My Home Your Home - Dropbox

Closing

2011-01-14T22:14:00.000-08:00

The founding team for this project has closed up shop and moved on. We had a great time and learnt lots about houses, working with people, and how normal people are scared of wikis! If you want to follow up on anything here, please feel free to give us a shout. Everything is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution Share-Alike License.

2010-01-21T14:22:00.000-08:00

We're starting to make progress on our tiny modular home concept in Christian's design core. We've put together our basic design specs and a mission statement.

160 square feet
10 foot ceilings

Target audience segments:
-new immigrants
-students
-elderly persons
(low income groups, often living alone.)

Design for:
-social integration
-resource conservation
-essential function (conserving space, essential items only.)

Mission statement:
Through creative codesign, we will conceive a home that acts as an interface encouraging balance for expressive people. Living in this home is an investment in a stronger community.

A New Term and New Project

2010-01-11T15:37:00.000-08:00

I'm really excited to be starting Christian Blyt's Design Core class this term, as we'll be designing small modular housing, with the idea of laneway homes in mind. At the end of term, our class will even be building a full scale model of a hybrid design!

Lorea and I (Rachel) have teamed up with Joey and Mina to work. Here are a few of the images we've gathered in our preliminary research on modular housing.

Recycled Home Builder: Dan Philips

2009-09-20T09:34:00.001-07:00

Here's a great youtube video.

Entries from Formshift

2009-08-13T12:29:00.000-07:00

I know this is a long time due, but we entered the FormShift competition a while back, and I don't believe we ever ended up posting our entry. At the time, this was because we were concerned that people from the competition might see our entry, learn who we were, and therefore end up disqualifying us. Not a concern anymore- so here they are!

We didn't end up winning any prizes, but we were definitely proud of what we produced. We're not architecture students- we're second year ID students. We were very happy to have the experience of competing against other students and professionals alike.

We're gearing up right now to enter the Architecture for Humanity and IDSWest competition Prefab 20*20. I can't say much about our entry, but I am excited for the competition itself. It should be a blast!

2009-08-02T12:57:00.000-07:00

What about a design using this concept: Botany building.

Talk about bringing the outdoors in.

Half outdoor space

2009-08-02T12:14:00.000-07:00

An interesting design concept: "Half-outdoor space." The idea is to bring the outside indoors.
As I get back into my Vancouver mindset (I'll be heading home this Friday,) I've been thinking about a key concept for our design. I love the idea of healthy minds and bodies through design. Working with professionals like kineseologists and yoga instructors may prove to be one way to completely rethink design for the future. Psychologists may be another group to consult.

News!

2009-08-01T10:39:00.000-07:00

The city of Vancouver has officially approved laneway housing!

You can read the details here, at the Ecodensity website.

The Globe and Mail is Catching On

2009-07-30T12:27:00.000-07:00

Jeff pointed out this article in the Globe, discussing the Tiny Home trend. From the article:

"Like a growing number of people, the couple have decided that a modest house is better for their quality of life than a mansion in the burbs. On the extreme end of the trend are people who live in minuscule houses, sometimes not much bigger than a typical suburban bathroom. Motivated by environmental concerns, convenience and tight finances, they are saying goodbye to 1990s-style monster homes."

It's really good to see the press on this trend continuing. I'm reassured that this isn't just a fad, it's a trend in how people will live their lives in the coming decade.

How-to of the day from WIkihow

2009-06-22T10:53:00.000-07:00

How to start living in a tiny house.

More evidence that the popularity of this movement is growing.
In other news, I'll be meeting up with Jay Shafer this Wednesday to see the tiny house, and help him out with his personal site.

2009-06-14T09:42:00.000-07:00

For those of you who are still interested in being involved, I've been working on some thoughts for the 400 square foot home that we'll be submitting to the prefab 20*20 competition.

My current plan is to send our application once I'm in Calgary on July 1st. I would have loved to submit an early bird reg, but it sounds like everyone has been much too busy.

Thoughts:
Let's use the 400 square feet to see what we can accomplish with it. It would be an interesting challenge to pull off the cyclic system we've been discussing so frequently.

I posted on the afh faq page:
"I’m curious whether we should adhere to standard restrictions and regulations for this home wherever possible, or if we should simply design as we see fit for the purposes of furthering creative ideas."

Prefab is another concept that I'm curious. What makes something prefab? Is it simply the parts which are manufactured elsewhere and put together onsite? By this definition, we could include plants and animals as prefab components. (I would love to include chickens as part of the cycle. Or brewing alcohol and growing mushrooms on the lees.)

I'll do some research as well on aspects of design which can benefit socially. A couple ideas include a patio/ deck out front (which has been shown to reduce crime) and he ability to produce one type of crop, which would encourage trading with neighbors.

Notes and sketches to come!

Prefab 20*20 - Details

2009-06-10T23:27:00.000-07:00

TIMELINE

May 9, 2009 -- Competition Launch
June 15 -- Early Bird Registration Deadline
July 31 -- Registration Deadline
August 31 -- Submission Deadline *5pm Vancouver, BC Timezone
September 17 -- Winners Announced

September 17 to 20 -- The display will be hosted at IDSwest from

Our Calendar

JUDGING CRITERIA (100 POINTS TOTAL)

Overall Concept / Program / Design 40
Prefab Concept / Creativity / Adaptability 25
Siting / Social Dimension 25
Climatic & Ecological Concern 10

Application Form Download

(From: prefab2020.wordpress.com/details/)

Prefab 20*20 - The Challenge

2009-06-10T23:20:00.000-07:00

THE CHALLENGE

The challenge is to propose a free-standing, prefab dwelling unit for a footprint no more than 400sf (37.5sm) in an urban setting anywhere in the world. Fit for two adults, its basic program shall include sleeping, bathing, cooking, living, working/studying, and storage areas. Entrants are free to deviate from the basic program but justification must be included.

(From: prefab2020.wordpress.com/details/)

Photos from the show!

2009-06-08T10:44:00.001-07:00

Here's Zachary taping out our design on the floor. This was a great exercise for gaining context, and figuring out if things were in proper proportion.

John came to chat with us about the project. Thanks John!

More photos to come later.
Rachel has started working on an entry for the prefab 20*20 competition, being hosted by architecture for humanity. Exciting!

The furnace man come'th

2009-06-04T10:58:00.000-07:00

My family had a guy come by yesterday to evaluate our house's heat retainment. He examined the exterior and measured windows. Then he set up a fan in the front door to create a bit of a vacuum inside the house and went around with a smoke stick to show us where air was getting into our house. Where air was getting into our house would also be where hot air was escaping reducing the efficiency of our heating system.

The worst leakages were through the cracks around the window framings and through the sliding door. The sliding door in particular was very bad, the evaluator said that all sliding doors had poor seals and that there wasn't much to do except replace them with french doors. The leakages around windows weren't so much through cracks between window and frame as between frame and the rest of the wall. This was independent of how new the windows were, we had a new window put in upstairs recently and the sealing around the frame just wasn't done as we hadn't specifically asked the construction people to put it in. Of course, we also have some very old windows that had a lot of leakage as well.

There were also some interesting leaks that I hadn't thought of before, such as through the light fixtures recessed into the ceiling and around the fireplace.

The evaluator is going to write up a formal report, but the reason we had him come in was so we could consider doing some renovations to the house that could earn us some ecogrants from the government. If replace the furnace with a high efficiency one: we'll get money. If we seal up a percentage of the leaks to the outside: we'll get money. If we replace certain windows and doors: we'll get money.

So after the evaluation, I sat down with my parents to work out the financial side of making some of these changes.
The high-efficiency furnace was quoted at $5700 by my dad, though I haven't confirmed this. 'High-Efficiency' seems to be about 95% of heat created from burning the gas goes into heating the house; as opposed to the 60% estimate for our current furnace. This is a difference of 30-40%, so in theory a new furnace would reduce gas consumption by the furnace by that amount.
Our gas usage per month fluctuates between ~$70 and ~$220 from summer to winter, and gas prices have fluctuated from $4 to $13 [1] per *** over the last couple years. For our calculations we decided to assume our gas bill was $160/month, of which $60 was fixed as taxes and fees (and so wouldn't change with improved heating efficiency).
This gives a nice round $100 per month that we pay to fuel the furnace, the stove, and the hot-water heater. Assuming that all of our gas is used for the furnace (not true, but only slightly optimistic), we'd save 30-40% of $100, or $30-40.

So:
$5700 for a new furnace
$4000 for a new furnace, after government grants[2]
$4000/$40 is 100, which is the number of months it would take to pay it off.
Or 10 years.
(Yes, these are just quick numbers, I didn't think too hard about them. I'm assuming that improvements in house insulation will be balanced by the fact that we have other items like the stove that use gas and won't have their consumption reduced by fixing heating systems.)

10 years to pay off the furnace. My parents have no idea currently how long they will stay here. At least 3 or 4 years until my youngest brother graduates, and they certainly won't demolish the house in their lifetime, but if the house is sold it will almost certainly be torn down and redeveloped, negating any future benefit of the furnace.

I'll update when the family comes to a decision.

[1] This isn't a steady increase over the years from cheap to expensive. My dad tied the $13 gas to hurricane Katrina damaging gas production, and points out that the price has gone back down again. He is a exploration geologist who helps locate natural gas and oil in Alberta. He says that gas prices fluctuate fairly independantly from oil prices (though the fact that they have overlapping uses does tie them together somewhat), and that there doesn't seem to be a peak gas happening as there is with peak oil.

[2] We'll get $790 from the Feds, and $700 from the Province, plus $199 if we improve house insulation by 10% as measured by another visit from the examination guy.

Thermoelectrics

2009-05-26T20:25:00.000-07:00

Reblogging:

"I was listening to the local radio this afternoon, and a scientist named Tim Sands was talking about thermoelectricity at a recent nanotechnology conference here in New Zealand. Tim was suggesting that the motor car industry might like to review the old technology and see what can be achieved with modern materials and perspectives.Link
"He explained thermoelectrics as electric charges made from simple changes in temperature. Although it is a very inefficient for of power, it could be used where there is ambient temperature changes or waste heat being generated. It is used most of all in space craft where the lessor the moving parts the better for the long deep space voyages.

"I am thinking it could be used in households where there is waste heat and temperature variations. First ideas are that it could be used to circulate air with light weight fans - such as the fan needed in a waterless toilet.

"Here is a video linking to more information and other videos on Youtube:

--From 100summerville a blog about a permaculture house in New Zealand

Prefab

2009-05-23T09:08:00.000-07:00

Some neat things, here and here.

Lorea expressed some interest in putting together an application for Prefab 20*20, which I'm willing to discuss. Those are both different "prefab" links.

I remember doing some research on prefab a while back, and it seems to be a hotly debated topic. I know that one of my ex-profs mentioned a friend of his who is working on getting obsolete factory equipment to build prefab panels. I'll do some more reading- any info, anyone?

If we're going to go prefab, perhaps we should consider shipping container houses. ?

City of Vancouver gets online with open data

2009-05-22T14:07:00.000-07:00

http://www.straight.com/article-222955/bobbie-bees-city-vancouver-supports-opensource-software-open-standards-and-open-data

In which state that they will move towards providing data, documents, maps and other media in open standards; and to ensure that "Data provided to the city by third parties, including developers, contractors, and consultants are licenced in an open format."
Meaning that understanding open formats and tools is now a strong benefit when working with the city.

What's happening in the gallery?

2009-05-20T16:39:00.001-07:00

The Living Density Exhibition will be wrapping up in a few days. We're laying out our (current but not necessarily complete) floorplan in life-size, so people can gain some context of how big things will be. We're also putting together some presentation materials- a powerpoint and prezi presentation which will be available for interaction and viewing during the evening.

John Werschek from Emily Carr dropped by today. We chatted a lot about Vancouver- its architectural history and the livablity of the city in general. Thanks John.

We also had visits from a bunch of myhomeyourhome fans, and Derek- an architect from the forum, who helped me work out some more details of the floorplan. It has been layed out in full scale now- we're not sure if we'll make changes before the show. Now that it's full-size, there are definitely lots of new things to be considered- it's all part of the process.

Pictures to come!

Project updates!

2009-05-14T18:31:00.001-07:00

How time flies!

We're at the halfway point in the Living Density Exhibition and forum, and its only getting better!

What else have we been up to?
-we entered the formshift competition
-Rachel attended the Tumbleweed Tiny House workshop with Jay Shafer, and learned an enormous amount about the details of building and designing a tiny home
-Scott attended the Living Density Forum, and learned all about.. well- I'd like to hear it from him:)
-we held a potluck: sparsely attended, but Jay and Mik from the workshop came by. Lots of lively conversation was to be had.
-we're developing an entry for the prefab 2020 competition
-we're continually refining our design, based on input from different people and different experiences

We're at the gallery Monday Wednesday and Friday from 11 am to 2 pm and 4 pm to 6 pm. There will also be an end-party, which is sure to be a blast. That's on the 22nd. We'll see you there!

Unemployed Couple Live in Garage

2009-05-14T18:03:00.000-07:00

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/8020944.stm

found by my dad

Smart Homes

2009-05-14T17:59:00.001-07:00

"Traditionally, heating, ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) systems operate independently of each other... conventional environmental control systems typically waste 50 percent of a building's power. Much of this inefficiency is because each element, such as an office building's water chiller or heating unit, relies on a single control that measures only one variable."
--you can read the full article here

If large building can be made to make use of intelligent systems, would it be possible to do something similar with a home?
There are a variety of suggested uses in large buildings - such as HVAC control, personelle access, lighting adjustment based on available sunlight, and so on - though only some of them would apply to a home.

What could we do other than reacting to changes in temperature (ie. having a thermostat)?
One thing I've noticed recently is that I occasionally have to go outside to get a breath of fresh air after being inside for a while, and I regularly have windows and doors open to let air circulate. The change is noticable to me, like when you're dehydrated and take that first drink of water. So I'd suggest working on improving ventilation, whether or not such improvements take the form of a smart system.

Stuff reposting

2009-05-05T08:41:00.000-07:00

In the real world, we
cut, remove, clean.
Our spaces.

Online, we
repost, remix, reclutter.
Our lives.

Lorea taking a hard look at the 'junk stuff' that is filling her space:
The problem.
The reaction.
The conclusion (for now).

Rachel Grows Project

2009-04-30T09:13:00.001-07:00

On a mildly related note, I'll be working on a personal project all this coming month, which I've dubbed "Rachel Grows." The goal is to get involved in urban agriculture in Vancouver, to create connections between the existing groups. I'll be documenting the project with a blog.

So, I've got an excellent reason to do my follow-up visit at the city farmer teaching garden, and check out their composting toilet. (As well as the excellent resource of composting techniques, growing how-tos etc.) Anyway, I'll be going this Friday, so if anyone wants to come along please let me know. Also, if you think of anything else that might be relevant to both projects, let me know.

Parallels

2009-04-27T09:13:00.000-07:00

Over the course of May, while also working at the gallery exhibition, I'll be working on a personal project funded by the Millennium Foundation's Grants. The goal is to create links between organizations involved Urban Agriculture in Vancouver, to give the community as a whole greater strength. I've been thinking about what other groups would benefit from becoming more involved in Urban Agriculture- groups like the Tiny Home movement and what I'm going to call the human-powered movement (people who get around on their own energy.) What I'm wondering is- what are good ways to get people cross-pollinating?

Patrick's summary of us

2009-04-26T00:57:00.000-07:00

"When we think of ‘home’ we naturally gravitate towards the architectural interior and furniture. Yet, we know it is not just the interior, furniture or even the building that produce a sense of home. Home, as Emily Carr University’s TinyHome Group suggests, is ‘a series of systems rather than an object.’ By treating home in this fashion the TinyHome Group was able much better visualise the complex forces that constitutes the built environment and even that of home. ‘Home’ for them is a realm created by the positive interaction of natural and artificial forces, particularly an interaction that fosters a sustainable mode of living. This notion of home-as-a-system is partly investigated by the TinyHome Group through an installation/performance where they will interact with the audience and together explore how community and home may be produced through design. The TinyHome Group also aims to expand this dialogue onto the Internet, notably a blog. In fact, the blog, insofar as it is a site for interaction, is not unlike a contemporary variant of an agora."

--Pulled from the draft of his essay he's planning on presenting. I like how he puts things, especially as a description of the projects' goals. (It's neat that one of the best descriptions of the project was written by someone for a completely different purpose...)

Humanure on the Daily Show!

2009-04-24T23:56:00.000-07:00

Ok, it's a blip rather than a mention, but Lewis Black does criticize stupid greenwashing, which makes me smile.

City Farmer, by accident

2009-04-24T21:10:00.000-07:00

Lorea and I were walking back to a friend's house today, and we realized that we were passing the city farmer teaching garden, which I've been dying to go to for ages! We popped inside to check it out, and were delighted to find a variety of different composting formats and even the composting toilet which I've wanted to see. I'll go back tomorrow when they're open to check it out!

Food food food food

2009-04-24T10:02:00.000-07:00

In the same vein as considering what resources your home demands (environmental, financial, investments of your time and energy,) we've also been thinking about the life cycle of our food products- whether we buy them from Safeway, local businesses or grow them ourselves.

So it was very encouraging to see this article from the Times online, discussing the back and forth between Michelle Obama (who recently planted an organic garden at the white house) and big agribusiness in the States. It seems that those invested in agribusiness are wary of someone with so much influence advocating organic DIY gardening- but frankly, I think that they have little to fear.

The infrastructure for food in North America is still heavily dependent on factory farming, which in turn relies heavily on chemical processes which prop up the one-sided process. Whether permaculture is a viable alternative on a large scale is yet to be seen.

Not to mention that (from Michael Pollan's book, The Omnivore's Dillemma) large scale organic farming resembles factory farming in many ways- and it remains to be seen if this can in fact be considered to be a significantly more environmentally balanced practice.

Meanwhile, if people start growing their own, it helps build up the food security of the place in which they live. I don't think that we're anywhere near the point where people would give up their banannas and mangoes, shipped in from elsewhere by middlemen. Agribusiness should untangle its' panties, there's a ways to go yet before the bottom will fall out of their market.

Small, prefab homes out of Surrey!

2009-04-24T09:40:00.000-07:00

We're seeing it happen more and more in Vancouver- Smallworks, Inhabit, and now this!

This is a globe and mail article reporting on an architect named Tony Robbins, who started showing his tiny prefab homes in BC recently. From the article:

"We've had over a 130 inquiries already," says the architect, who recently revealed his design for a 500-square-foot unit in a palette of steel, glass and wood to an enthusiastic audience at a B.C. home show in Vancouver.

It's a very minimalist and open design, which I think is the key to making tiny seem huge. It's also really exciting to see this movement coming to Canada. With all the space, we have a lot of potential for urban sprawl- so I like the timing of it.

Right now, I'm getting all amped up for Jay Shafer's workshop- it's a 2day design-your-own kinda setup. Hooray! In fact, that really needs it's own post at this point.

Tag your posts please!

2009-04-22T16:34:00.000-07:00

I just enjoyed the incredibly methodical and somewhat neurotic task of making sure every post has tags, so our blog can be searched easily. It's all organized for potential reference now. *purr*

Any concerns, thoughts?

Interfaces for Collaboration

2009-04-21T22:03:00.000-07:00

Scott emailed me Prezi, a unique presentation software. It's terribly exciting- and it's related to something we've been discussing quite a bit recently.

: Is the wiki a usable interface for most people? Can they learn? Will they learn? How can we facilitate this transition to a more collaborative design process?

: How can we create connections between real-world experiences of design and online ones?

Standing workspaces

2009-04-21T09:04:00.000-07:00

Why sit when you can stand?
(Ergonomically speaking.)

Or better yet, alternate between the two on a regular basis!
(every half hour or hour)

DIY simple standing desk
(it's not freestanding, it sits on your desk.)

Notes from the comments:
+It's important to have good cushioning for your feet, be it a carpet or good shoes.
+You might hurt your back by having to bend down on a regular basis to write things on your desk.

Tiny House Village Network

2009-04-20T08:49:00.000-07:00

This looks pretty interesting. Unfortunately, to join, you have to pay a "donation" of $10. I think that it's reasonable to charge a fee for the hosting of a network, but I'm also unsure as to what I will receive in return. Is it simply access to communication with other people in the network? How do I know if I will get more than what I can access on facebook?
Should I set up a network for Canadian tiny-homers?

Greywater system

2009-04-11T09:39:00.000-07:00

Jackie was kind enough to send me this video via facebook, and i thought it was worth sharing with everyone here.

There are a couple of really interesting things that come up in the video. The first is that the whole series focuses on "positive responses to peak oil and climate change," which I think is a really excellent attitute to have. Often, our response to any crisis is to point fingers, lay blame, and present mandates about what 'people' should do. I really respect groups that identify that there is (or may be) a problem, and who simply take initiative.

Trathen also mentioned that they are working as a network with other homes in the area, with the intent to make their homes more self reliant, and to create a model for other people in the future. This is exciting, because it is one of the key goals of our project, and is a great derivative of open source formats for development.

They mention a "graywater bible"- here's the author's website.

Hot stuff.

Hot.

2009-04-10T17:11:00.001-07:00

OpenCourseWare from MIT.
The next best thing to actually going to school there.

Wiki Library?

2009-04-10T09:21:00.000-07:00

This is an Urban Aquaculture manual, which I found to be very thorough and interesting. Suggestions to do with growing your own fish include an economic evaluation of the profits of growing food to be eaten, and considerations of the politics of resale for farmers. Very cool.

It would be good to collect manuals like this one and have a "library" at the wiki- the Humanure book is another one that comes to mind.
Any other ideas?

Blogs

2009-04-09T18:52:00.000-07:00

this is a blog about many house renovating escapades

this is a blog containing interesting graphic design work

a reference for process not for content

Jay Shafer and Living Density

2009-04-08T12:09:00.000-07:00

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SbRvsWuWNUM

I'm getting all pumped up for Jay Shafer's visit to Vancouver, on May 9 and the workshop he'll be holding at Emily Carr University. Designing Tiny Homes is something that's pretty hard to find proper instruction in, in a University context (unless of course you were lucky enough to be in that 3rd year class with Christian!)

Also that weekend is the Living Density forum at Grace Gallery, as part of the Exhibition our project will be participating in. Our group is very excited about all the pros who will be giving talks that day.

John Maeda - Laws of simplicity

2009-04-06T21:09:00.000-07:00

What does one need or use?
What can we as house designers do to help?
What should/could be done?
Why?

Law 1: Reduce
The simplest way to achieve simplicity is through thoughtful reduction.

Law 2: Organise
Organsiation makes a system of many appear fewer

Law 4: Learn
Knowledge makes everything simpler

Law 6: Context
What lies in the periphery of simplicity is definitely not peripheral.

Law 9: Failure
Some things can never be made simple.

--John Maeda

These are the ones that I connected with in relation to the house project.

Mosses project!

2009-04-06T16:48:00.000-07:00

Informing you excellent people that the moss wall element is progressing. I've been working on experiments with an indoor moss wall, although I am not entirely convinced of their success. I'm not entirely sure how to interpret the results and I will have to repeat the experiment more times to get some more precise findings.

Claopodium crispifolium

Dicranum scoparium

In the meantime, this is what moss looks like when it's attached to a net. It's still a bit fragile but I'll give the moss some more time to grow.

Avoiding Mass Extinctions Engine

2009-04-05T22:28:00.000-07:00

A super-CO2-calculator for everything.

A wiki containing information, algorithms to calulate CO2 consumption, and data from as many sources as possible.

They seem to just be starting up, and targeted towards large companies over individuals, but it's a neat idea.

Collaboration - an aside

2009-04-05T09:21:00.001-07:00

Just something I stumbled across.
Advertising a 'novel' program that gets business students to work with design students; the idea that collaboration between institutions is beneficial is proposed.

