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Eco 360 Residential House by Joseph Cory |
Home > Winners > Design #70004 >Interview |
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FS: What is the main principle, idea and inspiration behind your design?
JC: The goal of the project was to build a sustainable home that would be Energy-Positive and include excellent indoor air and light quality while reflecting the beauty of the surroundings. The challenge was even greater as the view of the sea is to the west, so traditional passive design solutions that are appropriate for the south facade were not valid in this case. An unusual geometrical optimization was needed to obtain all the passive design features while facing the west.
FS: What has been your main focus in designing this work? Especially what did you want to achieve?
JC: The architect and the client wanted to build a home that could demonstrate, highlight, and set an example of what could be done to build a home based on ecological principles, with minimal maintenance, using solar power, a grey water system, passive wind strategy, high durability and recycled materials.
FS: What are your future plans for this award winning design?
JC: The hope is that by the help of this prestigious award the house will inspire others to consider ways in which they can also use green principles in buildings and that it will serve as a model of efficiency and environmental sensitivity. The house reveals and reflects the ideas of sustainability with more than fifty green design features. The hope is to raise awareness about green design challenges and solutions.
FS: How long did it take you to design this particular concept?
JC: The concept was shaped following environmental optimization. It took several weeks to stabilize the optimization. Simulations and local climate studies affected the design. The challenge was to strike a balance between the building orientation which would normally face the sun’s path from east to west with a long facade to the south and the need to face the sea in the west and orient the house accordingly. This necessitated blocking the morning and afternoon sunlight from hitting the glass or the wall beyond the ventilated facade.
FS: Why did you design this particular concept? Was this design commissioned or did you decide to pursuit an inspiration?
JC: The client wanted an energy positive house. You need to set first a passive design solution so the house will be very efficient in terms of minimal energy consumption. Geometrical optimization was done to obtain minimal volume for the inner rooms with lower ceilings to save heating and cooling loads. Photovoltaic array facing south and west for maximum solar exposure with more than 16.2 KWP system is producing much more than the consumption demands in order to become energy positive as well.
FS: Is your design being produced or used by another company, or do you plan to sell or lease the production rights or do you intent to produce your work yourself?
JC: The idea is to share the knowledge of this project with the public. In all of my designs I try to demonstrate the benefits of sustainable design.
FS: What made you design this particular type of work?
JC: I work only on ecological projects with ecological clients. Sharing the same vision of making our world a better place was the reason to take this great challenge.
FS: Where there any other designs and/or designers that helped the influence the design of your work?
JC: I am inspired by the work of Frederick Kiesler and his Shrine of the Book that he has designed in Jerusalem in 1965.
FS: Who is the target customer for his design?
JC: Couple that share the green ideology. The nicest people I have met.
FS: What sets this design apart from other similar or resembling concepts?
JC: The house geometry uses minimal volume, optimal orientation regarding the view and the sun and appropriate glass percentage to gain heat loads from incoming sun rays during winter and to prevent direct sun penetration during summer. The building envelope was designed to minimize summer cooling load. Air flow window system that can be opened or closed according to the climate conditions, letting out the warm air. The passive ventilation strategy started with a wind study of the site connecting to meteorological data and indicating the wind direction and temperature in different seasons and at different hours. In the site there are good wind conditions that passively ventilate the project and reduce energy consumption.
FS: How did you come up with the name for this design? What does it mean?
JC: ECO360 means that the project design is covering all the aspects of sustainable design such as site, climate conditions, energy, water, light, waste and so on. Life Cycle strategies were also implemented in the house. Each material that was used in the project was considered after checking the life cycle of its creation, use and future demolishing and recycle.
FS: Which design tools did you use when you were working on this project?
