One of the winners of this year’s American Institute of Architecture’s Small Project Practitioners Knowledge Community 8th annual Small Project Awards is Small House in an Olive Grove designed by Cooper Joseph Studio. The home is located in the Dry Creek Valley near Sonoma, California and functions almost completely off-the-grid.
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The builder KB Home just unveiled their newest project, the ZeroHouse 2.0, which is located in Los Angeles County, CA. The home is also called “Double ZeroHouse” since it is both water and energy efficient. This home is the first built by this contractor to have both net-zero energy status, and zero freshwater irrigation. According to KB Home estimates, the ZeroHouse 2.0 is capable of conserving 150,000-gallons of water per year, which is a 70% reduction compared to a typical home. ZeroHouse 2.0 is also capable of producing all the energy it needs.
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A team of students at Waseda University in Japan have constructed a prototype for a house that can be heated by composting straw. They dubbed the dwelling the “Recipe for Life” house. Using the heat generating composting process for the purpose of heating a dwelling is not a new idea, but it is definitely one that should be explored further, and perhaps brought closer to the public. The Recipe for Life prototype house is certainly an interesting proposition in that regard.
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The first team from the Czech Republic to enter the Solar Decathlon is Team CTU, made up of 26 students who set their sights on designing and building a prototype for future housing while raising awareness of solar energy, energy efficiency, and Czech architecture and engineering.
Their submission in the Solar Decathlon 2013, for which judging takes place in October 2013 in Irvine, California, is AIR House, which stands for Affordable – Innovative – Recyclable. Utilizing energy effective materials and technologies, AIR House provides a comfortable environment for older generations that appeals to the senses and respects the environment.
One of four teams that are representing California in the 2013 Solar Decathlon, Team USC (from the University of Southern California) will be submitting its fluxHome, a net zero prototype, as an entry in the competition to be held in October 2013 in Irvine, California.
fluxHome reimagines the suburban tract home in an energy efficient and affordable combination of smart home technologies with readily available and customizable components that can serve as a single family residence for up to four people or be adapted to other lifestyle scenarios.
The first city-wide collegiate team to be formed in Washington, D.C. and compete in the Solar Decathlon is Team Capitol DC, made up of students and faculty mentors from Catholic University, American University, and George Washington University. Their entry is HARVEST HOME, taking its name from its harvesting of natural resources, and is designed to meet the needs of a wounded veteran of the Iraq and Afghanistan wars who will live in the home after the competition.
