The Human Habitat Project. Unless noted, All text, artwork, and designs by Fernando D. Pinon. (copyright 2010)
PART 1 of a 4 part series in the Sustainable Present Project.
the HUMAN HABITAT PROJECT:
Summary:
Most building techniques of the 20th century consider the sun, rain, and wind as something to be blocked. Most roofs are installed to combat the sun rather than utilize it's energy. Houses are constructed to shield and insulate people from elemental forces instead of being designed to co-exist with the elements and harness their potential energy and utility. Commercial builders design communities complete with inefficiency. Some examples: In hot climates, dark shingle roofing is used which absorbs heat instead of reflects it; lawns require a lot of water for upkeep but are limited in production usage. With urban sprawl, increased populations, and increased demand for resource consumption, poorly designed buildings add drag to city systems rather than provide the symbiotic relationship needed for long term survival. Moreover, increased demand equals increased pressure on city infrastructure, leading to an overworked system. What happens when a city stops? What happens when a city can no longer provide water, electricity, or waste services? Looking forward, how can intelligent designs better prepare humans for these challenges? What innovative practices can be used to convert houses and buildings from being energy consumers to energy producers? What alternative approaches in design can we use to develop minimal maintenance, low-mechanical, natural energy housing? What routines and commodities can we sacrifice without losing the conveniences of modernity? What choices in material, construction, design, and overall lifestyle do we have to adopt in order to actuate the idea of independent self-sustainable dwellings and working environments?
While people wait for the hand of future technology to save them, sustainability is readily achieved by excercising a combination of more conscious design techniques and more conscious habits. By using modern technology with foward-thinking, conscious designs and applications, self-sustainability isn't something we have to wait for, it's something we can be right now.
Different ideas explored in this exhibit include:
Symbiotic dwelling systems, multi-functional and adaptable architecture, modular micro-buildings, self-sustaining building units, smart life flow environments, natural energy systems.
the HUMAN HABITAT PROJECT:
Summary:
Most building techniques of the 20th century consider the sun, rain, and wind as something to be blocked. Most roofs are installed to combat the sun rather than utilize it's energy. Houses are constructed to shield and insulate people from elemental forces instead of being designed to co-exist with the elements and harness their potential energy and utility. Commercial builders design communities complete with inefficiency. Some examples: In hot climates, dark shingle roofing is used which absorbs heat instead of reflects it; lawns require a lot of water for upkeep but are limited in production usage. With urban sprawl, increased populations, and increased demand for resource consumption, poorly designed buildings add drag to city systems rather than provide the symbiotic relationship needed for long term survival. Moreover, increased demand equals increased pressure on city infrastructure, leading to an overworked system. What happens when a city stops? What happens when a city can no longer provide water, electricity, or waste services? Looking forward, how can intelligent designs better prepare humans for these challenges? What innovative practices can be used to convert houses and buildings from being energy consumers to energy producers? What alternative approaches in design can we use to develop minimal maintenance, low-mechanical, natural energy housing? What routines and commodities can we sacrifice without losing the conveniences of modernity? What choices in material, construction, design, and overall lifestyle do we have to adopt in order to actuate the idea of independent self-sustainable dwellings and working environments?
While people wait for the hand of future technology to save them, sustainability is readily achieved by excercising a combination of more conscious design techniques and more conscious habits. By using modern technology with foward-thinking, conscious designs and applications, self-sustainability isn't something we have to wait for, it's something we can be right now.
Different ideas explored in this exhibit include:
Symbiotic dwelling systems, multi-functional and adaptable architecture, modular micro-buildings, self-sustaining building units, smart life flow environments, natural energy systems.
Welcome to the world of today. Alive in the year 2010.