Basically, we're golden. It'll be a party.

Gallery Show Images

2009-04-02T23:19:00.000-07:00

These are the three images I have been working on for the gallery show. I sent them off to Pat Chan, but I am sure there is room for feedback and improvement if necessary :)

capturing heat from grey water

2009-03-29T11:16:00.000-07:00

We've considered using compost to heat water, but what about using our hot grey water to heat our fresh water right in the pipes?

This Ecodrain product uses hot water going down the drain to heat water for your shower, so the water heater has to do less work. A more basic version of this has been used in many buildings, which involves wrapping the copper pipe holding fresh cold water around the drainage pipe, trying to capture some of that used hot shower water's heat.
This company created their product to more efficiently capture and redirect that heat. Their website is very thorough and informative, so please check it out for more information on specifics.

http://www.ecodrain.ca/

In the house system we could very easily connect the hot water from the compost where the water heater is in this diagram, and fresh water collection/filtration where the 'municipal supply' is indicated.
If you are bathing Japanese style like Rachel this may not be necessary, but it's a very cool idea for showering.

Heat loss through windows

2009-03-28T09:30:00.000-07:00

Talking to my dad:

Question: what happens when we have large glass walls/windows and all the heat gets lost through them?
The major heat loss in our house is apparently though the windows.

+One alternative is no windows. We could replace the windows with giant television screens! I'm very much against this. Lack of real light, and too many lcd screens.

+Or we could have insulating windows. For example:
--shutters over the windows
--fill the windows with an insulating gas
--have a setup that pumps tiny packing foam balls into the space between window panes (and can pump them out again)

Options such as shutters and packing material will block light as well as heat, so they would be closed when no-one is home or during the night.

These solutions could either be hand motivated or automated. Automated solutions could integrate the shutter/vaccum controls could integrate with the temperature sensors and be part of the passive heating and cooling system, or just be time based like current termostate setups.

Images for Gallery Show - Communication of the home's systems

2009-03-26T10:43:00.000-07:00

Right, so this is one of the images in the works to communicate the home's systems, the user, etc etc.

At this point the file is still being modified in Ai so very draftish, so any feedback would be great.

When will laneway housing be allowed in your neighborhood?

2009-03-24T17:41:00.001-07:00

I just got this email message from Joaquin:

The City has been working on amending single family zoning to allow laneway housing. This new housing form will be located in the typical garage area where it maintains backyard open space. As per past City Council direction, it will be limited to 1 ½ storeys, have at least one off-street parking space, and be rental or family only (no stratification will be allowed).

Recently, a City Council Motion directed that action relating to new affordable and rental housing, be prioritized. In explaining the motion, Council referenced laneway housing specifically as such an opportunity for prioritized action and fast-tracking. The laneway housing timeline has therefore been adjusted to provide draft zoning amendments for public comment and Council consideration at the July 21st Public Hearing.

Many homeowners have been indicating their wish to apply to build a laneway house as soon as possible. Laneway housing was also identified as having broad public support through the EcoDensity public engagement in 2007-08. Public discussion on specific issues and options then occurred in fall 2008, leading to the list of features that laneway housing zoning will incorporate.

Prior to the July public hearing, staff will again meet with stakeholder groups and provide information to the broad public. If Council approves zoning changes, development applications can start right away.

Further information is available on the City’s website at: vancouver.ca/ecodensity - under "What is Next?"

--> rachel
This is very exciting to see- the City is taking a lot of initiative to move these changes forward quickly. For our project, this may mean being able to have an influence on the building of first laneway housing.

sustainable building center on granville island

2009-03-23T13:06:00.000-07:00

Located on top of Rogers Chocolates.

They have events.
Talks on most weekends that are by donation. They sound really good.

They have homeowner education.

They resell rubber flooring.

We need to visit them and build a relationship. If anyone who can stick their head in, ask questions and be sociable we can start to be around a bit and learn from them. I'd hope that we can eventually get stuff at discounts or for free.

Unique User Interfaces

2009-03-22T20:00:00.000-07:00

I've been taking a peek at products which reveal to the user how much of a resource is being used, in a visually appealing, tangible way. A good source for these is MOMA's online exhibit of Design and the Elastic Mind.

This large red cord you see is called Standby, and it's meant to make consumption of energy more visible, as far as I can tell. Perhaps a little more conceptual than we want to go. But perhaps not?

Entryway?

2009-03-21T19:22:00.000-07:00

Does the main doorway have to be on one of the ends of a house?
If we used the broad side of the house we'd be able to have wider doors, perhaps sliding doors, which might help break down the division between inside and out. It would be especially nice during warm weather.

This might have detrimental effects on heat conservation though...

Open source everywhere

2009-03-21T19:09:00.000-07:00

An example of the open source design process in healthcare.
From Wired.com

Reducing the cost of IV units from $2000 to $2. Through collaboration between engineers and medical types.

Human Centered System

2009-03-21T18:57:00.001-07:00

These are some little diagrams I've made, representing what a person needs in life and what they produce. I tried to focus on things that are currently considered 'waste', such as grey water, that could be re-used to provide something else they need. By creating a diagram I can see what needs will be fulfilled by the house itself.
These could be a great way to get some collaborative input from people, they're quick and easy to do. If you have a chance to draw one yourself, I would love to see it posted!
Doing a diagram exclusively of human 'output' was pretty revealing. I found it a lot harder to do, and the concrete items were much fewer. Most of the things on the 'output' chart were things that are generally considered "waste", but with some ingenuity they could actually be used to provide for more of our needs. The other problem was that although we consume lots of food, it's hard to quantify what we actually produce with it aside from living.

Click on the preview pic for a bigger, more readable image.

Updated Project Statement

2009-03-21T14:07:00.001-07:00

A few updates based on your comments. Thoughts?

MyHomeYourHome is a collaborative initiative guided by a group of Emily Carr University and UBC students, working to design and build a tiny home through open, internet based collaboration with the public, including students, professors and professionals. We have built several hubs for online involvement in the project: a wiki, blog, mailing list and facebook group.

The central goal is to create a living body of research which will fuel the design and construction of a small human-centered home. The designers will view this home as an ecosystem/ habitat for the resident, one which will provide for their needs (physical, mental and emotional) in a variety of innovative ways. The resident(s) will be an individual or couple interested in a balanced lifestyle, with a focus on health and community. Key tenets which have been identified as unique and vital to the development of our home are:
-designing a space for the human body rather than the possessions we accumulate
-designing the home as a functioning ecosystem, cyclic in its input and output
-designing a home which positively influences the user's habits (or: people are more likely to do what is convenient.)

In essence, the home will be about helping the resident achieve balance- both with the environment, and in regards to their needs.

other things to talk about
-considering how the home will function within a community (group of homes, in a regular city setting)
Target audience

Where is the project at and where does it intend to go?

Is there funding/ grants we're looking at (eg Vancity) and contests we're entering (formshift)

World Changing: A user's guide for the 21st century

2009-03-19T15:43:00.001-07:00

World Changing: A user's guide for the 21st century
Edited by Alex Steffen

This amazing book has been a constant resource for info and inspiration throughout the house project. It isn't the work of any one author, but is a collaboration between many. Our project is closely allied with it in terms of sustainability, design, and open-source and collaborative work. It constantly references what companies and individuals are doing right now in the sustainability dialogue, which is really inspiring and keeps that futility panic at bay.

It is divided up into sections: Stuff, Shelter, Cities, Community, Business, Politics, and Planet. Under each heading is a collection of more specific subjects, such as "the future of food" and "creating healthy homes."

The analysis is thoughtful and well-researched. I recommend everyone pick up this book for at least a quick glance, although it is quite hefty for a full read.

If you've read it, any comments or thoughts on the specific sections would be appreciated.

Notes from a conference lecture

2009-03-17T20:28:00.000-07:00

Look into:
-The Story of Stuff
-Passive House, in Germany
-Systems Thinking Playbook, a (children's(?)) book

Good term: "Voluntary Simplicity"

Discussion to highlight outdated models and metaphors for how the world works. By bringing them up we can address them.
In collaboration, Thinkers, Practitioners, and Artists are required. (A diagram quote from the slide-show, worth putting into grant applications because we have all three)

Definition of sustainable: To produce useful, while absorbing waste.

Goals:
-improve collaboration by addressing language and communication (my goal)
-Need to reduce eco footprint of Vancouverites by 80% to reach the sustainable footprint of an equal world.

**This is a bit of a trial in minimal form. Comments on the content as well as the lack of form are welcome.**

How might the home develop and grow?

2009-03-17T09:55:00.001-07:00

I'm watching a video titled How Buildings Learn, a critique of modern large-scale architecture, and the lack of foresight on the part of many popular architects. Frank Lloyd Wright's flat roofs leak, and the Dancing Building requires mountaineers to be properly cleaned.

One of the main points, which I think we should consider when designing a tiny home, is that architects fail to think about how the building will grow and change with the user. The residents will likely make changes and additions to alter the building to meet their needs.

What may be prudent would be to do a round of beta-testing, to see how the users behave. We should also consider designing the home so that it can be easily modified.

Also: thinking about building maintainance would be good:)
Thoughts?

Gallery Show

2009-03-17T05:50:00.000-07:00

A couple things that we could use for the Gallery Show collaborative editing. Discussion on mailing list and here. Thoughts?

Mindmap created on bubbl.us My user name is ScottGeoffrey, make an account and add me as a friend if you want to collaborate on it.

Designing for the human body

2009-03-16T20:18:00.001-07:00

For the course of this project, we've been working with this concept of designing a house for the human body rather than for the object. This is a more difficult mindset shift than I thought it would be, so I'd like to take this opportunity to throw out some ideas and concepts to bounce around.

One of the ways we went about doing this in the early design stages was to break down the home into needs instead of rooms. We listed needs like eating/ food preparation, sleeping, socializing, working, hygiene, and broke down spaces for these into social, private and intimate space. This way, we came up with the division of space. (I'll post a photo of the floorplan soon:)) This is a fairly non-traditional breakdown- you'll notice that there is no defined 'eating space,' (kitchen table location or dining room) as we found that many people prefer to eat in the living room or in the place of socialization. We also observed that the living room has become a dead room in many parties, and the kitchen is more often a place of gathering. The open space that includes the food prep area and the social space will be the best way to activate the spaces, and meet both needs.

Addressing aspects of the house based on human needs was also done by looking at patterns in how we meet our needs currently. For example, kitchens- designed with deep cupboards, a large fridge and freezer and very little space designated for fresh fruits and vegetables are a shaping factor in our diets. It's very easy now to purchase a lot of packaged/ preserved items that have very little nutritional value and require low involvment on the part of the user. It's also clear that the advent of supermarkets, shopping carts and especially the fridge was a catalyst for our highly wasteful food consumption.

If instead a kitchen were designed with more space designated for fresh fruits and veggies, shallower cupboards, clearly defined systems of waste management and were pleasing to work in, then the user would be more likely to take the time to cook, and would enjoy that process.

There are numerous other case studies/ research that we're developing on the specifics of redesigning space for the human body. I'm looking at alternatives to chairs/ seating, multi-purposing rooms and building more varied movement/ tasks into our lifestyles.

More on that later.

Power Overwhelming

2009-03-16T18:33:00.000-07:00

Instructables is an amazing thing. One that we should all be trolling at all hours.

A great set of links, including my favorite to a number of windmills, all of which can be constructed on the cheap.

I think that wind power is at the moment the most efficient (space:output output:cost) option for us to be looking at in the way of energy production. (aside from hydroelectric).

More on this after experimentation. Dan, are you down for a summer project with me?

Interaction design

2009-03-16T18:12:00.000-07:00

Originally drawn from a discussion on software user-interface design, but much of it is relevent to designing a house that interacts well with it's residents.

"... Interaction should facilitate or even persuade users to learn what underlies the task they are doing. The same is true in situations where interruptions are commonplace and where in the meanwhile mastery of what is underlying a task or domain is desired, or when operations come with a cost and direct solutions without deviations are the aim. In designing our interfaces we ... must design in such a manner that the way users (should) think is optimally supported."

In other words: we need to design for the optimal usage of the house. Good defaults are very important here (In my opinion, the strength of Apple software is the choice of good defaults (and sometimes not giving users the ability to chose))

"We concluded that relieving a user’s memory and making interactions assisted by externalizing information does not have beneficial effects. It makes users count on the interface and gives them (unrightfully so) the feeling that the task and thinking-work is partly done for them, which seduces users in more shallow cognitive behavior."

In other words: It is important to help the user build a good mental representation of how things are working. Preferably this would be similar to the way things actually work, but it can also be an arbitrary metaphore for what is happening.

"Not every task is important enough to teach users the mechanisms that support it. Many interfaces benefit from a level of abstraction or decoupling from the underlying processes. The spirit of this research is to point out that the effort to dumb down can go too far."

Aka: Teaching people how everything works is impossible. Abstraction has it's place, we'll have to find a balance.

Someone's comment:
"When a person is learning how to use 3D modeling software -- like AutoCAD or Revit or Inventor -- they may actually be learning (at least) two things: (1) How to think and draw in 3D space, and (2) How to make this happen in software. I'm not sure what the pedagogical solution to this challenge is, but I suspect that people who learn drafting before learning the software would more quickly learn the software and have greater facility with it over the long term. Just a guess, though. "

Project Blurb

2009-03-16T16:51:00.000-07:00

We're developing 300-450 words to be used in the gallery show describing the project. Here's what we have so far.:

MyHomeYourHome is a collaborative initiative guided by a group of Emily Carr University students, working to design and build a tiny home through internet-based collaboration of anyone, including students, professionals and anyone else who may be interested. We have built several hubs for online involvement in the project: a facebook group, mailing list, blog and wiki.

The central goal is to create a living body of research which will fuel the design and building of a small human-centered home. The designers will view this home as an ecosystem/ habitat for the resident, one which will provide for their needs in a variety of innovative ways. Key tenets which have been identified as unique and vital to the development of our home are:
-designing a space for the human body rather than the possessions we accumulate
-designing the home as a functioning ecosystem, cyclic in its input and output
-designing a home which positively influences the user's habits (or: people are more likely to do what is convenient.)

In essence, the home will be about helping the owner achieve balance- both with the environment, and with their need to provide for their needs.

Other things to talk about:
-considering how the home will function within a community (group of homes, in a regular city setting)
-target audience
-where is the project at and where does it intend to go?
-funding and contests

Questions, concerns, comments?

Hooking into the power mains

2009-03-14T15:58:00.000-07:00

I know that it's nice to aim to be completely self sufficient power wise, but I'd like to suggest some consideration for the benefits of not being completely disconnected from the city power. Every estimate I've heard concerning batteries and electrical storage is that they're terribly inefficient. See our discussion on this post.

Many clean electricity projects aim to look at net consumption of power from the mains. This means that they hook themselves up to the electrical mains like everyone else in the city but also have small-scale forms of energy production. Then when they need energy they use what's available from their own sources, and if they need it, from the mains, and if they have extra energy at any given time that energy goes back into the mains. The goal being to produce, overall, the same amount of energy as is consumed. The Solar Decathlon generally seems to work under this model.

Unfortunately, the almost permanent availability of energy in this scenario is more conducive to excessive use of electricity than having to use only what you've just created, but I think that's acceptable to most people who want the house to be usable and livable.

Instructables: Where MIT goes to play

2009-03-13T09:16:00.000-07:00

Everyone has been telling me to go check out things on instructables, so I dedicated a little time this morning to having a peek.

Oh my god.
Seriously- the kinds of things people are building on that site are mind boggling. Build your own laser cutter instructables aside, I was all hyped up to see things like jabroutin's Personal Power Plant, and Eco-friendly home design, and this Bike Powered Generator.

Oh, and on an unrelated note, this is sexy.

the Process/Communication Book(let)

2009-03-13T01:31:00.000-07:00

As deadlines have come close-close, it has urged me to think about my goals for the Ecological Perspectives deliverables. Over the next couple of weeks, I will be focusing on organizing and designing our project's process/communication book(let) as I feel this will end up being my deliverable.

