Saturday, 1 March 2008

Green housing: just add water, wait 25 years

For fun. © Boston-based multiblog myninjaplease.com and the FabTreeHab of MIT Human Ecology Designers: Mitchell Joachim, Ph.D., Lara Greden, Ph.D., Javier Arbana, SMArchS.
growth of the structure

growth.jpg
This home concept is intended to replace the outdated design solutions at Habitat for Humanity International. Our goal was to propose a method to grow homes from native trees. This enables these new local dwellings to be a part of an absolutely green community.Fab Tree Hab Exterior

Its Principles from the design team's website:

1. Composed with 100% living nutrients.
2. Harmonize & embrace growth.
3. Make effective contributions to the ecosystem.
4. Accountable removal of human impacts.
5. Involve arboreal farming & production.
6. Subsume technology within terrestrial environs.
7. Circulate water & metabolic flows symbiotically.
8. Consider the life cycle, from use to disposal.
9. Achieve a fitness with our earthen web of life

cross-section with Rain Harvester, Gravity Plumbing & Compost. click on image
section.jpg
"While I wouldn’t hold my breath waiting for one of these bad boys, much respect for the design team for coming up with a truly green housing solution. Humans are a part of nature; it's only right that our architecture should be too." -- MNP

Practical suggestions:
- for greening existing churches from KAIROS Canada, KAIROS en français, UK Living Witness, QEW, Web of Creation.
- for family homes from QEW, Australia, CSBA links including Green Building Primer.
- for architects: LEED Canada design software. USGBC research, publications and links. GUSSE, Michael Reynolds' Earthships website and video, John Todd's Ocean Arks International (cf. New Alchemy bioshelters).
- Alex Steffen on cars vs Bright Green Cities in Worldchanging.com
- The Greening of Southie a film about Boston's first LEED building
- Ecocity World Summit April 2008
See also city and architecture tags in Delicious, lower righthand column.

No comments: