  • when you ask what time it is, and someone answers “6″ you have to ask, am or pm?
  • you say “It’s only midnight… I have plenty of time to finish”
  • you slice your finger with an exacto knife and you wildly hope that it will be an adequate excuse to get an extension on your project
  • you wake up to go to school and you’re already there
  • you’ve slept on cardboard… under your desk
  • you can tell time by when your classmates leave studio
  • dancing-sober- at 3 am on Tuesday is normal
  • you think “x-acto blade throwing” is a sport (or at least it SHOULD be)
  • you can write a term paper by procrastinating
  • you’ve taken non-architecture classes and professors are readily willing to offer extensions once they find out what major you’re in
  • you get “pity looks” from anyone who finds out you’re an architecture student
  • you have skipped class because you have so much work to do
  • you have gone more than one consecutive night without sleeping in a bed or for more than half hour increments at a time.

So why in the world would anyone WANT to be characterized by the above? I’m still not quite sure but the best thing I got out of architecture school was some really amazing friends. When you spend SO much time in studio, you get to know your classmates pretty well… then they become your best friends and you hang out with them outside of class too… and then one of them introduces you to your future husband and becomes your best man… (oh wait, that may have only happened to me!) Actually, one of my bridesmaids, my “bridal assistant,” and the bagpiper in our wedding were all friends from architecture.

A story about our best man… aka Red.

Red grew up with the unshakeable conviction that he was to become an architect. At the age of 5 or 6 he was stealing his mother’s home improvement/decorating magazines and fantasizing/sketching the buildings he would one day design. Architecture became one of his passions… and when I say passions, I mean it. He is a very passionate person as evidenced by the following glimpse into a sophomore architecture studio. Perhaps it is the fiery hair that earned him his nickname (only his parents call him by his real name!).

Anyway, during the spring semester of our sophomore year, we were assembled into small groups and assigned the task of meticulously constructing different famous works of architecture on a miniature scale out of basswood. Red was assigned a particularly intricate and difficult house to re-create and an equally difficult/un-helpful group with which (who? whom?) to complete the project. Being a dedicated (and slightly crazed) student, Red spent the entire week in the concrete block walled, linoleum floored, poorly insulated room that comprised his studio. Over a 10 day period, he spent no less than SEVEN (yes, SEVEN) nights in studio with little to no sleep during the night and only short naps and occasional breaks to shower during the intermittant days in order to complete his model.

This would be enough to drive anyone slightly nuts.

It was enough to make Red go completely crazy. One night, when the absence of his group members and sleep deprivation proved to be too much for him, he snapped.

He started by throwing down his exacto knife and sighing in exasperation as he struggled with an ornery piece of basswood. He continued by beginning to yell about he had pulled so many “ALL NIGHTERS!!!!!!” and how he his group members were worthless, lazy, and inconsiderate. He was tired, frustrated, and angry. Then, as the other nearly catatonic inhabitants of the studio were awakened from their stupor by all of the yelling, he picked up his exacto knife again and hurled it against the wall. When it failed to stick into the corkboard, he became enraged and proceeded to stab the wall until it stuck and then stormed out of the building, continuing to rant and rave like a madman.

It was quite a scene. He calmed down eventually and after ”walking it off” he returned to continue his work amid many a fearful glance from his classmates who were leary of him and fearful that his rage could erupt again and result in being impaled by another sharp projectile. They eventually learned that it was just another night in studio…

Also tagged , , , , – 1 Comment

When I Grow Up

October 30, 2008

Gone are my childhood days when I and my friends knew with certainty what we wanted to “be” when we grew up. Dancers, firefighters, teachers (my personal choice ), astronauts, even the president of the United States (I’m not sure if any of them would really want that job NOW!), we were all pretty sure what we wanted to be. In our kindergarten world view, your profession defined you.

We had parents who were simply “Moms,” “librarians,” “businessmen,” and “engineers.” I grew up with a “Nurse-mom” and an “Engineer-dad.” (And I never really understood what exactly my dad did everyday… I just knew that he had a lot of fun office supplies to play with when my sister and I would go into the office with him on certain Saturdays. Don’t underestimate the magic in permanent markers, highlighters and a giant pad of paper on an easel… especially to a little girl who wants to be a teacher when she grows up and has a little sister who is relatively willing to sit and be a diligent pupil!)

