The Practically Zero Energy Year Round Greenhouse

I realize the title is a mouthful, but here in Colorado this title could be mistaken for an oxymoron.  While exact information is not easily accessible you can ask any commercial greenhouse operator in Colorado what their winter energy bills are, then watch your jaw hit the floor.  The numbers are astronomical:  in the vicinity of $4.00 a square foot for winter use.  Comparatively, residential heating is an average of 10 cents / square foot. For many years Barrett Studio Architects has designed vertically glazed, highly insulated ‘growing spaces’ in our residential designs.  But not until we stumbled across the Greenhouse at Cure Organic Farm built by Synergistic Building Technologies had we discovered a group of engineers calculating and perfecting these systems to grow year round food in our Colorado climate.  Serendipitously, within the year of this fortunate discovery we have a Colorado mountain client interested in a greenhouse addition to their home; better yet, this client is ecstatic about the possibility of a ‘Zero’ energy greenhouse.  And thus we have just broke ground on our first practically zero energy year round greenhouse.

So whats in the title?

Great insulation in the foundation(r-15), walls(r-26) and roofs(r-45).

Operable insulated shutters over all vertical glazing and vent penetrations.  Courtesy of SBT, we are exploring bi-fold sliding and swinging shutters made with 2″ of polyisocyanurate set in a thin fiberglass frame for the various conditions in our design.

Adjustable light reflectors below all south facing glass, manually adjustable to three settings: winter solstice, spring and fall equinox, and summer solstice.

An air exchange system designed to take interior heat and moisture and dump it into the soil/planting beds, which are thermally broken from the outside temperature by the insulated foundation.  Consequently we’ve now stumbled across a number of these greenhouse air exchange systems that are evolved from the concept of geothermal heating and cooling.  They all have nifty names:  Climate Battery, GETS (greenhouse earth thermal storage), SHCS (subterranean heating and cooling system).  In essence they are used to stabilize year round indoor air temperatures and control the humidity levels of their respective greenhouses.  Our system, in a 530 sf greenhouse, will run on a single van axial fan from fantech (often used for radon mitigation) and 7 mains consisting of 4″ perforated drain pipe with sleeves diverging from a single plenum.  With a total of 300 linear feet, we’ll run 200′ eighteen inches under the earth floor and another 100′ in our raised beds.  Each main will have an exhaust at the end of a planting bed complete with welded wire mesh for rodent control.

Other important features include:

• A 5000cfm louvered air change fan for much needed CO2, equipped with an insulated shutter to boost its R-value.
• Upper and lower operable openings for natural ventilation.  Temperature, humidity, CO2 & light sensors wired to a computer for automated operation of the shutters and fans.
• A 12 v dc, PV battery charge which will continue to operate even if the grid is down.  Zero, zilch, NO backup heating or cooling what-so-ever and yet an anticipated operation temperature at or above 55 degrees year round…totally awesome.

Stay tuned for updates: the foundation is in, backfilling & the greenhouse earth thermal storage should be finished around the beginning of the new year, and with a little luck we can be planting in March of 2012.

Loss and Opportunity: Four Homes Rise from the Ashes Part II

by David Barrett, AIA

The idea that design can be a part of the healing process has been termed “restorative” or “regenerative” design. The cycle of life, death, and rebirth is one that nature models for us in homeostasis, and cultures celebrate in seasonal rituals that remind us of the spiritual message found in impermanence and even of death itself.  When the Four Mile Fire raged through the foothills west of Boulder last Labor Day, 6,000 acres of mountain landscape were suddenly and drastically transformed.  In its wake, 169 homes were destroyed and those who had lived in them were left with the challenge of reconstructing their lives, their dreams, their homes, and the precious landscapes they had inhabited.

Over this past year, as Architects, we have been invited into four projects that are engaged in this process.  With each, we have the opportunity to touch the essence of restorative design in both human and ecological terms.  This is Part Two of a four-part series, wherein we’ll be sharing the story of each of these homes, families, and individuals: their experience, the co-creative process, and the unfolding of the built form as a tool for creating positive energy, opportunity, and with it, a quality of healing.

