Irresidence: Off grid Downloadable Design
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 05.11.07
There is a confluence of ideas happening that will generate the efficient, green house of the future. Prefab offers the promise of replication of proven, tested designs with factory controlled quality; digital driving of CNC machines offers tighter tolerances, more effective use of materials and less waste; easy prototyping through 3D fabbing makes housing design more like industrial design, where casting a model can lead to saving a nickel per unit, useless on a single house but huge on a million unit product run. That is why housing is so inefficient, it is all one-offs.
That is why with a dozen green options at the Ontario Association of Architects convention in Toronto, I attended the presentations on "Managing Digital Fabrication: Improving the Dialogue of Design from Idea to Manufacture" to see the future, and what a promising future it is.
I learned about the work of Feature Factory, which uses solidworks software and a room full of equipment to crank out everything from the LongPen to entire showrooms and interiors that can be installed in hours instead of days because they were built on the computer, tested and refined, before they were sent to the CNC cutters and other machines.
Of particular interest to TreeHugger readers, they also modelled an off-grid cottage designed by Toronto architect John Bowron that according to Julian Bowron of Feature Factory, is so energy efficient that "the mice in the kitchen cabinets generate enough heat to keep it warm"
Julian modelled it in 3D down to the smallest elbow on the plumbing, and put the drawings up for all to see, download and build. It is two years old and I suspect if you contacted Julian he would turn on his new machines and print it out, he has the capabilities to do so. Get your free off grid passive house at ::irresidence (warning: some of the links on the site are broken, they are fixing it)
More to come on this marvelous new world.
Thirsty for more? Check out these related articles:
- Ecofriendly Prefab Homes Debut in Turkey
- From Bauhaus To Outhouse: A View For Two Improves The Design
- Prefab? High Concept? Green?
- SEED [pod] Incremental Housing from Binary Studios
This is what it's about. More architects should be pursuing architecture like this, leading the way for the future of society. This person has mastered some of the hot items in architecture 2 years before most of the industry has even taken notice or should I say pulled their head out of their greedy/lazy asses! The combination of BIM and Green are natural as to the benefits posed by computer testing and fabrication stated in the article.
Do you see this architects? This is what you need to push! Don't let the client weasel out of Green. Don't get lazy and build with out information management! You are building the world, and tests show that buildings are some of the highest polluters, so get to it, take responsibility and lead us into a clean and environmentally friendly future!!!
I don't think it does any good for the movement to suggest that off-grid houses have mice in them. Lots of off-grid houses have been shown in several studies to have rates of mice which are only a little higher than "ordinary" houses. This story seems to ignore that completely. It attempts (admirably) to make off-grid houses appealing but at the same time marginalizes the movement as a fringe phenomenon by implying that there are mice in the cabinets.
......
seriously though, these houses are awesome.
Bravo - an off the grid model. What a great basic design resource. Here's where local (world wide) arch./design assocs. could definitely serve the greater good, by producing the same only tuned to local/regional conditions. As a builder in a SEAsia I have unique set of factors to adjust to in pursuing a more sustainable product and due to lack of local resource, I have had to do so from scratch.
Julian here......
I'd sure love to see that mice study that "Glenn" refers to...But more importantly Glenn, I'll be direct and just say it: You need to get a sense of humour.
By the way during my talk at the RAIC (Royal Architectural Institute of Canada) convention I added the following to the mouse / cabinets / heat-loss comment: "The only problem we have is that when somebody enters the room with a drink with ice cubes in it, the water in the toilet freezes. We are still working on that".
Anyway, Glenn I am very glad that we are being taken seriously and you would be happy to hear that we have had several requests for a full set of drawings and construction management services from people wanting to build an Irresidence. You would be even happier to know that in my own place we put sheet metal around the bases of all the sill plates and walls to keep rodents out of the walls, which is a big problem with a house that is left unoccupied for weeks at a time.
Regards to all,
JB
Julian here......
I'd sure love to see that mice study that "Glenn" refers to...But more importantly Glenn, I'll be direct and just say it: You need to get a sense of humour.
By the way during my talk at the RAIC (Royal Architectural Institute of Canada) convention I added the following to the mouse / cabinets / heat-loss comment: "The only problem we have is that when somebody enters the room with a drink with ice cubes in it, the water in the toilet freezes. We are still working on that".
Anyway, Glenn I am very glad that we are being taken seriously and you would be happy to hear that we have had several requests for a full set of drawings and construction management services from people wanting to build an Irresidence. You would be even happier to know that in my own place we put sheet metal around the bases of all the sill plates and walls to keep rodents out of the walls, which is a big problem with a house that is left unoccupied for weeks at a time.
Regards to all,
JB
John Bowron Architect,
This is welcome publicity on this project. It represents 4 months of research, drawings, and costing. Julian has several acres of beautiful undulating wooded land with a flat area facing south that would be ideal for the Irresidence but as always financing is a problem. I wish there was access to reasonable financing for a project like this. Then we could make some real progress. What we need is a prototype to show people what is possible and to make refinments. A show home !
With proven and tested efficiencies, a track record.
A number of these houses sharing the utilities would make even more economic sence.
Hi,
I have been providing off grid financing for construction, purchases, or refinances for over seven years. Typically at conventional rates.
Great design of the home by the way:-)