JC: BIM is a 3D model-based process that gives architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) professionals the insight and tools to more efficiently plan, design, construct, and manage buildings and infrastructure. The BIM methodology allows architects, engineers, MEP consultants and more in the construction industry to design more quickly, more accurately, more ecologically and more economically. The fusion between BIM and the Information Age enable us to transform the endless data around into valuable information and to gain knowledge out of it during and after the design process. We are in the middle of a paradigm shift that made a fundamental change in the basic concepts and practice of architecture. Integration of a BIM model made by the architect, structural engineer, MEP engineers and manufacturers improving the multidisciplinary coordination and producing accurate and synchronized data. The All-In-One approach starts from 3D modelling by the architect that put in the model more data layers such as the surrounding site, materials, phases, design options and much more. The rest of the consultants are adding their layers of data and during this process the design is revealing collisions and the superposition is getting refine in each interval in an early stage of the design and producing their own analysis such as structural analysis or mechanical analysis. Project phasing simulations was used for construction site planning related to timeline. Using real time review of the construction phase was being done with 2D and 3D viewers that helped everyday collaboration by allowing finding, sharing and reviewing the process from any device anywhere, anytime. Quantity extraction was used to support cost estimates driven directly from the BIM model. Conceptual energy analysis, detailed energy analysis, sustainable element tracking. The energy improvements became finer as the project started to take shape and with more energy simulation tools such as Insight. The project can produce much more energy than it consumes and worked according to the simulations. Still we must know that those simulations are based on many assumptions that might be far from being accurate or lack of alternative mechanical options, but the case studies are showing us that if you aim high in the design process with those simulations your reality results will be high as well.
FS: What is the most unique aspect of your design?
JC: The west and east terraces prevent the summer sun from hitting the glass which faces the view of the sea. Using Solar Analysis tools, we were able to visualize and quantify the distribution and intensity of solar radiation on various areas of a mass, considering the shading effects from adjacent objects. The ventilated high-performance facades create an air chamber between the concrete structure and the bamboo-like cladding which generates a micro ventilation effect by convection leading to energy savings, acoustic insulation, thermal bridges, condensation prevention, and thermal insulation.
FS: Who did you collaborate with for this design? Did you work with people with technical / specialized skills?
JC: I worked with great consultants and suppliers. The entire design team worked with BIM (Building Information Modeling) methodology using environmental simulations during the design process to reach the best optimization.
FS: What is the role of technology in this particular design?
JC: Intelligent Green Home system controls the dimmers, air conditioners, water heaters, shutters, media, sockets and more. Many sensors and online analysis of the performance of the house. The PV system together with the passive design is making the project an Energy Positive example.
FS: Is your design influenced by data or analytical research in any way? What kind of research did you conduct for making this design?
JC: Post Occupancy Evaluation is conducted in the house after its completion. Smart house technology and sensors that can connect in real time to post occupancy platforms are installed in the house. The collected data will enable to address any difference between designed intentions and the actual outcomes in use and how it can be improved.
FS: What are some of the challenges you faced during the design/realization of your concept?
JC: Biological water treatment system with Wet Lands was used in order to treat and clean water. This system was designed to create a meditative space, with soft trickling sounds, fragrant inflorescence of the tropical water lilies, and a cool micro-climate created by the dripping ECOncrete wall with its ferns and mosses. The Bio-Active wall composed of tiles and planter units was installed on the inner patio wall of the house. ECOncrete’s Bio-Active Wall Tile create a highly aesthetic green facade capable of reducing the overall ecological foot print of concrete walls by increasing plant diversity, improving air quality and energy efficiency, and reducing both noise and heat pollution. Bio-active wall elements are designed to induce rapid plant wall coverage of inland buildings. The physical and chemical properties of the wall elements strongly influence the capability to support and enhance growth. ECOncrete’s bio-active wall induces natural growth of wall clinging plants, endolithic algae, lichens and mosses. Its high complexity and porosity create moist niches that support flora, without the need for complex soil systems. Due to a combination of ECOncrete's proprietary admix integrating by-products and recycled materials, and the unique ability to enhance biological processes such as photosynthesis which facilitate CO2 assimilation, the carbon footprint of ECOncrete’s Bio-Active Wall Tiles is reduced by up to 86%, compared to Standard Portland cement-based concrete.
FS: How did you decide to submit your design to an international design competition?
JC: The client wanted to find an international platform that will increase the awareness of the public towards green design. The A'Design Award is a prestigious platform and we are so happy to be among the winners.
FS: What did you learn or how did you improve yourself during the designing of this work?
JC: Ecological design makes you want to improve all the time. All the different considerations of how to make a building that is good to the environment and not a burden to the user force me as a designer to stay up-to-date all the time, to learn and be curious about technology improvements and design tools and to be optimistic that step by step, project by project we can make good impact in our world.
FS: Any other things you would like to cover that have not been covered in these questions?
JC: Be nice Do good Have fun
FS: Thank you for providing us with this opportunity to interview you.
A' Design Award and Competitions grants rights to press members and bloggers to use parts of this interview. This interview is provided as it is; DesignPRWire and A' Design Award and Competitions cannot be held responsible for the answers given by participating designers.
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