See Part One

We live in a culture geared to immediate gratification and short-term thinking.  Sudden change, and even loss, can bring about opportunity for us to challenge our value systems, our sense of beauty, and our trust in the perfect unfolding of life itself.

These clients live in Wisconsin, and are deeply connected to their community, their work, and their roots.  They also have a long-term love affair with the Rocky Mountains.  Like many of us boomers, they were looking at their dreams and were determined to act upon them.  In this case, that dream is the building of a family retreat in the foothills west of Boulder.  This retreat will act as a place of coming together for them and their grown children, who are scattered around the country and are often off on world adventures.

The site they found spoke to them in its relative ease of access, while being a part of the ponderosa forest that weaves its way through lichen covered rock outcroppings.  However, what most struck them was the broad view wrapping around them from east to west, taking in the plains, the city lights of both Boulder and Denver, the undulating foothills, and glimpses of the Divide to the west.  Our client stood on the place in the site that we all sensed as “home” and asked for an architecture that would “drink in the views.”

This desired sense of reach led to a formal approach that both found fit from an allusion to the rolling landscape’s folded forms, and to the skyscape molded by our spectacular lenticular clouds.  Stretching a long, thin house on an east-west axis invited sun penetration and acted as a lens to frame the dynamic views.  Following our client’s esoteric cues for an interconnected geometry, we developed a design that was akin to a vessel for connections.  Upon completing the Site Plan Review Process with Boulder County and submitting for a building permit, the winds of change drove the Four Mile Fire up the western slope below the building site, consuming the four acre site in an inferno that blackened every tree in the mature ponderosa forest, and with it made opaque the dream they had been actively pursuing for years.

Pallets are Beautiful: Lessons from Rocky Mountain Green

by Maggie Flickinger

In late April, I presented with David and Nicole at, and attended, the 2011 Rocky Mountain Green conference – the Colorado chapter of the United States Green Building Guild’s annual take on green building in the American West.

We had submitted a presentation to the Inspiration track, and took that charge seriously.  Through case studies from our work, including the Twin Buttes EcoVillage, the Architecture for Humanity Portable Classroom, and numerous passive solar homes, we explored the powerful world of scale jumping from a foundation of reducing environmental impact and with a goal of qualitative experiential impact.  Our primary lesson was the importance of considering sustainability in a holistic context, rather than compartmentalizing it into a checklist – ensure we’re still seeking the forest for the trees.  For designers, this is nicely summed up by Eliel Saarinen, who advises,

“Always design a thing by considering it in its next larger context – a chair in a room, a room in a house, a house in an environment, an environment in a city plan.”

The content of the remainder of the two-day conference was amazing. Here are some of the gems for those who missed it.

 

Hank Louis enlivened the conference opening with a presentation of his work helming Design Build Bluff, a university driven design-build studio in Bluff, Utah.  Modeled after Mockbee’s revered Rural Studio, DBB has brought almost a dozen homes to low-income Navajo families since is inception in 2000.

A place where change can incubate, Design Build Bluff brings forth Louis’ philosophy of compassionate sustainability, where design is “not about greatness, it’s about goodness.”  This frame of creative thinking manifests in nonconventional building materials and applications.  The gorgeously spare Whitehorse House employs refashioned shipping pallets as siding, while inside an old oil drum functions to vent a high efficiency, low technology Rocket Stove.  At the Windcatcher house, cement board (typically installed in lieu of drywall in bathrooms) is exposed as a simple yet effective exterior rainscreen siding solution.

Another bright idea the DBB team employs to cut their environmental impact is their solar trailer – a sort of mobile sun-powered tooltruck that banishes the gas-guzzling generator from their construction sites.

Our Favorite Things Volume 11

by Maggie Flickinger

While salvaged railroad tie furniture is on the verge of feeling trite, Railyard Studios prove that there still exists opportunity for ingenuity.  Their simple Cafe Stool employs both the unadorned mass of a solid white oak mainline tie and an industrial section of rail, which functions as a footrest.  Rail Yard Studio’s commitment to source, design, and craft their pieces in the US isn’t just lip service – founded by a railroad maintenance tech, these gents are honestly close to their source material.

