Category: sustainable design

16
Jan
2018

green home design closes the wealth gap in the US

Sustainable homes may seem like a luxury, but green design solutions can help close the wealth gap in the United States. For any potential homeowner, and particularly important for the low-income housing market, green affordable homes lower electricity and repair bills helping to achieve both environmental and economic sustainability.

Homeownership has been linked to a wide variety of social and economic benefits, including better mental health, neighborhood connectivity, and wealth accumulation. But the risks of homeownership are different for low-income households than other income brackets. Low-income homeowners are more likely to have to pay for repairs or maintenance costs that are beyond their budget. Lower-income households also pay a higher share of their income towards electricity bills than middle or high-income households.

Well-designed, environmentally-friendly and affordable homes can help make buying a good investment, no matter your income level.

When Charlottesville VA | Asheville NC architects hays+ewing design studio [heds] designed and planned a ten-home green affordable home development, we reserved two of the homes for Habitat for Humanity. Two families were selected by Habitat as the new home owners. Both were immigrants – one family had moved here from the Philippines and had co-habitated in a small apartment with a relative for seven years. The other family was from Afghanistan. This family had lost their husband/father and their home on the same day.

As the architects for the two homes, we focused on a few green affordable home solutions: keeping energy and maintenance costs low while using low-cost materials. We super-insulated the houses, making sure they would keep the warmth in during the winter and the heat out during the summer. We optimized for passive solar too, which meant shading out unwanted summer sun but allowing sunshine to penetrate the houses in colder months. Finally, we used Hardiepanel, which requires little upkeep, for the house siding, so the long-term maintenance costs would be low.

We also thought about what it would take for the residents to thrive in their new home. We created a common courtyard to foster community. We also convinced Habitat to frame an opening for a future stair to a basement so the families could rent their daylit, insulated basement and thereby subsidize their income. Through thoughtful design and incorporation of green affordable home best practices, hays+ewing design studio [heds] is helping these families find economic stability in their new adoptive city of Charlottesville.low income housing virginia architects

In addition to the two Habitat for Humanity homes, we also designed a single-family, spec home on land we owned in the same community. We wanted the house to be sustainable but also affordable – the home sold before framing was even completed, a nice testament to the appeal of the home.

Spec homes are rarely designed sustainably. For, instance the better developer might integrate a “flash and batt” approach to insulating the walls, which means using 2” of spray foam insulation with batt insulation on top. This helps to reduce air displacement but there are still losses where the cold air is transferred at the wall framing. For this project heds architects used 5” of spray foam insulation in combination with an insulated plywood on the exterior. The insulated plywood thus acts as a break between the cold air and the wall framing to prevent the thermal bridging. You can see this strategy, along with our use of SIPS panels, solar hot water heating, and passive solar strategies in the diagram below.
virginia architects green strategies

A 1432


This 2000 square-foot home was affordable despite its ambitions. It won a Virginia Society of the AIA Award of Excellence and a jurist praised the project as “boots on the ground” sustainability in the spec housing market.

As these two projects highlight, sustainable best practices make closing the wealth gap possible by lessening the risks low-income home-buyers face. Having both economic and environmental sustainability doesn’t have to be hard.

Co-written by Allison Ewing and Emily Hays

19
Oct
2017

New research on “mother” trees | the importance of FSC certified wood

Mother trees that communicate to their seedlings, sending them nutrients? Trees that share information among species to ensure their mutual survival? These are the findings of University of British Columbia Forestry researcher Dr. Suzanne Simard, and her studies illuminate the critical importance of forest stewardship and specifying FSC (Forest stewardship Council) certified wood.

In her TED talk, Simard discusses how roots of fungi form a dense root network system that trees co-opt. Called Mycorrhizae, this root system becomes the link between a tree’s root system forming a node/link network. Simard has found that trees will transit carbon to their own understory seedlings enhancing the potential for survival by four times. Species cooperate as well, sharing carbon seasonally. Fir and birch, for example share carbon seasonally: In the summer when the Douglas fir is more shaded, it receives excess carbon from the birch. Later in the fall, when the birch is losing its leaves, excess carbon from the fir is transmitted through the same fungal exchange system.

We think of forests as competing but Simard has found forest are a cooperative system, sharing resources, communicating threats and “talking” to kin.

