Episode 6: CarbonShack Design: Building in an Age of Climate Change
The Mt. Washington Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU) is contemporary and luxurious, while remaining at the same time sensitive both to the historic architectural fabric of its setting, as well as to its environmental impact. Our belief is that no structure, no furnishing, can be created without understanding the impact of its design on both the experience of the user, and its impact on the natural world. The process of design must be holistic. We are thoughtful about every step - from the building’s foundation to the furniture’s fabric, integrating functionality and beauty with the goal of bringing the natural world into the home.
Adding an ADU (essentially an additional home) to any property zoned for a single-family dwelling necessitates sensitivity to issues of privacy. and density. Integrating this new structure, even if intended as a home office, means grappling with the challenge of balancing a sense of separation within an integrated whole. This property, bounded at both top upper and lower ends by street frontage, lent itself perfectly to the creation of an ADU, since the upper street allows for a separate private entrance. The yard between the two units is steeply sloped, so creating terraces landscaped with fruit trees provides a leafy privacy screen, and privacy, between the upper and lower houses.
One of the defining architectural features of this historic neighborhood is the use of river rocks from the nearby arroyo. River rocks are found throughout the area in landscape walls, property walls, foundations, porches, and fireplaces. To tie the new unit’s design both to the historic fabric of the community as well as to the front house, the ADU sits atop two newly constructed arroyo stone-clad walls, set in a descending arc at the lot’s upper extreme. These foundational architectural elements emerge from the hillside, as if remnants, provocative ruins, from a long-neglected historic structure. Positioned on top of and between these stone walls, contemporary wood-clad boxes contain a bedroom, bath, kitchen, indoor and outdoor living spaces. By linking the building’s materiality to the adjacent community, the ADU fits seamlessly within the historicity of the neighborhood and its natural features, while at the same time making a thoroughly contemporary statement.
This well-insulated solar-powered ADU/all-electric house is the embodiment of a low carbon footprint. Since it is partially built into the hillside, the building takes advantage of the cooling effects of Mother Earth. Further, being situated under a historic 100-year-old Live Oak tree, heat gain is naturally reduced through the cooling effects of the spreading leaf canopy. Highly efficient electric heat pumps heat and cool the interior and provide hot water, and combined with LED lighting throughout, bring energy consumption down even more. Moreover, an induction cooktop and electric ovens in the kitchen eliminate the need for fossil fuel consumption. Thoughtfully and strategically reducing the overall energy needs allows for fewer solar panels to be deployed, which truncates the time-frame for both the ROI on the solar panel system, as well as true energy independence.
Our design/build firm consists of both designers and craftspeople, which enables us to seamlessly transform design concepts into reality. We guide our clients to help visualize their dreams, but we also widen the conversation by highlighting possibilities that may otherwise not have been considered – such as wellness, sustainability, environmental stewardship, and biophilia. We believe that true design is not just a concept, but a collaborative process that leads to a tangible reality - which is why what we design, we build.
The construction industry uses three quarters of all the raw materials used by the United States, while buildings consume nearly 40% of energy in the country, more than both transportation and industrial sectors. Almost half of the greenhouse gas emissions stemming from buildings are due to materials production and the burning of fossil fuels. The process of construction creates a lot of waste, contributing between 30% and 40% of domestic landfill waste.