Biomimetic design solutions are more accessible than ever with the launch of Asknature.org.  Billed as a wiki-style compendium of Biomimicry Taxonomy, the site will serve to cross-pollinate technical biology and beautiful design.  One example is the Thorny Devil’s capillary-spurred circulatory cutaneous system, which enables it to collect and convey water to its mouth.  Envisioning engineered rooftop runnels that channel rainwater using this natural inspiration is just one small example of nature leading environmentally sensitive design.

Many cyclists think of their bike as a work of art, to be enjoyed and appreciated as such.  Now, Knife & Saw’s Bike Shelf ends the days of relegating the bike to the garage and enters it into that realm of artistic display.  Crafted by hand and endlessly customisable (for those of you with super wide cruiser handlebars, don’t worry, he’s got you covered too), the Bike Shelf is functional too: just toss the day’s mail above.  I can’t help but think that a small, well-designed hook on the shelf’s underside would be a functional addition – we need somewhere to hang our equally artful helmets, no?

Artist and mathematician Nikki Graziano’s Found Functions series beautifully marries complex mathematical formulas with natural form, from sand dunes to clouds, trees to mountains.  I’m always partial to the artistic merging of nature and science, since this is an inherent relationship, but is rarely visualized.  The overt pairing of the two is both beautiful to behold and an inspiring reminder of the potentials of design influence by omnipresent natural order.

Loss & Opportunity: Four Homes Rising from the Ashes

by David Barrett, AIA

The idea that design can be a part of the healing process has been termed “restorative” or “regenerative” design. The cycle of life, death, and rebirth is one that nature models for us in homeostasis, and cultures celebrate in seasonal rituals that remind us of the spiritual message found in impermanence and even of death itself.  When the Four Mile Fire raged through the foothills west of Boulder last Labor Day, 6,000 acres of mountain landscape were suddenly and drastically transformed.  In its wake, 169 homes were destroyed and those who had lived in them were left with the challenge of reconstructing their lives, their dreams, their homes, and the precious landscapes they had inhabited.  Each individual has a unique experience of loss.  Each has a story that includes, in one way or another, the states of processing death: shock, anger, moments of fear & despair, glimmers of hope, tough decisions & setbacks, and then in its own time, acceptance and rebirth.

Over this past year, as Architects, we have been invited into four projects that are engaged in this process.  With each, we have the opportunity to touch the essence of restorative design in both human and ecological terms.  Over the next several weeks, we’ll be sharing the story of each of these homes, families, and individuals: their experience, the co-creative process, and the unfolding of the built form as a tool for creating positive energy, opportunity, and with it, a quality of healing.

Rod Moraga is a man who knows fire.  His professional expertise is in the analysis of fire potential in our urban/wild interface.  His work as co-founder of Anchor Point Group establishes and executes fire mitigation strategies.  His wife Shari has a long standing love for modernist architecture,  and Barrett Studio was hired to design a new home for their family in Boulder proper; one that would be a model of fire resistance, efficiency and climatic delight.  The family planned to sell their home in Four Mile Canyon and relocate to the new home in North Boulder.  With construction having just begun, Rod, a volunteer firefighter in the Four Mile Fire Department, answered a call to respond to a fire west of Wall Street.  From his nearby home in Four Mile Canyon, Rod became the first responder to a fire the soon exploded, being fed by mounting winds.  During the battle against this blaze, Rod’s own home was consumed by the inferno.  That construction was underway on his family’s new home in Boulder, using a material system & specifically designed for fire resistance was ironic at best.

Now, seven months later, Rod & his family have moved into their new home, built by Renove Construction using Aerated Autoclaved Concrete (AAC).  Nicole Delmage, an Associate at Barrett Studio, worked with me, Rod & Shari, to maximize the inherent potentials of this thick wall, high mass, highly insulative building system while expressing a decidedly modernist aesthetic.  More about the how the design was informed by the material’s unique properties can be found on the Barrett Studio website.