I am sorry if this post seems slightly irrelevant to the actual research and exploration going on with Myhomeyourhome, but I feel it requires everyone's input nonetheless, and I would appreciate any feedback/ideas in terms of what information needs communicating.

The way that I see it, the book(let) will be short and concise as possible, displaying as much visual content where possible.

My hopes for this booklet are:

1. To summarize the goals of the project, foremost. (So, basically to start, a nutshell 'big picture' type thing that basically tells the reader/audience what we are about)

2. Highlight the components (and the complexity) of the project, in terms of how open source and communicational it is. (displaying community) so, the blog, the wiki, etc

3. A section that synthesizes the research we are doing with the concepts we are applying into the house (so, showing the types of things we considered? and possibly a page that highlights all the design technologies that are being incorporated into the house)

4. Illustration and Visualization of the project 'in concept', and 'in application'. So, showing the reader how we imagine our homes to work in the real world. Things that could support this are drawings and/or renderings or people living in the home, etc etc.

Smaller additions to the book will include:

- short and sweet profiles of people in the project, our personal goals, etc

- possibly in the version we give to duane, we could have some sort of foreword outlining how exactly we have met the criteria of his project in particular (thoughts?)

- floor plans, architectural perspective drawings (I would love to delve, can I delve?),

and as I mentioned early renderings that include humans and humans interacting with the space we are designing

I understand that this is hardly the time to make a 'finished' item as I know this project is so ongoing, but I would really like to think of this book as a piece that communicates our intention and allows the viewer to visualize our project beyond just description.

I would appreciate thoughts and feedback that anyone has.

Hopefully I will have a draft of the structure of the book(let) as soon as this weekend or this coming monday :)

Use Cases:

2009-03-11T22:38:00.000-07:00

+Laneway of a residential home:
-'Granny/Anita/Student Suite'
The individual(s) in the laneway house are somewhat associated with the host family. Perhaps they are family friends and the tiny house residents are students from out of town. There is some interaction between the two parties, and potentially lots of shared space and resource. Things like meals might be shared, potentially to the point where a full kitchen in the tiny house is not necessary.
-Unrelated residents
Separate lives, separate lifestyles. Focusing on increasing density in urban areas.

+Laneway of a business:
-Owner/proprietor of the business
Shopkeeper/Baker/Technician lives very close to their place of work. The tiny house is for personal life while the store is more public. A good way to differentiate the spaces of one's life.

-Temporary workers
A space used by transient/seasonal workers. Easier to lock up a small house than to reduce the use of a large one? Again this allows easy access to a place of work, and would be beneficial to early or multi-shift location-based work.

+Community of small houses
-Along a back ally (aka. laneway)
There are multiple tiny houses opening up onto a single laneway. They share responsibility for looking after the lane. Shared lifestyles might be appropriate, and there could perhaps be communal cooking or other activities. This communal space could build on the ideas we were discussing about how to break down the barrier between 'indoors' and 'outdoors'... elders sitting on the porch (in the greenhouse) watching children play games up and down the ally anyone?

-All together now
Pack the tiny houses in like sardines in a tin. Perhaps they are even built as a set of tiny apartments. This might help reduce heating costs and building materials. Built for density. Could we make stackable tiny houses?

Todo:
* Can we get some sketchups of the entire lot?

On the wiki: http://www.wikieducator.org/MyHomeYourHome/Elements_of_the_Home#Target_Audience

Facepage is up!!

2009-03-11T22:08:00.001-07:00

We're very excited to say that the particularly attractive Lorea has put together a beautiful facepage for the project, which everyone can now easily get to at myhomeyourhome.tk!

Go take a peek, let us know what you think, and get ready to get involved!

The new design...

2009-03-10T21:32:00.001-07:00

Comments?

Another TED Talk

2009-03-09T23:06:00.000-07:00

This is a fabulous TED talk by James Howard Kunstler about the tragedy of suburbia. It's more about the design of public space than the private/ intimate space of the home, but it explores the impact of our bleak urban landscapes on our culture. He gives a great talk on how public space should be designed (on a human scale, creating relationships and building vitality) and how it should not be designed- as we are doing it today.

Plus, he's hilarious.

Starting to model the house!

2009-03-08T11:49:00.000-07:00

Terribly exciting, no? I've started to work up some of our early drawings in 3d, using google sketchup. We'll be producing lots of these images in the next little while, and learning how to make our 3d models available to anyone who wants to edit them as well.

We've also gotten our hands on Sketchup 7 Pro, so we can export to CAD and all that jazz.

Structures Alive

2009-03-08T10:25:00.001-07:00

This New York based green-roof company is woman owned, works with local businesses, native plants, and has a very sexy and concise website. It even includes some very clear descriptions of the construction of their green roofs and the advantages of having one!

Their website specifically is amazing, with lots of photos and good writing. It is very approachable and professional, but still says a lot about their local roots.

The Economist profiles the US tiny home movement

2009-03-07T11:25:00.001-08:00

The tiny house movement continues to gain more and more attention from mainstream popular media!

It's a very short article, but the Economist has such large distribution that it's nice to see.
It specifically quotes the founder of Tiny Texas Houses and Tumbleweed Tiny House company.

The comments on this article include some intelligent discussion on land and current outrageous housing sizes. But they also show people who can't seem to believe anyone could live in a tiny house comfortably for long periods of time, which just goes to show that there is a long way to go before people will change their mindset.

One Earth Initiative

2009-03-07T09:34:00.001-08:00

http://www.oneearthweb.org/index.php

Perhaps worth giving them a shout sometime.

Meetings!

2009-03-06T18:55:00.000-08:00

So we had a meeting with Patrick Chan a couple days ago, to make some decisions about the show and do a bit more research. Here's what we'll be putting together by the 20th:

1. 300-450 word statement, describing our project
2. 6-8 images
3. An interactive model of some kind, which allows visitors to play with the layout and design of the house
4. A process/ conclusion booklet
5. We'll need a computer terminal or two for visitors to check out the blog and the wiki. Does anyone have any thoughts on where we could obtain a computer with an internet card? Free geek maybe? Craigslist maybe? (later: a quick skim of craigslist shows lots of monitors but no.. brain parts.)
-just a thought: some "business" cards, with the sites on them would be good things to have at the gallery

6. We'll also be engaging in a hackfest performance at the gallery on one of the weekends.

That's all kids! Let's make it happen.

If anyone has ideas for the interactive model, now would be a good time for brainstorming. Materials? Wood? Stuffed fabric? A combination of the two? We would like to avoid cardboard and foamcore, because they are flimsy and Lori isn't a huge fan. We want to create something professional looking, but touchable. Thinking outside the box is good here. Maybe we could use premade toys? Lego, painted white? Some kind of floorplan layout? Magnets? Field trip to urban source anyone?

Thoughts?

ID Articles

2009-03-04T16:27:00.001-08:00

Check out this short article by Barbara Flanagan in the March/April 09 issue of I.D. magazine www.id-mag.com

To Have and to Hold: Our many storage solutions add up to one big problem
Her suggestions for designing a living space around the human being and not stuff encourage us to outsource everything we can and eat fresher. Her book: Flanagan's Smart Home: 98 Essentials for Starting Out, Starting Over, or Scaling Back

Also from the same issue is an article by Alissa Walker discussing urban farming on a large scale, integrating public agriculture into landscape design.
Bloom Towns: Urban farms are taking over America's asphalt jungles.
Agin Ramblas and Farmlab is mentioned, worth checking out.

Compost demonstration garden

2009-03-04T08:00:00.000-08:00

Vancouver apparently has a compost demonstration garden that I wasn't aware of- and City Farmer has made this great showing us the composting toilet and how it works.

Anyone up for a field trip?

Compost powered water heater

2009-03-04T07:48:00.000-08:00

This is a video of a group of people testing out their compost powered water heater- which is pretty thrilling for us, as we've been chatting about an almost identical model for a while now. It's very exciting to see it working and to know that there's someone I can contact to ask about it.

