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Books and articles celebrating sustainable or green residential design have become commonplace. This book is different. Written for design professionals, William Carpenter's Modern Sustainable Residential Design not only explores the fundamental design principles of sustainable homes, it provides a practical guide to implementing them.
This guide offers lessons for architects, interior designers, and builders who want to conceptualize and implement sustainable design strategies in modern residential design. It outlines solutions for incorporating sustainable aspects into a home design from conceptualization to implementation. Detailed design analyses range from groundbreaking contemporary buildings such as Pugh + Scarpa's Solar Umbrella House to Ray Kappe's LivingHome, illuminating some of the most innovative sustainable strategies in the United States and abroad.
The book features the work of many architects and designers, including the following:
- Ehrlich Architects
- Rick Joy Architects
- Ray Kappe
- Pugh + Scarpa
- Lightroom
- Carter + Burton
- Architectus
- Studio 804
- Auburn's Rural Studio
From the Foreword
It is my hope that within ten years, ideally less, green will not be the new black but will simply be normal.
This paradigm shift won't be easy to make. Currently, 50 percent of new construction is residential yet less than 5 percent is green building. That's a statistic that doesn't jibe with popular perceptions of green as the new black. Rather, it seems clear that it's not easy being green at all, as evidenced by the tragically small number of green homes standing today. Depending on your definition, there are as few as 592 (according to the U.S. Green Building Council) and as many as 750,000 (according to ENERGY STAR) or some where in between (around 100,000), if you're listening to the National Association of Home Builders.
Misperceptions of green building, whether related to perceived costs, complicated construction, or level of consumer interest, are legion. In a 2008 study by RCLCO Research and Development, fully 96 percent of builders surveyed believed that green building translates into increased costs; 63 percent believed that it was more "complicated" to build; and 71 percent cited a lack of contractors experienced in green buildings. Where builders had a grasp on basic green elements, such as low-flow fixtures or ENERGY STAR appliances, their familiarity with local, recycled, and salvaged materials was low, and their understanding of more complex systems like solar and natural IWAC was minimal at best.
The obstacles inherent in these stats are dismal but not insurmountable thanks to major cultural and economic shifts around the idea of sustainability. "Going green" is no longer a matter of altruism; it has become an economic necessity. Once the realm of wacky visionaries and yurt-inhabiting hippies, it's now the focus at exclusive summits like T1 and Davos, and the pet project of celebrities, politicians, and policymakers. As the economy struggles and venture capital money seems to disappear, clean tech remains poised for explosive growth.
But the change isn't only about dollars. What's also changed is the framing of the debate. The pursuit of sustainability can help save the planet, true, but savvier messaging allows us to understand how organic, low-VOC, renewable, and so on are good not just for the world but, more specifically, for our communities and families. A focus on local - whether it's the decision to grow food in your backyard or to limit the miles construction materials need to travel before being used to build your new dwelling - literally brings the issue of climate change home.
Homebuyers are helping to drive changes and demonstrate demand through increased knowledge, awareness, and purchasing power. And more forward-thinking architects and builders are offering innovative and attractive options in green building. House labels that spell out the relative health and efficiency of homes, similar to the Food and Drug Administration mandates for food packaging, are under consideration by the American Institute of Architects, and at least one architect has made them standard in the houses she produces.
The success of these new ways of thinking about sustainability have resulted in changes once thought to be out of reach both emotionally and economically. Higher gas prices and heating/cooling costs are rather quickly altering the way people think about the location and square footage of the homes they are living in. A bigger, less expensive house further from your workplace might have seemed a better deal until the combined costs of commuting and utilities cancel out any savings you might have been enjoying on your mortgage, for example - a reality that has resulted in recent months to a swift exodus back toward city centers and into smaller homes.
The world of residential building is poised to do great things. The guidance, information, materials, and technology, while ever evolving, are in place. Now it's the hearts and minds that must follow. Modern Sustainable Residential Design: A Guide for Design Professionals is a comprehensive, user-friendly guide that can help. So let's get started.
—Allison Arieff
About the Author
William J Carpenter FAIA PhD is a nationally recognized architect and educator. He is founder of Lightroom, an interdisciplinary design firm in Decatur, Georgia, specializing in architecture and new media projects for commercial and residential clients. Carpenter was a recipient of the national ACSA/AIAS Educator of the Year Award in 2000 and the National Young Architects Citation in 1997. A professor at Southern Polytechnic State University, he is the author of Learning by Building: Design and Construction in Architectural Education (Wiley).
Table of Contents
Foreword. Preface. Acknowledgments. Part One: The Sustainable Modern Home: Process and Design. Chapter 1: Sustainable Modern Homes: Historical Context. Chapter 2: The Design Process. Chapter 3: Green Building: The Contractor's Perspective (Robert J. Soens Jr.). Chapter 4: House as a System (Sydney G. Roberts, PhD, Southface Energy Institute). Chapter 5: Materials for the Modern Home (James Burton, AIA, and William Carpenter, FAIA, PhD). Chapter 6: Landscape Architecture and the Sustainable Modern Home (Lynn Saussy, ASLA, and William Carpenter, FAIA, PhD). Chapter 7: Construction Documents for Homes (Robert Cain, AIA). Chapter 8: Residential Interiors (Michelle Timberlake, ASID, and William Carpenter, FAIA, PhD). Part Two: The Sustainable Modern Home: Case Studies. Chapter 9: Vanguard Sustainable Homes. Black House, Prickwillow, England (Mole Architects). Shenandoah Retreat, Warren County, Virginia (Carter + Burton Architecture). Yoga Studio and Residence, Bluemont, Virginia (Carter + Burton Architecture). 700 Palms Residence, Venice, California (Steven Ehrlich). Trinity Apartments, Auckland, New Zealand (Architectus). Solar Umbrella House, Venice, California (Pugh + Scarpa). Beals' Residence, Atlanta, Georgia (Lightroom Studio). Bush Residence, Atlanta, Georgia (Lightroom Studio). Dominey Residence, Atlanta, Georgia (Lightroom Studio). Lightcatcher, Atlanta, Georgia (Lightroom Studio). Lightroom Studio, Decatur, Georgia (Lightroom Studio). Carter Residence, Atlanta, Georgia (Lightroom Studio). Shot-Trot House, Houston Texas (Brett Zamore). Johnson-Jones Residence, Phoenix, Arizona (Eddie Jones). The 4-Parts House, Seattle, Washington (Lead Pencil Studio). Capitol Hill House, Seattle, Washington (Jim Burton). DESIGNHabitat2 Initiative, Auburn, Alabama (David Hinson). LivingHomes, Los Angeles, California (Ray Kappe). Chapter 10: Teaching Design/Build: Studio 804 (Dan Rockhill). Endnotes. About the Contributors. Index. |
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