Concept Homes and Concept Building are fostering a growing discussion among reform minded experts in the architect/builder community. These people have come together to tackle the problem of ignorance and fragmentation concerning "green" (environmental-sustainability-building psychology) issues. One of the key elements now needed, according to some of these experts, is green design that will appeal to the masses living in suburbia. If the suburbanites don't go for it, it's a lost cause.
The problem here is that people have a very powerful image in their brains about the houses they want to live in. They may not be able to express the details or the reasons, but the evidence is overwhelming that most people prefer vernacular houses. It is the house "alphabet" they know and are comfortable with and, yes, even love.
The pre-eminent symbol for a house, is two walls and a roof. Outside the dry parts of the world, the vernacular is a pitched roof. The typical suburban American goes for a pitched roof home. How do I know? Look at suburbia (not including the desert southwest). Do you see flat roofed homes? Compared to the number of pitched-roofs, probably very, very few.
So unless green design can come up with an efficient, economical, and aesthetic pitched roof innovation, suburbia is not going to buy it. If we can combine the long-term local and global economic necessity for green building with a relatively low cost solution, while satisfying individual desire to live by aesthetic and vernacular design, we can solve the problem.
My Story
First of all, know this: I am not selling anything except an idea, because I think it is a good idea and will help solve the problem. I personally know builders and architects, my lifelong hobby being home design. I have lived in many different
homes, 26 to be exact, all for more than two months. My 3rd through 8th
homes were in Berkeley, California, in the 60's. My only credentials as
an environmentalist are that I was tear-gassed by the Oakland Riot
Squad while protesting to stop the destruction of "People's Park." I
always thought we needed to green the city, but my eyes were just recently opened by
hearing Andres Duany speak on this topic. (clik Link tab and go to
Green Building: the Not So Big New Urbanism at the bottom)
I know what I like. When I first walked into my present home I knew that it was where I wanted to live. We've been here now for 11 years, I think. The living room has a big round skylight. I never want to move again.
Many almost subliminal factors affect our feelings toward the spaces we call home. Air movement is important. The second you feel a temperate breeze you know that you were missing it before. Light is also important in a home. Realtors know that if a home is dark it won't easily sell. Daylight is what is different about being outdoors. You can have a room full of plants, but without daylight it's just a laboratory experiment.
I want to emphasize the psychological/physiological importance of light. Many people will put up with a lack of light because it's so intangible, and therefore seems unimportant and not worth the cost of a solution. In my estimation, unless you have mold covering your walls or radon leaking into your living area or three feet of Mississippi mud on the first floor, a lack of light in your home can depress you more than just about any other home flaw.
Browsing through the photo gallery of one of the nation's top skylight manufacturers, I was thrilled to see many rooms alive with light, but on the other hand,
many had skylights that were too small for their rooms, too high, or
facing the wrong way. (see photo album:
Insufficient skylights) You want light, but not just as a feature and
not with glare. The big reason people do not install large skylights is
that sky lights are a notorious heat gain/loss factor and therefore in
many cases not money-wise. They will always be an enemy of your heating
or cooling system. So why do people install them? Look at them. They
nourish your soul with light.
Did you know that light is eternal; that it exists outside
of time? That time does not exist for something going the speed of
light? Scientific fact. It's beyond just physics; it touches us in some
deep way. They don't call it enlightenment for nothing. Some say that
light is our true home. I think they may have something there. And it's
common knowledge that without enough daylight, many people suffer
depression. Doctors treat it with light. (See photo album: Bright Idea
Homes see the light!)
Welcome to Bright Idea Homes
Large skylights are an integral feature of the Bright Idea Home. Using new materials and a new building feature, the
homeowner can easily
insulate them in winter, and shade them in summer. This is
possible due to the new building feature- the Greenhouse Cap.
You might wonder why we need this revolutionary new
building idea when all we need for more light is skylights made by
Kalwall (see Links: It's here! Translucent thermal panels). But the
Greenhouse Cap is more than just a light collector. It is the
centerpiece of an integrated thermal control system for the home,
allowing collection and distribution of heat in winter as well as heat
dissipation and almost zero-cost skylight shading in summer.
Kalwall does offer a lot, but it sacrifices clear view --permanently.
In some situations Kalwall may be more desirable than clear skylights,
as in over computer/media areas of your home. However,
if skyview is more important than maximal thermal
insulation, then Kalwall has unacceptable constraints in some home
areas. For example, only a clear skylight will give you a view of the
stars over your bed or allow the relaxing pastime of cloud-watching
from your favorite chair or your bathtub. The home designer will choose
where to place what.
The key new concept in Bright Idea Homes is the Greenhouse Cap. This
unusual departure from a standard building element, namely the roof
system, allows a heretofore impossible breakthrough in cost benefits,
aesthetics
and comfort. Choose where to place large clear and/or translucent
skylights over every room, knowing that the Greenhouse Cap will allow
them to be shaded or insulated whenever necessary while it shades your roof in summer or heats your home in winter.
My presentation on this site is purely heuristic. Edgar
Zilsel, historian and philosopher of science, said, "...even vague and
dubious assertions can render good services to empirical research as a
heuristic stimulus." Though I speak of Bright Idea Homes as though they
existed in the physical world, they are presently only found in my
head. But my thoughts may lead someone to test whether my assertions
are dubious or not.
Let me list the benefits of a Bright Idea Home:
- Range of materials to fit every budget
- Lowers or removes fuel bills
- Efficient innovative methods raise property values
- Wraps interiors in natural daylight
- Lo-tech, easily replaceable parts of the thermal system
- Works by itself or with other green systems, i.e. grey water, photo-voltaic, compost toilet, wind power, etc
- Non-toxic and earth-friendly materials
- Can enhance any home style in any neighborhood.
- Builders can offer buyer choice in skylight placement and green systems
The
photos below
are not meant to suggest they show Bright Idea Homes, because to my
knowledge none have yet been built. They are beautiful skylight
scenes and show what a difference large or multiple skylights can make - plain, fancy, or
in-between. To see some examples of the Greenhouse Cap, go to the article: The
Greenhouse Cap
   
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