Here is a diagram of the model they've based their design on, designed by Jean Pain, who was hot stuff on the composting scene.

This is a great, terrible video. It's basically a blooper reel of a fellow trying to rig up a solar shower, so it's a pretty clear "here's some of the challenges you might deal with" instructional.

Permaculture on Youtube

2009-03-03T21:25:00.001-08:00

http://www.youtube.com/view_play_list?p=3E9C6C0FC24AAB39

Facebook Post!

2009-03-02T14:26:00.000-08:00

Here are some of the facebook groups we follow!

the tiny home movement- rachel started this group to begin bringing together people involved in all aspects of tiny homes, from building and design, to interested individuals, to parallel interests like green roofing and community gardens.

Architecture for Humanity Vancouver- local chapter of the international organization. terribly sexy. need we say more?

Smaller houses= smaller carbon footprints- a collective of people who love tiny houses and their tiny carbon footprints.

Eco-design + Sustainable Architecture Aficionados- name says it all.

Sustainable Urban Planning Forum- A place to discuss urban planning in an environmental context.

Some new notes on our philosophies, as they develop:

2009-03-02T14:17:00.000-08:00

Most homes that we live in today are designed to accommodate the objects in our life, rather than our own bodies. In order to create a design which demonstrates a better awareness of our bodies and how they move, we intend to consult ergonomists, kineseologists and even yoga specialists .

We've also been chatting about where our project falls in the greater picture. I think that the best thing we can do in researching and building a tiny home will be to provide a body of information and a communal network for people who may choose to go the tiny home route after us. By contributing to DIY culture and creative commons design, we are part of a larger movement that is in a position to alter our systems.

The Living Density Exhibition and Forum

2009-02-28T12:26:00.000-08:00

We're very excited to be participating in a gallery show with Architecture for Humanity Vancouver this May.

"Through diverse participations this project is aimed at exploring how the issue of density can be creatively engaged with, and subsequently what kinds of spatial and communicative design and strategies may be employed to do so. It is an exploration on how the three scales of urbanity, currently ascribed to the three cognate disciplines of urban planning/design, architecture and interior/industrial design, are interlinked."
-Pat Chan

We're developing a set of works which will demonstrate our concepts and research, and help further this research over the course of the two week show.

Ecological Perspectives, class updates:

2009-02-25T10:37:00.000-08:00

Those of you who are involved in the project, but haven't been involved in the EPOD class, are often looking for updates on what we're doing and what our timelines look like. So I'm going to start posting updates.

From Dwane:

Hi Everyone,
The main project is due in 4 weeks. (that's March 23rd.)

All designers need to learn to tell compelling visual stories. For next week, you are asked to choose one of the stories below for the message content of your video project. The video needs to visually convey the fact, the motivation and the gap in a compelling way.

Evaluation will be based on the number of hits your video received, so above all, your video needs to be watched. Think of the best YouTube videos and make it like one of those - funny, extreme, etc.

We will talk about dissemination strategies and other details next week, but for this class please come prepared to deliver an entertaining, fascinating 2 minute proposal for your visualization strategy and intentions for the project.

If you have talked to me about an alternative project already, then bring your proposal for that.

The Monday lecture will be dedicated to issues of the main project. We will show examples and discuss strategies. Please save all questions for the lecture. Again, here are the choices...

Preserve more trees
1. Fact: Deforestation is the single largest source of greenhouse gases in the world, producing 20% of human-made emissions.
2. Motivation: If we stop deforestation and plant more trees, cities will be cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter; the air will be cleaner, and we will all be healthier.
3. Gap: Canada has one of the worst environmental records in the world. We cut down 6 times more trees than we plant. We need to create a national program for urban and rural tree-planting, and strong policies to end deforestation.

Eat more plants
1. Fact: Meat production and consumption produces the 2nd largest quantity of global greenhouse gases.
2. Motivation: We would all be healthier as vegetarians; people who eat more animal fat are more likely to get cancer.
3. Gap: Health Canada recommends we eat about 15 lbs of meat per year, but Canadians actually eat more than 60 lbs per year. Canada needs to end agricultural subsidies for livestock producers and farmers who produce feed for livestock.

Create more passive houses
1. Fact: Most of the energy used to heat and cool our houses is wasted. Inefficient buildings are the 3rd largest contributor of greenhouse gases. Fixing them is one of the most attractive ways of reducing carbon dioxide emissions.
2. Motivation: Energy savings quickly pay the cost of retrofitting leaky, inefficient houses. After payback, energy savings becomes money in the bank.
3. Gap: Inefficient construction wastes 80% of the energy we use to heat and power buildings. Canada needs to embark on a national retrofit program of all existing homes and commercial buildings. It also needs to update building codes to meet European passive house standards.

Drive more light electric cars; take more trains
1. Fact: Flying already accounts for 10% of greenhouse gases world wide, and air travel is predicted to double in the next 20 years.
2. Motivation: The owners of lightweight electric vehicles will save large amounts on fuel. Those who choose to travel longer distances by train will enjoy relaxing alternative to driving or flying, one that emphasizes the journey over the destination. Nevertheless for longer distances most people will choose to fly until governments make air travel less attractive.
3. Gap: Research shows that we will need to find ways to reduce our flying by as much as 90%. The Government of Canada needs to develop policies that discourage air travel. It also needs to develop policies that encourage hi-speed rail, lightweight electric vehicles, and walkable cities.

Kill more vampires
1. Fact: Electrical appliances, gadgets and chargers, when plugged in, use more power when off than they are used.
2. Motivation: We can save bundle if we disconnect electrical devices when they are not being used.
3. Gap: Canada needs to create an effective user-pay system for power that discourages waste and rewards radical efficiencies.

Hopefully, our project will address most of these issues in some way, when it's completed in the long term. In the short term, we're currently finalizing our objectives for the project, and thinking about the upcoming gallery show with architecture for humanity.

Solar Batteries

2009-02-24T09:24:00.000-08:00

Via Inhabitat:

Inventor Knut Karlson is working on batteries wrapped in a thin photovoltaic cell- meaning that these batteries charge when simply left out in the sun!

I'm still not sure about the level of "green" associated with using batteries, but rechargable solar batteries sound like a potentially feasible option to me for many of the small power consumers around the house- decentralizing seems to me to be the way to go for relaiability in the case of alternative energy sources. Conter-arguments?

Permaculture

2009-02-23T12:40:00.000-08:00

http://zeri.org/case_studies_pigs.htm

I love that at the heart of it all is the alcohol industry. :)

Basically:

Waste from a brewery, barley mash, hops, dead yeast, are used as a growth medium (mixed with sawdust or straw) with which to cultivate cultures of edible fungi, which convert the barley/straw material into mycelium, which fruit into edible mushrooms.

The edible mushrooms are harvested, leaving behind root structure and nutritional content which is then fed to pigs.

The pig manure is harvested and used for compost, creating methane which is captured in the process, used for cooking, heating, lighting.

The waste is put through what they call a BioDigester, which essentially isolates the waste from oxygen, and processes it anaerobically (without oxygen), to turn into usefull fertilizer. The system is 60% efficient in sequestering CO2, but the remaining 40% is processed in shallow pools aerobically(in the presence of oxygen) by algae, which are harvested to feed a large fish population which they in turn harvest.

The rich biodiversity of the ponds and fish quarters are partially covered (at the fringes, one assumes) with a substrate which enables hydroponic growing of crops, assisted by waste processed from the pigs.

Basically, insert labor, water, sunshine, and industrial waste, and you have the entire economy of a small village.

Water Pump. Applications Endless

2009-02-23T11:51:00.000-08:00

Basically, the allure is the ability to pump a constant supply of water without the use of energy. Would necessitate a resevoir, but from the sound of things, this serves as an irrigation system for whoever made it, for gardening/farming. Basic idea is using hydraulics to pump water. Also has applications as a possible small power source, in addition to just being amazing.

Collect rainwater at height, cycle down to power hydraulic pump, run through turbine, collect energy, use water in garden/greywater applications, or filter and consume/bathe.