Open Trails for Twin Buttes Ecovillage

by Maggie Flickinger

In late March, the Barrett Studio master-planned Twin Buttes Ecovillage received unanimous Final Plan approval from the Durango City Council. This marks the culmination of a four year approval process, the finalization of the property’s annexation into the City, and the official dedication of 290 acres of open space from the land owners to the City and People of Durango. This open space includes much of the upper reaches of the property, including the iconic Buttes themselves. From the beginning, we knew this wasn’t development as usual. We were thrilled to partner with a land owner active in the land preservation community, a developer with a wild-west meets zen attitude who had recently fallen hard for sustainable living, and a prescient Planning Director interested in smart growth. Our hallmark process of listening to the land resulted in multiple on-site charrettes and site walks, as well as sophisticated GIS layering maps. Ultimately, the developer himself has taken up residence at the future site of the Artisan Core, directing the nascent Twin Buttes Farms and Ranch from his home.

With approvals in hand, what are the next steps for this new Durango community?

The solar gas station recently opened at the Twin Buttes Eastern Entrance on Highway 160.  Industry leading sustainability features result in 45% less energy consumption than neighboring stations, daylighting creates an inviting interior environment, the organic exterior materials palette feature wood & stone from the site, and innovative water treatment recycles 70% of the water used in car washes.  The store’s features were recently profiled in the Durango Herald.

Our Favorite Things Volume 10

by Maggie Flickinger

Another great find from Laura, our Interiors maven: Artist Melina Raissnia designs these wonderfully tactile felted wool rugs.  They’re crafted in Turkey by her company, Peace Industry, using a revived centuries old tradition.  Primitive and naturalistic motifs find their home in fields of naturally dyed fibers – and for those of us sensitive to offgassing, no need for a backer means no toxic adhesives or petrochemicals.

Pepsi Co unveiled their new bottle, made of 100% plant waste material.  While rival Coke boats 30% plant material, Pepsi’s R&D “unlocked the secret” behind a petrochemical free bottle.  Arguments about the sustainability of the bottle’s contents aside, I’m excited about the potential Pepsi recognized in using waste and agricultural by-products such as orange & potato peels, rather than using virgin plant material otherwise destined for food – a la corn-based packaging.

Summer time living made easy with CB2′s Sawyer chair.  A modern spin on the iconic Adirondack, a few of these – paired with the fun and crazy inexpensive Twist Side Tables for a splash of color! – would look at right at home on a designer deck, making your patio the envy of the Jones’.  Easy to accessorize, they’re destined to become a classic new shape.  Better yet, the material is solid FSC-certified eucalyptus in a warm natural grey finish.

The “last mile” is the crux of the commuter problem: many people are just outside of walking range once they disembark their bus/train.  The government in DC is paying more than lip service to the problem with their new BikeStation, directly adjacent to Union Station.  The architectural gem houses 150 commuter bikes, washrooms, and even a repair station in 1700 square feet.  Operating since October, it’s served thousands of commuters.  Here’s to hoping the Federal Highway Administration (a considerable funder) deems the project replicable – daring architectural expression included.

Nicole Elected Wild Bear Board Member

by Maggie Flickinger

Last week Nicole Delmage, Barrett Studio associate, was elected to serve on the Board of the Wild Bear Mountain Ecology Center.  She’s been building her relationship with Wild Bear for the past five years, first acting as Project Manager designing a state-of-the-art Nature Center at their property at Mud Lake (rendering below), then volunteering design time for their new downtown Nederland Headquarters.

Of her involvement with Wild Bear, Nicole says, “Since living and working here in Colorado I have fallen in love with the high alpine region that is the focus of Wild Bear’s programs.  Combined with an ongoing relationship and a growing connection with the people and mission, Wild Bear is a perfect venue for me to impact my community.”