After hearing Simard’s TED talk I am humbled by how smart forests are. Good forest stewardship requires a more sophisticated knowledge of the local forest, promotion of a diversity of species, and conservation of these mother or node trees.

Wood framing is the bread and butter of residential home building in North America. At HEDS we specify FSC certified wood. The mission of the FSC is to promote environmentally sound and socially beneficial and economically prosperous management of the world’s forests. The need to conserve biological diversity and maintain the ecological functions and integrity of the forest is all the more critical in light of Simard’s research. How can forestry practices reinforce the capacity for forests to regenerate? Simard’s research illuminates how important it is to save old growth forest and reduce clear cutting to ensure the perpetuation of healthy forests.

13
Oct
2016

In pursuit of happiness – the question of size and architecture

In November of 2014 I wrote about the Not so Big Apartment and of Gary Chang’s clever Swiss army knife style apartment that transforms into 24 different spaces.   I admired the inventiveness of Cheng’s project and the notion of living well in a small setting.

The topic of size comes up a lot at architectural conferences. The issue is an important one for obvious reasons – bigger homes require more energy to heat and cool and more energy goes into the construction materials. Clients however aren’t always so interested in the notion of doing with less. That’s not surprising in the US, home to the super-sized Big Mac and it’s cousin the McMansion.

At HEDS we think big, from the perspective of living well, is beside the point –size has very little to do with the qualities that foster a sense of well-being and happiness. Size is what builders promote in the absence of good design. This is size over substance thinking – size is a false prize.

We share our clients’ goal that our designs should contribute to their happiness and well-being. In pursuit of their happiness, we promote more substantive qualities such as homes that bring richness through CLEVER ideas. Other qualities we pursue in our designs: FUN, COMMUNITY at all levels (between siblings, within the family, with neighbors and the larger community), a connection with NATURE, and last but not least, COOL.

In pursuit of COOL: The Exbury Egg by Pad Studio, Spud Group and Stephen Turner.

In pursuit of COOL: The Exbury Egg by Pad Studio, Spud Group and Stephen Turner.

Children's room

In pursuit of FUN and COMMUNITY. This kids room has a shared loft. An art wall exhibits the children’s masks. A window between the children’s rooms fosters community between siblings. When small these children held hands between the window and have grown up to be close friends. Woolen Mills House by HEDS.

Dogtrot House

In Pursuit of Nature: A captured outdoor space brings nature into the daily living for this home’s occupants. The space is used for sitting and dining during the spring, summer and fall. Dogtrot House by HEDS. Photo by Prakash Patel.

02
Aug
2016

Modern Green Virginia Beach House Tour

Tour of soon-to-be-finished modern green Virginia beach house on August 11th at 6:00 PM.  Meet at the Cavalier Golf and Yacht Club (parking lot nearest the clubhouse) at 1052 Cardinal Road, Virginia Beach, VA.  Attendance limited.  Please RSVP to aewing@hays-ewing.com.

House features:

Superinsulated and designed to meet Passivhaus standards, triple glazed windows, Huber Zip system, FSC certified woods and many other sustainable features.  A second floor outdoor covered living space offers a stunning view of Linkhorn Bay.  See also Facebook event.

Virginia beach architects

Custom home located in Virginia Beach.

11
May
2016

Virginia’s Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center in film

Teen filmmaker James Hill documentary showcases the Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center’s green features.  It’s great to see the next generation taking on these serious questions.

12
Apr
2016

Virginia Beach House Tour

Announcing a house tour at the soon-to-be completed house on Linkhorn Bay in Virginia Beach.  The tour will be postponed date to be determined.  We will meet in the parking lot of the Cavalier Golf and Yacht Club at 1052 Cardinal Road, Virginia Beach.  Limited attendance.  Please RSVP to aewing@hays-ewing.com See more details below.

tour_brochure.pptx

26
Oct
2015

Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center of Virginia: Engaging people is key to a building’s success