That piston driving the water pump could have a magnet attached, and a coil placed around magnet to gather electricity, if turbining the output is not wanted. This would be a purely parasitic act, would not provide much but could power several LED lighting systems very easily for extended periods of time.

http://www.instructables.com/id/Worlds_greenest_water_pump/

Passive Heating and Cooling

2009-02-22T20:37:00.000-08:00

Here's an interesting design which demonstrates some key principles of passive solar heating an cooling. It mentions the slate floor which acts as a thermal mass (slowing heating and cooling over the course of the day and night, respectively.) One of the ideas we've been tossing around is using the moss wall as our solar mass, as it's density may be appropriate. (We may want to consider adding a thin stone tile backing to it...)

I've also been reading the Humanure book online, and found the temperature that compost can reach- up to 70 degrees Celsius. This is pretty exciting, as we were also discussing an idea for a water heating system which would run a coiled pipe through the compost containment unit, and then through the central wall of the house. This would heat the house, as well as provide hot water. Any thoughts on how feasible this might be?

Communities

2009-02-22T20:34:00.000-08:00

So I've been trying to find some existing online communities which would be interested in the project, or already have some resource which we may be interested in. One that I've come across is the Tiny House Forum, where there is lots of chatter about the specifics of building tiny homes from people who have done it or are doing it.

Getting emails when people comment

2009-02-22T09:05:00.001-08:00

Rachel and I were talking about the problem with the lack of notification when comments show up.
It's a pain because people comment thinking that their thoughts will be heard, but everyone else has no idea when there are new comments or where to find them.

If you go to Settings -> Comments, and then go to the bottom of the page, there's a box in which you can put your email address to get emails whenever someone comments. Though it might clutter up your inbox...

Edit:
Scratch that. I just found the rss feed for comments:
http://dropbox-myhomeyourhome.blogspot.com/feeds/comments/default?alt=rss

Tiny House Village Network

2009-02-22T01:37:00.000-08:00

The tiny house village network has a brilliant idea. They're working to network tiny (mostly mobile) home owners with people willing to host them on their properties. This was my original plan for land to put the house on, so I'm so excited that someone is already on it.

Check them out here.

Questions:

2009-02-22T01:21:00.000-08:00

I'm trying to figure out what the key question I'm trying to answer is. Why? Because my research has been extensive and varied, that to summarize is going to be difficult. Communicating the jist of this project as concisely as possible, however, is going to be key to it's progress.
So, some thoughts:

Tiny homes have become a major trend in recent years- but does this primary interest have the potential to become a sustained movement?

Can a tiny home be designed which appeals to the modern North American Consumer in an endearing and enduring way?

How can we design an innovative and unique interactive home environment which makes "sustainable" and community-sufficient choices into a simple lifestyle?

Any thoughts?

A tiny home design: Ontario

2009-02-21T11:31:00.000-08:00

Re: Open Source Ecology

2009-02-21T10:26:00.000-08:00

Scott- I was just going to comment- but I wanted to summarize and elaborate and talk and talk and talk... so:

For everyone who isn't on their computers 24/7 like scott and I, he posted a link to an incredible project. Factor e Farm (not factory farm) is a replicable open source farm which they say aims to become self sufficient:

"We are looking for people who are interested in building the world's first replicable open source self-sufficient decentralized high-appropriate-tech permaculture ecovillage - to transcend survival and evolve to freedom."

It's a very exciting project. Why? Besides the obvious matters of getting off-grid and providing for their own needs, they're also on their way to becoming an access model- meaning that they (are already) and will become a major source of information/ teaching. We should probably get in contact with these hot sexy people right away. Hippie road trip anyone?

open source ecology: Building the world's first replicable open source self-sufficient village

2009-02-21T08:57:00.001-08:00

http://openfarmtech.org/weblog/
}Blog

http://openfarmtech.org/index.php?title=Main_Page
}Wiki (just like ours!)

http://www.youtube.com/user/marcinose
}Youtube list

Let's collaborate!

Solar panels and powering

2009-02-20T08:51:00.001-08:00

I was reading an email from Kenneth (an engineer at Queens) and the targeted advertisements from google came up with the following:

http://www.solarland.com/sd1/page1/home%20system.html
}This is a really wide selection of complete systems (panels, wiring, and lights) for various uses. everything from boats to homes.

http://www.ctsolar.com/
}These are more targeted towards laptops and wilderness excursions. The website seems kinda hacked together at the last minute, and so gives me the impression of sketchy... shrugs

http://mail.google.com/mail/?ui=2&ik=55be9cbd0d&view=ap&t=r&rlk=Solar%20Panels%20Cost&rll=en
}and finally, the selection of links provided. They're all commercial of course, but some of them seem worth looking into.

Bamboo laptops

2009-02-19T11:22:00.000-08:00

From: http://blog.wired.com/gadgets/2009/02/bamboo-pcs-catc.html
(Also other bamboo products)
From: a friend on the wikieducator site

Quote:
"Today's use of bamboo in consumer electronics products is similar to how TVs were packaged in the 1950s and 1960s, with a wooden shell encasing the screen, says Bradley. "The original thought was that having a piece of technology in your living environment was disruptive," he says. Now as consumers make an attempt to go back to nature, they are looking for a similar design aesthetic."

Comment:
Making things look wooden is delicious.
Is it gimmiky?
They say the entire build process it 'green'
whatever that means.

Humanure: the bible

2009-02-18T19:52:00.000-08:00

Eliminating the concept of waste is something us Emily Carr students remember from Duane's first lecture. This is the idea that in order to find balance in our lifestyles, producing waste must become something of the past. How can this be achieved? Well- part of it is re-thinking our definition of waste, and finding new ways to turn "waste" into resources. Which is what I've been reading about in the Humanure book. (Yes, it's about poop. And now you can read it online!)

"...we still find no waste in nature. One organism's excrement is another's food - it's that simple. Everything is recycled through natural systems so waste doesn't exist. Humans create waste because we insist on ignoring the natural systems that we are dependent upon."

I've been reading through it (I think I mentioned.) I'll keep providing updates- everyone should read it.

TerraScreen indoor green walls

2009-02-18T13:35:00.001-08:00

These green walls are a similar concept to our moss wall but with potted plants.

Aesthetic: follow up #2

2009-02-17T21:36:00.001-08:00

Discussion continues about the aesthetic for the home, which is a direction we need to think about before drawings can start. I think we're starting to find our way- the idea of a clean, fairly modern linear home with accents brought in from nature sounds very pleasing. Thoughts?

Things like the moss wall (part of the natural cooling/ heating system,) the moss bathmat, and this hanger posted above are all ways to create a very new and fresh look.

EcoDensity

2009-02-17T19:56:00.000-08:00

Exciting things are happening in Vancouver! I'm taking a look at the Vancouver EcoDensity Planning Initiative and getting all hot under the collar over the changes that are going to occur in the coming years. They're looking at things like removing barriers to laneway housing to increase the population density. Hopefully, this will also increase access to affordable housing, not to mention changing the way people look at the tiny home lifestyle.

Also, Patric just emailed a few of us this article about American preferences in lifestyle. It's a little frustrating to hear that people are unhappy to live in cities, but at the same time I think that it represents a design opportunity.

Waste Processing

2009-02-17T19:02:00.001-08:00

Part of designing an ecosystem is considering both the input and the output- so one of the things we're going to need to think about is processing of waste. I was super excited to find the bible of human waste processing online: The Humanure Handbook.

I've started to read it (for my research, I intend to get through this, and any other waste composting resources I can get my hands on.) It was written by a man who has spent the last 24 years safely and hygienically composting his family's waste in their backyard, and using to grow food. Sounds pretty terrifying, right? That's what I thought.

I've been reading and asking more about composting toilets and waste composting in general. It will be hard to get western users to face the barrier, but I think it may be worth it to try. I'll post updates as I read more. I'll leave you with this comment from one of the book's readers.

"When I first heard about this system I was cynical, 'it must be smelly, it must have lots of flies all over it.' It isn't, it doesn't. It, for me, is the Rolls Royce of toilets. It is simple, it is humble, it is effective."