Green building

Edgewood, Georgia, a neighborhood on the east side of downtown Atlanta, is home to many craftsman-style bungalows. Originally developed for blue-collar workers in the early 1900s, today’s contractors and developers are finding new life for these homes, modernizing them while still keeping their original charm. That’s what local builder Joe Thomas decided to do when he came across a home with potential on Dahlgren Street. “The home was built in 1925. I wanted to take the existing structure and do a high-quality renovation to a green building standard,” explained Thomas, owner, Elemental Green Homes. With plans to achieve certification from EarthCraft, a green building program, Thomas wanted to take energy... More

Masterplan concepts and major architectural highlights for Hunan OCT Caoqiao Cultural Commercial Street in China have been revealed by architectural practice LWK + PARTNERS. It is as one of the two new leisure-cultural projects collaborated with Overseas Chinese Town, the other being a site in the city of Xiangyang, following the earlier Zhongshan OCT Harbour. These projects continue to show their shared commitment to embrace natural ecology in quality urban communities.    Hunan OCT Caoqiao Cultural Commercial Street is part of Laiyan New Town in Hengyang and shares its vision to create a multifunctional urban space with a mix of recreational tourism and city living. It will be developed in three phases: the first focuses on we... More

Each year, The New American Home (TNAH), sponsored by the National Association of Home Builders, debuts at the annual International Builders’ Show and showcases the latest innovations and efficiency advancements in homebuilding. Systems and materials are specified with the intent of achieving green building certifications. TNAH 2020 is a 6,428-square-foot high-performance luxury home overlooking the Las Vegas strip from the nearby Ascaya community in Henderson, Nevada.A hybrid ducted and ductless Zoned Comfort Solutions® system from Mitsubishi Electric efficiently conditions 10 comfort zones within the home. Zoning allows units to be turned off or set to energy saving levels in rooms infrequently used. This operation ensures the u... More

RETROFITTING A DREAMSetting a 21st century standard for design sustainability while preserving all the charm and character of a handsome, century-old structure was the dual objective proposed by the firm’s founders.   Every space along the second level of this former girls’ school was thoughtfully re-imagined and repurposed with contemporary sustainable practices in mind. Solatube tubular daylight devices (TDDs) allow for ‘daylight harvesting’: permitting the transferral of sunlight from the outside in—bathing the entire office (even the windowless interiors) with natural light. Inverter air conditioners provide 20 SEER high-efficiency, low-noise, environmentally-friendly cooling. Advanced Lutron technol... More

Hoa Phong Farmhouse is uniquely based on four NO design rules: No aluminum and glass windows-just the bamboo folding shutter system instead; providing natural light and airflow. Although the design is open the shutter system retains privacy and security for the house. No air conditioning - the house "breathes", taking natural wind through the open spaces with well-arranged doorways. No baked bricks - walls are made entirely of bamboo and rough cement. The rough concrete block below is designed as a support platform for the main structure of bamboo above, creating a unique contrast. No tiles - only materials from natural stone, wood and bamboo creating a sense of closeness, roughness, and harmonize within the interior of the house.... More

38 on Morsim is a development of 12 luxury stand-alone houses on a desirable road in Hyde Park, Johannesburg, South Africa.   An important aspect of the design was to retain as many of the existing mature trees on the site as possible. Several units have been positioned and designed around these trees, resulting in most of the units being unique, and the trees providing shade, privacy, and beauty throughout the development. All units have a private garden, many with pools.   The use of passive solar design through the orientation of the units as well as pergolas ensures year-round comfort and energy efficiency. This is further aided by double glazing, evaporative cooling, closed woodburning fireplaces, and solar supplemented e... More

Bangla Academy Complex (National competition, 1st prize winner, IAB)   In today's day and age, when there seems to be an inclination to use technology and complex design strategies to achieve a "green" solution in building design. One must not forget that one of the most sensible ways to create an "environment friendly" architecture is to use the "environment" itself. The site, the surrounding and the climate should become primary forces and a successful "green" architecture can be achieved through "passive" means.   The Bangla Academy project approaches sustainability in many levels and does not just claim to be "environment friendly". In the first measure of sustainability the project addresses is that of "site". The project... More