We design with the philosophy that engaging people in our buildings is key to a project’s success.  We think a lot about how to create opportunities for discovery, for collaboration, for a conversation with nature… Take for example, The Lewis & Clark Exploratory Center (LCEC).  We designed the roof as an vegetated garden/overlook to the Rivanna River.  This is where a visitor first arrives and the roof signals the building’s larger goals: to connect to the Lewis & Clark story, and to engage the visitor with nature.  The vegetated roof is to be planted with species gathered by the explorers on their journey west.  The overlook, with a replica of a ship in the foreground and the Rivanna in the background, recalls to the visitor that the exploration was carried out by river.  The building also teaches about water, how precious it is, how it is the source of life: the roof water is directed to a riverstone channel that flanks the stairs descending to the exhibit space.  Water is collected in a basin at the entry below and the visitor crosses a bridge to enter the building – again, references to Lewis & Clark’s river journey as well as modern concerns about the environment and the importance of water quality.  The building is designed to achieve LEED Silver, and its many sustainable features are teaching examples for visitors.  Best of all though is how active the center is with community activities.  The building teaches about the Lewis & Clark’s journey, about nature while serving as an ideal setting for the activities organized by LCEC.  It is gratifying to see our goals realized.  IMG_1463IMG_1478

16
Sep
2015

Sustainable design requires creative solutions

A sustainable architect needs to solve for more than would the typical designer.  I liken our process to solving the Rubic’s cube – where all the goals, challenges and givens must be in alignment.  The typical architect might be solving for the nine squares/side cube, we are solving for the 16 square/side Rubic.  Take for instance HEDS-designed RiversEdge House: Good urban design suggested house be sited in alignment with street grid.  Classic #PassiveSolar approach would rotate the primary windows toward south and shade with deep overhangs.  But the street grid wasn’t on a north-south axis.  To solve for both passive solar and urban siting, we angled the front wall toward south while maintaining the overall orientation to that of the street.

This project was designed as part of the RiversEdge community and speculative – we were the developers.  We know first-hand that passive solar takes advantage of free energy from the sun at no additional cost to the builder – a win-win solution.  RiversEdge5-heds

13
Aug
2015

Allison Ewing shares her green design expertise at Hanley Wood’s Vision 2020 Symposium

Allison Ewing shares her expertise on green design at the Hanley Wood Vision 2020 Video Symposium. She discusses why the building is at a Darwinian crossroads and it’s time to evolve an Architecture of the Fittest. Architects must find solutions that are attractive to home developers who will build 75% of new housing in the coming decades. Nature, with 3.8 billion years of R&D has a lot to teach us about adaptive — and cost effective — strategies in a changing environment. Ms. Ewing discusses how bigger is not better, rather connecting people with the landscape is fulfilling, and how creative designers are finding clever solutions to living richly in a small setting. She tackles creating the zero energy home, the use of low-embodied energy materials and new technologies such as 3D printed buildings which will transform how we build. Some researchers are even exploring buildings which are self-assembling, patterning processes on nature.
https://twitter.com/Ewing_Allison, https://www.facebook.com/HaysEwingDesignStudio, https://www.linkedin.com/pub/allison-ewing/b/929/710

29
Jul
2014

shape in context

Bermann’s Rule (1847) – members of species are larger in colder parts of their range attributed to surface to volume ratio.

Bermann’s Rule (1847) – members of species are larger in colder parts of their range attributed to surface to volume ratio.

The natural world has many examples of adaptation to climate. The northern white-tailed deer has a lower surface area to volume ratio than does its more diminutive southern cousin and radiates less body heat per unit of mass, allowing it to stay warmer in the colder climate.  The southern white-tailed deer has a higher surface are to volume ratio facilitating heat loss through the skin, helping to cool the body.  The former is built to retain heat, the latter to cool.

vtvaThe advent of heating and cooling systems coupled with improvements in the building envelope and cheap energy have led to the homogenization of homebuilding. Compare the floor plan of a developer home in Vermont to one in Arizona. Apart from a little white cladding here and stucco there, the blueprints are the same. I grew up in a 1770’s home in Vermont that was four rooms over four (more volume to surface area). The traditional home in Virginia (where I now reside, apparently I can only live in states that start with “V”) is two over two (more surface area to volume). The former built to heat, the latter to breathe.  Vermont has 6006 heating degree days (measurement that reflects the demand for energy needed to heat a building), Virginia has half that number, 3304.   Vermont has 747 cooling degree days while VA has 1422 (twice as many).  Without air conditioning, modern heating, homes from the 18th century were adapted to conserve or reject heat — a strategy seen in nature and one which, when applied to the building industry, has low first costs. This is a strategy the Developer-Builder can easily adopt. It’s called Regionalism.