todd

CleverHomes - NowHouse Review

Yesterday I took a trip with Logan and Natalie to check out the CleverHomes SA1 model home sponsored by NowHouse. It's currently set up in next to the baseball park in downtown SF. (I'm hesitant to call it PacBell Park or whatever because, while companies come and go, baseball and San Francisco are forever.)

Overall I have to say the concept was interesting, the execution was professional, and the design beats the pants off a lot of the cookie-cutter suburban tract homes we see these days. However, there were some issues that stood out for me:

• There were no living plants in this "green" house. (To be fair, there was one dead orchid in an upstairs bathroom. ) At first this might seem like simply a problem of staging-- the interior designer forgot to put plants in or chose not to because they take maintenance. However, I think the problem is more systemic than that. For a house that is supposed to espouse "green construction", "resource efficiency", and "healthy living", it's remarkable that the house design doesn't actually support life. There's no more integration of the architecture with living things than there was in the Disney/Monsanto House of the Future built in 1957. Surely if we're prefabricating big chunks of the house, we can find good ways to cleanly integrate inside and outside, bringing plants into our living space.
• The acoustics were problematic. The overall sound insulation of the walls was good, and the sound insulation from the outside world was good, except where the doors and windows weren't weatherstripped.
  The Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs) from which the walls are constructed consist of a thick layer of expanded polystyrene (EPS) foam sandwiched between two layers of oriented strand board (OSB, similar to plywood, but made from chipped young trees). The EPS itself provides a good deal of acoustic absorption, but not as much as fiberglass batts, because the EPS board acts as a continuos acoustic medium, whereas the fiberglass acts as a discontinous medium with both reflection and absorption. On the other hand, because there are fewer wood studs connecting the two OSB panels, there are fewer direct paths for sound transmission.
  However, once noise of any kind penetrated into the house, or was created inside the house, the sound reflection was nasty. The inside wall surfaces were all painted gypsum (drywall) atop the inner layer of OSB, and they were all oriented at 90 degrees to each other-- not a single curved surface in the whole house, and no carpet other than throw-rugs. All the noise travelled everywhere. If you had to live in this house with kids or housemates, I doubt you would have much privacy. It has the kind of acoustics that work best for a single person living alone, or a couple, but not for people with different personalities trying to live together.
• The orthogonality of the space is inherent in the modular nature of the SIPs from which the house is constructed. The SIPs achieve their best energy and so forth when you can line them up at ninety degree angles. However, I would have liked to see more intrusions and extrusions breaking up the space, mixing up what's hidden and what's shown, deflecting and absorbing noise, and creating a sense of privacy and mystery. The space as it is now feels like a stage, the kind of space that's great for a party, where everyone wants to see and be seen, but it doesn't feel like a home, where you want to live and relax. Part of that feeling might stem from the large number of windows, with zero window coverings, leading to a fishbowl sensation.
• The SA1 is not as prefab as I'd like. Granted there are huge benefits to using the SIPs for the structure and laying everything out on a modular grid. However, once the SIPs are installed, there's still a huge amount of expensive finish work to be done:
  1. You need to lay drywall over the interior OSB on the SIPs because the OSB doesn't meet fire-retardant codes. Couldn't the panel come pre-finsihed with whitewashed drywall?
  2. You need to lay some kind of flooring over the OSB on the floor-- the model home had bamboo throughout most of the house, and cork in the bathrooms. Why couldn't this flooring be pre-installed at the factory?
  3. The SIPs include pre-drilled holes in the EPS for cable runs, at two standard electrical outlet heights. This makes running power fairly easy-- but you need to hire an electrician to do it. Why not have some "backbone" power and perhaps cat5 data cable factory installed?
  4. There was absolutely no integration between the windows and interior window shades/window coverings. Again, something that could be prebuilt at the factory: shades integral to the windows, blown EPS bead windows, etc.
• Air flow and air quality is a concern, since the house is so tightly sealed. We asked the NowHouse docent about ventilation and she explained that you simpy "open a window" to ventilate. I really like the fact that all the windows open, but again, this doesn't achieve any improvement over what was available in 1957. Anyone who lives in car country knows that the moment you open your window, you're going to get a thin film of soot all over your beautiful Eames chair. What if you want fresh air on a cold day, and don't want to lose all your passive solar heat by opening a window?

Anyhow, I encourage anyone who's interested in green architecture to visit the NowHouse model home in person and give it your own evaluation. I think what CleverHomes and NowHouse are trying to do is admirable, and there are huge environmental benefits to building in this way. I hope that as this kind of building becomes more common, we'll continue to make progress on the issues I noted.

Residential Neeeeeds Survey now online

So I finally finished writing the Residential Needs Survey as part of my latest invention project. The idea is to ask people about their homes, what problems they encounter, and hopefully that will lead to the discovery of common problems, and in turn to inventing products that help with those problems.
If you have a moment, please take the survey, and pass along the link to friends and family. It only takes a few minutes to complete, and having numerous responses would be really helpful to me. Thanks in advance for spreading the word!