Global overpopulation? No problem, just don't live like the average US citizen. If all people alive today used as much energy as the USA, all fossil fuels would be used up within 10 years. The US uses more energy on air conditioning alone than the entire continent of Africa uses for total energy consumption. North Americans use an enormous amount of resources but too often they are not utilized to achieve the most productive ends. For example, the average US home owner uses 60% of their water usage on maintaining a nice bright green yard; one that doesn't give food, give shade, or provide lumber. Moreover, when a yard is cut, the leftover grass mulch is not re-used to feed cattle or provide insulation.
This is WASTED ENERGY. WASTED OPPORTUNITY.
All of this can change today, for alot less than predicted, if humans are willing to look at the interactions between the earth, the standard home system, and communities. This isn't a question of making some grand altruistic sacrifice to save the planet. It is a question about how a human being survives in the world with over 6,000,000,000 other human beings. It's a question of how to best utilize what we have so that we can continue to have the things we need.
LET'S COOL AND HEAT OUR HOMES NATURALLY, AT NO COST!
LET'S USE NATURAL LIGHT, IT'S HEALTHIER AND IT IS FREE!
LET'S ORGANIZE FOR OPTIMIZATION!
LET'S TURN WASTE INTO ENERGY!
LET'S THINK OF OURSELVES AS BEING "OF" OUR ENVIRONMENT, INSTEAD OF BEING "IN" OUR ENVIRONMENT!
This is WASTED ENERGY. WASTED OPPORTUNITY.
All of this can change today, for alot less than predicted, if humans are willing to look at the interactions between the earth, the standard home system, and communities. This isn't a question of making some grand altruistic sacrifice to save the planet. It is a question about how a human being survives in the world with over 6,000,000,000 other human beings. It's a question of how to best utilize what we have so that we can continue to have the things we need.
LET'S COOL AND HEAT OUR HOMES NATURALLY, AT NO COST!
LET'S USE NATURAL LIGHT, IT'S HEALTHIER AND IT IS FREE!
LET'S ORGANIZE FOR OPTIMIZATION!
LET'S TURN WASTE INTO ENERGY!
LET'S THINK OF OURSELVES AS BEING "OF" OUR ENVIRONMENT, INSTEAD OF BEING "IN" OUR ENVIRONMENT!
The Modular Micro-Home
STRATEGY #1 : Less space = less energy use
This unit is designed by the architectural firm KRILL and gives a good starting point in the discussion of micro-homes. The unit has one section that is set to the foundation and the other units can move on wheels. I've devised some additional features to the KRILL design; for example, making collapsable walls to increase air flow and adding an external visible steel frame to encourage stability. The modularity of the design gives rise to alot of possible arrangements that can be set by hand, without heavy machinery. The mobile garden - a garden grown in a large cart - is a variable in the design that can be moved by hand as well. A small unit like this would use 80% less energy than a modern commercial home. If size matters, multiple units with fusing walls can be stacked to form bigger homes. The diagram shows 6 potential arrangements.
Strategy #2: Make the most of all spaces, surfaces, and environmental forces
This home is designed with a small footprint but maximum usability. The solar roof and wind turbines produce enough energy for the home. The wrap around accordian glass doors allow plenty of sunlight and keep the "feel" of the interior open and spacious. The walls and floors are made of pre-fabricated structural insulated panels (foam/paper-cement) that require very little maintenance. A rain collecting system is built into the roof and feeds into the garden towers and resevoir tank, providing enough water to keep the self-watering towers growing for 6 months without additional watering. The water tank doubles as a decorative feature as well as a holding tank for fish. The sides of the house are used to capture sunlight for a solar heater, and to generate humidity for the home's atmospheric water generator. The roof is used as a garden and as a lodging deck, expanding the usable floor space of the home. An integrated compostible toilet and greywater system feed the non-edible plants.
This kind of design makes use of technology that is already available. It can meet all of the demands of modernity and requires simple construction. Using innovative tactics, the house utilizes the latent energy in the environment around it, uses no grid-power, and cycles the inhabitant's output into a useful byproduct for the landscape. The house participates in a symbiotic relationship with environmental forces, which allows the dwelling to sustain itself in a productive way rather than in an energy consuming way.
