Flow House Design Concept, New Orleans, USA

Introduction

In this article I’ve put together 10 of my favourite eco houses from around the world!

The Eco Arch, England

This rather iconic-looking home features an unsupported parabolic arch made up of thousands of tiny clay tiles. This unprecedented feat of engineering is also highly insulated and is covered with layers of gravel and soil to allow wild grasses and flowers to seed. Underneath it, a super air-tight modern home is laid out to face the huge south facing windows, which harness the energy of the sun to heat a heavy ‘eco-concrete’ floor slab. This “creative, risk-taking and groundbreaking” building is an architectural first and we can learn a lot from it!

The Active House, Denmark

The aim of the building is to provide a zero-carbon eco home without compromising on supreme comfort and usability and something I definitely believe to be achievable. The house uses solar-generated electricity, solar heating and an advanced computer system which controls the interior climate, opening and closing windows according to the temperature, season and time of day. This technologically advanced design is really interesting as an alternative approach to the so far unquestioned passive house system.

Flow House Design Concept, New Orleans, USA

Photovoltaic roof panels, rainwater harvesting and ‘rain gardens’ act alongside passive design features that allow natural ventilation and plenty of daylight. What makes this project stand out is the ‘cradle to cradle’ design. This means that, once the building is no longer in use, all the materials used can either be recycled or returned to nature. Similarly admirable is the amount of attention the architects paid to ‘community design workshops’ to ensure the houses were really tailored to the local people.

Date: 2015-12-17; view: 1625