GREEN GREENBERG GREEN HOUSE

The design for this two-story house emerged from the site constraints, program, and view. The shape and orientation is designed for maximum exposure to the prevailing winds at strategic locations, which facilitate the building’s ability to use natural ventilation. The form of the building gently fits a large program onto the awkwardly shaped site by using the site’s unusual form: shifts and movements of the site are used to enhance daylight and natural air flow distribution. Reacting to the physical and natural conditions, the facade becomes a skin that peels away from its surface like the hillside location on which it sits. The house is zoned for passive cooling with a central stair, linking the private and public spaces. The stair leads to the reinvented backyard, relocated to the roof top of the structure, where a landscape consisting of edible plants and solar photovoltaic panels. The green roof enhances the insulation values, the photovoltaic panels will generate electricity, essentially moving the house off the grid. The Green Greenberg Green house is part of the LEED for Homes pilot program, and has obtained LEED Silver certification. It forms a model for merging innovative design with energy strategies that will result in a more efficient and healthier residence.