As the simplified drawing (below) illustrates, the house and water tank are built as one integrated unit.
This kind of design makes use of technology that is already available. It can meet all of the demands of modernity and requires simple construction. Using innovative tactics, the house utilizes the latent energy in the environment around it, uses no grid-power, and cycles the inhabitant's output into a useful byproduct for the landscape. The house participates in a symbiotic relationship with environmental forces, which allows the dwelling to sustain itself in a productive way rather than in an energy consuming way.
As the simplified drawing (below) illustrates, the house and water tank are built as one integrated unit.
Adaptable Rooms and Smart Work Flow Designs
This is the ultimate in holistic organization. The entire food cycle is sustained within the single unit. The atmospheric water generator provides water for drinking, washing hands and dishes, and for maintaining the ceramic evaporative refridgerator. The stove-top has a steam catcher that redirects the steam into the water generator, which in turn condenses the steam back into drinking water. The cutting board hides a compost-dump system and also fits with a rack so that it serves a double function as a storage shelf during food prep. The water from the sink flows into a tank for the self-watering garden. The drying rack for the dishes also drains into the garden's water tank. The compost system uses a vermiculture solution to turn paper and food into nutrient-rich soil for the garden. A slide out table provides space for eating. The unit can be built into a house, or it can have solar panels plugged directly into the top so that it can function in a camping or tailgating situation.
This is a basic layout for a multi-functional room. The main unit acts like a swiss-army knife, housing an assortment of "living tools", like a table, ironing board, and chair. The deep rotating shelves allow easy access to items that are stored in the far back of the unit. The floor is also multi-functional, operating as a pop-up wall and giving way to the under-floor and sub-floor storage unit. While the pop-up wall and under-floor are being utilized, the space can function entirely different. The pop-up wall can accommodate things such as utility items and hobby tools, making the space usable as a work studio. When the pop-up wall is placed back into the floor, the unit can be used again for living purposes.
The Waterfall Home
The waterfall home uses three natural solutions to regulate the temperature of the home. The first cooling system is composed of the two waterfall towers. As water falls, it absorbs some of the temperature of the ambient air, thereby reducing the overall temperatue by up to 20 degrees. An open air building design brings the cool air into the interior of the home where it meets up with the second system - a thermal well which sinks deep into the ground where air is cool. The venting system draws the air from the well into the home to keep it at a consistently cool temperature. To switch to heating, the venting systems redirects to the glass solar collector. In the collector, thermal mass gains heat during the day and releases it to warm the home. Two wind turbines on top of the waterfall towers provide energy for the home and pumping systems.
When the designs of these homes and living systems are analyzed we can see the logic for using modern renewable technology. While the initial costs might be more than a traditional commercial system, the long term functionality and savings make it worthwhile. The most important thing to note thoughout the designs of these homes is that the big gains are made not by the technology, but by the re-imagining and re-understanding of what a functional dwelling unit can be. As clearly seen in the natural world, the survival of any living organism rests on the multi-functionality of many of it's systems, all working in concert. Why should homes and buildings in human societies be any different?
When the designs of these homes and living systems are analyzed we can see the logic for using modern renewable technology. While the initial costs might be more than a traditional commercial system, the long term functionality and savings make it worthwhile. The most important thing to note thoughout the designs of these homes is that the big gains are made not by the technology, but by the re-imagining and re-understanding of what a functional dwelling unit can be. As clearly seen in the natural world, the survival of any living organism rests on the multi-functionality of many of it's systems, all working in concert. Why should homes and buildings in human societies be any different?
You are now leaving the exhibit. Thank you for visiting!
Resources on sustainable architecture and lifestyles are provided below.
Magazines:
Dwell
Mother Earth News
Architects/ Studios:
KRILL
StudioGORM
Resources on sustainable architecture and lifestyles are provided below.
Magazines:
Dwell
Mother Earth News
Architects/ Studios:
KRILL
StudioGORM