Then, I started high school. And I didn’t really like a lot of my teachers. Some were great, others, not so much… And I started to question, could I see myself teaching the SAME subject day after day, year after year? Wouldn’t I be bored if I taught younger kids because of the lack of conversations/debates that took place in so many of my secondary education classes? (I’ve come to think- no, probably not. But, that was what I was thinking as a Junior/Senior in high school)

As college application time came around, I decided that it was kinda important that I have some idea of what I wanted to study for four years if for no other reason than it would help me narrow down the choices of colleges. I settled on Architecture. My rationalization was along the lines of, “Well, I like (and am pretty good at) math and science, but I really enjoy being creative… I really like houses, and all of the renovation/redecoration stuff we’ve done at our house since we moved in… and I really believe that there has to be a better way to build houses for the less-fortunate than the way government/low-income housing is done now.” (the last thought was inspired by a summer short-term mission trip to South Dakota, which I’ll have to write about later)

Anyway, I chose a good university that ended up having a very well- respected architecture program (which I didn’t know when I signed up) and I spent the next four years living on very little sleep and late night snacks of crackers, water, and gum (you should’ve seen the stuff my classmates ate!) to churn out drawings, scale models, and “boards.” It was a lot like hard work- with a lot of fun acitivities like throwing ninja stars made out of drafting tape and exacto blades at foam core targets added in. I graduated with a group of life-long  friends- the kinds of which can only be formed during late night line dancing lessons amidst the chaos of cardboard, foam core, basswood, acetate, and LOTS of Tacky Glue (or, alternatively, boxes of uncooked spaghetti noodles and dozens of hot glue guns… I’m going to have to write a “series” on “architecture school”) AND a degree Bachelor’s of Science in Architectural Studies.

Now, I’m working at a non-profit organization that builds super energy efficient houses for low-income families and trying to decide again, what I want to be when I grow up. I could go back to school to get my Master’s of Architecture. I could go back to school to get a Master’s of Education and a teacher’s certificate. I could keep working here. I could join the Teach for America corps. I could do a lot of things… and life isn’t as simple as it was when I was in kindergarten, teaching my little sister what I  had learned that day while we played “school.” There are a lot more factors to consider now. The job market, the economy, our family economy,  my husband’s job/career, our immediate and eventual future plans… Lucky for me, I do know for sure ONE occupation that I want to be “when I grow up.”

A mom. Now there’s just all the other decisions to make, preparations, steps, etc. In the meantime, I’m really enjoying my job as a “wife.” :)
What do you want to be when you grow up?

Choosing joy (and future plans!),

E

Also tagged , , , – 1 Comment

Passive Houses

October 20, 2008
This will probably be the first of several posts to cover this topic. In a country where LEED and Energy Star Ratings have become buzz words (at least in the architecture/building world!), a new standard is finally starting to get some notice. I have had the privilege of working with the founders of the Passive House Institute US (PHIUS) and I certainly feel that they are definitely on to something.

Started in Germany over 10 years ago by Dr. Wolfgang Feist, the Passive House Standard is the highest “building energy standard” in the world. Using careful design and construction methods, the energy usage of the house is reduced by up to 90%! (Imagine your energy bill- for heating, cooking, electricity, hot water, etc- to be about $120 for a 3 bed, 2 bath house, in the middle of winter, in Illinois- COLD, WET winters!) PHIUS founder, Katrin Klingenberg, learned how to design and construct these super-insulated, air- tight, energy efficient homes from Dr. Feist and then brought that knowledge to the US. There are now 10 certified Passive Houses in the US, with more under construction. With the building sector sucking up so much of our valuable resources, Passive Houses offer a compelling alternative way to construct our buildings. If, as a nation, we are able to vastly reduce our consumption of non-renewable energy resources, we will be able to meet our demand with clean, renewable energy much sooner/ more easily and reduce our dependence on foreign oil. Germany and Austria are already making great strides in this direction- I hope that the US can get caught up! I’ll explain in more detail what makes this homes so  unique but in the meantime, I encourage you to check out PHIUS and the work that they are doing to help our world use less energy while providing beautiful, comfortable homes for people.

Choose Joy,

E

Also tagged , , – No Comments