Our Favorite Things Volume 9

by Maggie Flickinger

On March 1st, the Center for Resource Conservation released their Garden in a Box kits.  Designed by an experienced local horticulturalist, each kit contains hardy, water sipping grasses & flowers and is accompanied by a handy planting & care diagram.  Perfect for those without a bona fide green thumb, who are nonetheless looking to establish a thriving water-wise garden, these affordable and popular kits typically sell out FAST, so order yours soon!

This lovely gem of a pendant light from Eleek simply makes our associate, Nicole, smile.  Interpretable as rustic or industrial, we enjoy its stripped down aesthetic, void of excessive ornamentation.  This fixture could be at home in multiples over a cozy kitchen island or as a singular spotlight for a piece of art. The fixture gets green points for high recycled content and LED lamping.

Spending more time up at New Belgium saddles me with the enviable task of trying all their beers.  My current favorite is the Sahti, hailing from their exotic Lips of Faith series.  Flavored with juniper boughs & berries, and lemon & orange peel, the resulting ale is particularly bright and quaffable.  Rather than hitting you over the head with those pine boughs, Sahti is subtly evocative of icy mountain air fringed with snow-laced pine forest.  In short…the perfect companion to your next hut trip or high altitude winter outing!

Our Interiors maven, Laura, introduced me to Caba Company’s Barkskin, a hand formed & pounded bark product manufactured in Santa Fe, New Mexico.  We’re especially enamored with their Woven collection, which, when applied over a brightly hued wall, provides stunning organic texture & depth.  Another application that takes advantage of the woven texture is lighting, where wrapping a large drum pendant would bring a lilting interplay between opacity & luminosity.

Open Invite: Reinvent the Motor City

by Maggie Flickinger

Imagine walking down a city block in your hometown and realizing that just one in ten homes are occupied.  The others, once charming historic bungalows, are now overgrown, crumbling visages with nary a hint of their past lives as part of a vibrant community.  Repeat this pattern block after block.   Think a visit to downtown will reassure? There, a 35-story skyscraper sits entirely vacant, as it has since it was built – many of its neighbors have won a few tenants, but sit mostly empty.  City-wide, average residential vacancy is almost 30%, with many areas much more hard hit.

Abandoned homes on one block in East Detroit, published by Mother Jones in November 2010.

Our Favorite Things: Volume 8

by Maggie Flickinger

Here’s a break from the usual with a special Holiday Edition of Our Favorite Things!  Cheers.

As the frost nips our nose around the holidays, nothing beats a steamy mug of apple cider redolent with the season’s aroma.  And no one brings it to the apple cider game like Big B’s.  Big B’s local, organic unpasteurized apple cider is such a quintessential holiday treat.  Don’t live in Colorado?  Seek out a local cider maker in your town or city.  Trust me – it’s worth it!

 

Be sure to catch this Finnish film take on Santa folklore – you may have a new holiday favorite!  Darkly macabre, Rare Exports been described as a mix between Edward Gorey, the Brothers Grimm, and National Lampoon.  Indeed, it’s a captivating blend of droll humor and full kilt creepiness, with fun details that will keep you talking well after the end credits roll.  An undercurrent of social commentary regarding local know-how versus global greed mildly intellectualizes things, but the film never forgets its heart and is destined to become a classic for those who enjoy a little naughty with their nice.

The Colorado Ballet puts on one incredible show with their annual Nutcracker performances.  If holidays are a time for indulging, and experiences rank higher on your Christmas list than traditional presents, spring for a great seat at the show, and stroll to dinner afterwards at one of downtown Denver’s great restaurants.  It’s truly magical.

 

Last but not least, put on your own figurative Santa cap and dole out presents of kindness.  Take a moment to wave or smile at a crossing pedestrian instead of impatiently scowling, hold open a few doors, make that charitable donation instead of just thinking about it: you know the drill.  So live the spirit of the season and maybe, just maybe, it’ll feel so good you’ll carry it with you throughout the year!