The attentive enhancement of a building of 35,000 m²: a full-fledged urban regeneration intervention for this building built as car park, then become bank computing centre and, today, office block. The project has included both internal and external requalification and given life to a green building, with extremely reduced energy consumption, characterised by a fresh and totally renewed image thanks to the realisation of a façade in “high performance” glass personalised by blue“brise-soleil” geometry. The two large internal courtyards, like the terrace on the last floor, are the ideal place to guarantee precious moments of relaxation to employees, offering a more gradual view on the operational areas. More

“Aaranya” an agriculture farmstay is located in rural settings at the edge of Sasan Gir Lion Sanctuary, Gujarat; and was designed by Ahmadabad based architect Himanshu Patel from “d6thD” design studio with overt principle of vernacular architecture in mind.   Design Philosophy: The Mother Earth has enough for everyone’s needs, but not everyone’s greed. This simple statement remains the greatest insight into the ecology of this planet. The concern for climate as well as economical and cultural sustainability has been looked at to incorporate without which sustainability may not work in the Indian context. Rather spending millions on the best technology to create the greenest of green building when... More

Conceived as an urban rooftop farm showcasing farm to table eating within a commercial shopping centre development, Acre Eatery is a sophisticated and sustainably focused restaurant located in suburban Melbourne.   Currently operating in Camperdown, Sydney, Acre Eatery were invited by Frasers to deliver the rooftop food space as part of the Burwood Brickworks development in Melbourne with a vision of delivering a farm to table experience within an urban setting.   Describe the project and the key challenges involved Part of the Burwood Brickworks development by Frasers Property, the world’s most sustainable shopping centre, Acre Eatery is an urban rooftop farm showcasing ‘farm to table’ eating in an urban se... More

A Community-Centric Vertical Green CampusRonald Lu & Partners (RLP) worked with the Vocational Training Council (VTC) to create a new campus in Hong Kong for the Technological and Higher Education Institute (THEi). Instead of adopting a traditional building form, the community-oriented, sustainable campus used creative twin tower design, bringing it the Grand Award at the Green Building Awards 2014, in the New Building Category – Building Projects under Design, prevailing over 90 entries from Hong Kong and Asia-Pacific.   Targeted for completion in 2016, the design focuses on integrating the school with the neighbourhood. The lower floors of the campus are home to shared campus and neighbourhood amenities, while the upper f... More

Project BriefThe purpose of school education is not only to teach students knowledge and solve their confusion, but also to stimulate their interest in learning and to make them enjoy it. Based on that thought, architects take "Enjoyment" as the theme and carry out two conditions from the point of architectural view to satisfy enjoyable space: The first is sense of space belonging which is brought by the enclosure of "independent world", the second is the maximum sharing of teaching resources and expansion of campus activity space, that is called maximum publicity. Based on the theme of "Enjoyment", the spatial concept mode of "Enjoyable Courtyard" is proposed.   Concept IntroductionThe design method of "Courtyard Mode" which reflect... More

This project utilizes passive sustainable practices as a baseline of design prior to integrating active systems. Breaking apart the programmatic spaces of the home (living, sleeping, and storage) and creating exterior circulation between these volumes resulted in smaller masses to cool. This also created two “breezeways” between the volumes, capturing the predominant east-west breezes and generating comfortable exterior spaces. The volumes are unified by one large roof, with generous overhangs on the west façade. Expansive overhangs shade the glass, providing natural daylighting, minimizing heat gain, and creating a comfortable outdoor living environment under roof. These measures reduce the energy load of the house, whi... More

LEAPs3On the slopes of the ski area of Plan Checrouit, right in front of Mont Blanc, LEAPfactory has just completed the new home of the Courmayeur Ski and Snowboard School. Thanks to the new LEAPs3 construction system, the building was assembled in only one week, right in the middle of the winter season. It offers high-performance construction technology, sophisticated design and customized interior finishes.   Following the LEAP philosophy, the building rests on light foundations, it is completely reversible and it can be dismantled and transferred according future needs. All materials are environment friendly, recyclable and assembled entirely dry. Alpine skiing has always been an important factor for the touristic development of m... More