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NAHB to Launch Green Home Certification Program
According to a recent article in Nation’s Building News, NAHB's Board of Directors approved the creation of a national green building certification program at its spring meeting in Washington, D.C.
The new program, which will be based on the National Green Building Standard, will provide a template for voluntary, market-driven green building. It will include an interactive, web-based certification scoring system; a national registry of certified green builders and green homes; and other tools and resources for builders and certifiers. Existing local programs that meet quality assurance benchmarks and performance criteria can become part of the national program, without costly additional certification fees. To learn more about the program, read the article.
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Bird-Brained Idea – Homes Made of Nest Materials
Designers of a new home in Ontario, Canada, used bird nests as a model for creating an environmentally-friendly structure. According to an article in the Toronto Star (Roberta Avery, 06/23/07), the home features walls made of straw and clay to create a windproof, insulated structure that is also breathable. Builder Joshua Thornton learned the concept of the “EcoNest” from U.S. builder Robert Laporte, who took his inspiration from birds that build nests “using the materials at hand.” The EcoNest combines clay, straw, wood chips, and water into a slurry that is lightly packed between wooden slipforms. The slurry takes about eight weeks to dry before the walls can be plastered with an earth plaster mix or wooden siding. When completed, EcoNests look similar to conventional homes. To learn more, read the article.
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Spinach - Leafy Green or Building Material?
According to a recent item on Inhabitat (06/21/07), architects Matthew Coates and Tim Meldrum have received first place in the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Home Competition for a residential design that incorporates an innovative solar energy system. The house has cladding with a solid-state photosynthetic solar cell-based skin developed by MIT researchers that uses a protein derived from spinach to generate electricity. Excess energy produced by the spinach-based skin is sent back to the grid for the neighborhood to use. The home also incorporates several other sustainable features, including passive solar elements, a landscaped roof garden designed to collect and filter stormwater, soy-based wall panels and recycled concrete. To learn more, read the Inhabitat post.
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Designs that Stand Up to Hurricanes
Certain home shapes and roof types can better resist high winds and hurricanes, according to Rima Taher, PhD, a researcher at the New Jersey Institute of Technology (NJIT). According to a recent release (06/19/07), Taher spent two years examining the findings of research centers that have studied the best designs and construction materials and methods needed to withstand extreme wind events and hurricanes. Based on this research, Taher offers several recommendations for homes in hurricane-prone regions, including square, hexagonal, or even octagonal floor plans; multiple-panel roofs to reduce wind loads; roofs with multiple slopes rather than gable roofs; strong connections between the structure and its foundation; and overhangs limited to 20 inches. For more information, read the release.
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Reinventing the Brick
According to a recent article in Metropolis (Tim McKeough, 06/20/07), 15 architects, artists, and designers are attempting to reinvent the brick in order to make a better, or at least more visually appealing, building block. The results of the project include a brick that controls water runoff; a passive solar brick aimed at improving the heat-transmission capabilities of brick; and a lightweight perforated brick that dampens sound. For more information or to see images of some of the bricks, read the article.
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ToolBase.org Featured Technology—Evaporative Coolers
Evaporative coolers, commonly called “swamp coolers,” use the natural cooling effect of water evaporation to provide a low first-cost, energy-saving, and environmentally-friendly alternative to conventional air conditioners in arid climates. The coolers, which are one of the numerous innovations listed in the PATH Technology Inventory, are available in two types: direct and indirect. Direct coolers use a blower to force air through a permeable, water-soaked pad. As the air passes through the pad, it is filtered, cooled, and humidified. Direct evaporative coolers cost about $700-1,000 installed and have operating costs that are about a third of conventional air conditioning. Indirect coolers also have a secondary heat exchanger that prevents humidity from being added to the airstream; however, they are generally much more expensive and are less efficient. When using an evaporative cooler, windows or ceiling vents must be open so that the large volume of fresh air added to the home can replace air exiting the home. View the PATH Technology Inventory listing for evaporative coolers to learn more about this technology.
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DOE to Invest up to $40 Million in Housing Research
The U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) recently announced that it is issuing a Funding Opportunity Announcement (FOA) that will make up to $40 million available for funding research applications to fundamentally change the way American homes consume energy. According to a recent release (06/13/07), awards made under the FOA will support research, development, and deployment of technologies that will reduce new home energy use from 30 to 90 percent, on average. DOE will select four to eight applications to research the energy efficiency of homes and develop formulae for construction of new homes on a community scale. To learn more about the FOA, read the complete release.
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