Lifecycle Building Challenge Winners Announced
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 09.26.07
The Lifecycle Building Challenge was a competition run by the EPA "to change how people think about, design, and construct and deconstruct buildings." The winners were just announced and include the Greenmobile, by Michael Berk, which won for best professional unbuilt project and
"envisions affordable, factory-built energy efficient mobile home units that meet International Residential Code for housing with structurally-sound foundations, demountable for easy relocation, and can function in a place with a limited infrastructure or no utility grid in-place.... This project will incorporate systematic strategies for growth and change as family structures also grow and change. "Pre-fabricated plug-in" rooms, plug-in porches, and surface mounted wiring are also featured in this design."
Best built project was a "Pavilion in the park"
This 11,100 sf 'pavilion in the park,' exhibits the urban design plans for future development of Seattle's South Lake Union neighborhood. For future transportation, reassembly and reuse in a new location, the structure is designed to separate into sections. Currently the pavilion is used to tell the story of the South Lake Union neighborhood - its past, present and future. Visitors to the center are able to understand and visualize the future plans for this emerging and changing part of Seattle.
The building, designed to be relocated in the future, takes a minimalist approach to the site. Its structure sites lightly on the land, suspended above the gently sloping site, atop short concrete piers. The building edges are cantilevered, allowing the grade and vegetation to run uninterrupted beneath.
Student Award went to Adam Fenner, Jason Bond, Thomas Gerhardt, Josh Canez, Nick Schaider of Texas A&M:
The open source concept used in the software community is adapted in this entry to develop open source building systems allowing anyone to design and incorporate elements into the building system if grid protocols and standard joint connections are used. Using a library of pre-manufactured components brought to a site and assembled efficiently, the structure is designed with a specialized bolted connector joints that allows for components to be unplugged easily and without damage.
Radio Frequency Identification Tags (RFID) can be embedded to take inventory and check the history of components. The project even includes a community building game, Utopia 2.0, to allow neighbors to swap building modules as family and community needs change.
For Everyone who took poor John Laumer to task for his post on Greenzip tape, the judges thought otherwise.
"This patented demountable tape provides an alternative method for hanging sheetrock for later de-construction and reuse. Drywall has traditionally been a barrier to gaining easy access to structural components of the building for repair or reuse. This tape and associated screw connectors allow drywall to be easily removed and replaces the traditional nailing mechanism, which can damage the drywall and inhibit reuse."
See them all at ::Lifecycle Building Challenge
Wow!
I go to treehugger 10 times a day and never expected to see the greenmobile on the front page! I can say that my name is on the bottom of that poster. I worked with the original designer Michael Berk on the design / details and construction documents. WOW.
Justin
I am looking forward to seeing the GreenMobile home built. I have info on it's progress (from Discovery Channel) and will be watching. It's definitly better looking than most of the modern prefabs I've seen. And it IS affordable, idea is to produce it for around $50,000. That's what I'm talking about ! Help get the word out on this house, we need to get these units built!!