Build your own PC case

I've been reading a lot lately about "modders": people who modify industrially-produced objects such as cars, bikes, clothes, and now PC cases. One of my favorites is a PC case build from an IKEA trash can:

It's interesting that places like Central Computer, that have been nerd-havens for so long, are now catering to a new kind of nerdism. What's next? Knitted computer cases?

2005 Uberlist

Inspired by Meriko, who always seems to pack a lot more fun into a year than should be humanly possible, and Jen, who exudes the calm and serenity that comes with making plans and writing them down, I've decided to make my very own Uberlist for 2005. If I can get to about half these things in 2005, I think it'll be a great year.

Acculturation
1. See at least six live bands with friends
2. See two live plays with friends
3. Go to NowHouse with Logan
4. Go see crazy Napa garden show
5. See movies twice a month with Carrie & Fej
6. Visit Oakland Museum
7. Visit Oakland Zoo
8. Pick a show at SFMOMA and don't miss it
9. Read one contemporary novel or nonfiction book a month
10. Subscribe to Harper's
    Health
11. Run, Swim, or Bike four times a week
12. Exercise at least 20 minutes a day
13. Run Bay to Breakers in May
14. Run at least one Triathlon
15. Eat your greens
16. Potatoes twice/month max
17. Go to the dentist for cleaning & checkup
18. Brush and floss like you mean it!
19. Confidential: Behavior
20. Get new improved eyeglasses
21. Confidential: Planning
    Invent/Design
22. Invent every day
23. Set up new studio space at Workspace
24. Move prototyping stuff to Workspace, organize storage unit for storage
25. Set up online design portfolio
26. Execute on multipronged approach to reaching escape velocity
27. Set up online store for simple direct-sale products
28. Design a simple lighting product for sale via Zinc Details &c.
29. Take Rapid Viz class through City College
30. Design/Build tree protector planter box in front
31. Believe
32. Perservere
    Gastronome
33. Cook dinner with Tammy at least once a week
34. Host a dinner party with Tammy
35. Host an oyster tasting party with Meriko's help
36. Learn to roast the perfect organic chicken
37. Learn Gma Kay's recipe for avgolemono soup
38. Learn Gma Kay's and Mom's recipe for Pumpkin pie
39. Learn to make Perfect meringues
40. Attend the mix-your-own Bordeaux workshop with friends
41. Food tour of Ferry Bldg with Meriko
42. Learn how to flip an omelette properly
43. Learn how to make Pasta Pollaio
44. Figure out which wines give me a headache, and why
    Familia
45. Go to dinner with Gma Kay at least twice
46. Summertime visit to Fillmore compound
47. Xmas with the family
48. Check out the mine, maybe go visit
49. Build something for Dan's farm
50. Attend Greek Festival with the Perakis clan
51. Visit or host Debbie
52. Have Cindy out for a visit (or visit her)
53. Make wedding photo albums for Mom, Gma Kay, Debbie
54. Visit the Jones farm in Oakdale
55. Call everyone on their birthdays, mother's day, etc.
    Art
56. Make at least two seasonal thank-you cards, and use them. (gocco!)
57. Make Nose Lamp
58. Make a self-portrait in color lino cut
59. Take Printmaking class through City College
60. Make a two-color holiday card with Tammy
61. Participate in Spring and Fall Open Studios, Holiday trunk show
62. Finish detailing on dining room table
63. Finish Honeycomb lamp & sell
64. Build floor plant lamp
65. Learn formal matting
66. Help Forrest figure out new photo mount techniques
    Community
67. Volunteer for nonprofit (FUF?)
68. Donate to nonprofit
69. Create a design for annual Arch. for Humanity event
70. Attend O2 / EcoArch event
71. Reconnect with Andy
72. Reconnect with Derek
73. Collaborate with Joe Sparks somehow
74. Use them thank-you cards
75. Take a weekend class with friends
76. Make a new friend
77. Make someone's day when they need it most
    Exploration
78. Visit Steve in San Diego
79. Visit Lori in LA
80. Check into seaplane flying lessons: price and time
81. Instead of watching TV, go to public places and watch people
82. Go diving in Monterey with Bob
83. Short, cheap trip to warm place with Tammy: Mexico? Arizona? Oahu?
84. Picnic in the Marin Headlands
85. Eastern Sierra trip with Jen: July 4th?
86. Visit that Julia Morgan chapel in the Oakland Hills
87. Wander around Treasure Island with map of 1939 Golden Gate International Exhibition
88. See Rivera's Pan-American Unity Mural at CCSF
89. Map out two Secret Government Installations: send data to CLUI
    Home
90. Enter condo lottery
91. Fixing wiring in Living Room
92. Install overhead lights in kitchen
93. Lay insulation over kitchen
94. Tile WC
95. DIY install new windows in Living Room
96. Use gift cards to fill in missing housewares
97. Knock out old vent pipe space
98. Check out tankless water heater options
99. Seal attic over pocket doors
100. Plant another fruit tree in the backyard