Data + Graphics = Expanding Understanding

by Maggie Flickinger

Had the pleasure of attending Ignite Boulder 13 last week.  Outside of the much appreciated excuse to dress to the “Winter Ball” theme, and of course the happy run-ins with some TEDx & Ignite friends, I also particularly enjoyed Sterling White’s spark: Visual Storytelling with Beautiful Data.  I’m also a strong appreciator of “beautiful data” as a counterpoint to the cliche excel pie chart or bar graph.  When we expand our scope to complex issues with myriad data points, such visualization tools simply don’t suffice.  And this is where infographics enters the scene.  Entire careers are dedicated to infographics, there are multiple software programs to ease its utilization, and authors & visualization theoreticians such as Edward Tufte expound upon the principles of visualizing data.  The rules are simple: the result must not stray from an accurate depiction of real data, but must also make complex or multi-faceted issues visually accessible through clarity, storytelling, patternfinding, and (hopefully!) aesthetic appeal.  It’s this marriage of left & right brain that attracts me to infographics & data visualization.

Some are thought provoking without the use of any copy, such as the recently published world map of Facebook connections (top) or Eric Fischer’s series of “Locals & Tourist” maps, which uses Flickr’s geotagging feature to map where locals (blue) take photos versus tourists (red) (bottom, San Francisco):

Running with Sun Run

by Amy Kirtland

View of roof panels

I just signed a new lease. No, not for a car, not for a piece of property, but for photovoltaic panels.  The panels are “parked” on the south facing roof of my house, and they were installed a few weeks ago. I put $0 down and have signed a 20-year lease agreement that will essentially fix my electrical costs for the next 20 years for a price of $45 a month.  The 13 panels on my roof make up a 2.8 kW array that will produce enough energy to cover 96% of my family’s electricity usage.   If the system produces more electricity than we use, our utility meter will “run backwards,” and we will receive the credit from Xcel.

Our Favorite Things: Volume 7

by Maggie Flickinger

Heading to Sweden?  A stay at the Kolarbyn Ecoresort promises to be an adventurous highlight.  Rustic grass & moss covered cabins enjoy cozy interior details of stone wood-burning fireplaces and sheepskin adorned beds.  A wood fueled sauna floats on the idyllic Lake Skarsjon, with dense woods surrounding.  Wildlife abounds, with wolf, moose, lynx, beaver & bear being among the highlights.  This is also truly a local ecoresort, as it is actually owned by the area’s community farmers.

From Nicole, our intrepid Denver cyclist:  I value that this Great Road Rides Denver has an urban emphasis.  It encourages riding directly from home rather than traveling by car to a less urban setting with bike in tow, a practice that has always confused me.  Laws, safety and road etiquette are clearly expressed, validating an urban cycling experience that I could never have put into words.  I am very excited to experience a new side of  Denver by riding a route I would never have found on my own!

Sometimes, spatial limitations waylay even the best green intentions.  Don’t have space for both a compost bin and a recycle?  Basketbin cleverly combos the two with a dishwasher safe, lidded compost insert that marries a standard recycle / wastebin, making separation a snap.  This seems like it would be a great solution for commercial or home offices as well.  The best part?  They’re currently on sale for just $28 from SFMOMA.

Ex-Barrett Studio-er Greg Uitto shows off Populus’ new burly cargo bike.  In a great example of a green business “walking the walk,” Boulder home energy company Populus encourages county-wide business to be done on their fleet of Yuba’s Mundo bikes, outfitted with roomy cargo bags for tools & briefcases as well as lights for evening use.  Tally one for shifting from “the company car” to company bike(s).  We have one question though:  are those stylie aviators Greg is sporting part of the Populus uniform?

TEDx Boulder: Conscious Growth

by Maggie Flickinger

It’s here!  My talk for August’s TEDx Boulder has been posted on YouTube. This is definitely the most concise version of our thoughts on land development with values – we generally give hour long presentations on this topic, similar to the Ecovillages talk Amy & I will be giving at this weekend’s Bioneers conference in Boulder. So, grab a few bites of popcorn, enjoy the show, and let me know what you think of the distilled challenge we present!