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NEWS / MONDAY, APRIL 26, 2010 / THE UNIVERSITY DAILY KANSAN / KANSAN.COM
ENGINEERING
The incredible, affordable green dome home
BY JOSH HAFNER
jhafner@kansan.com
This house, which is near completion at 13th and New Jersey streets, is part of the Tenants to Homeowners nonprofit effort. The group pairs low income home seekers with work force housing at below market prices.
Jerry Wang/KANSAN
jhafner@kansan.com
Its promoters call it "the greener, affordable home in Kansas."
Dan Rockhill, professor of architecture and director of Studio 804, the University's eco-friendly design program, described the structure as a "broken egg shell."
Deron Belt, president of the East Lawrence Neighborhood Association, said that the building reminded him "of a home from Hobbitit, but not underground," an allusion to the homes of the J.R. R. Tolkien novels.
Whatever it's called, the domeshaped building is raising hopes and eyebrows in East Lawrence, bringing with it a little-known green technology into the community.
For the past month at the northeast corner of 13th and New Jersey streets, Lawrence-based SIPSmart Building Systems has been working on the construction of a home intended to strike a balance between high-energy efficiency and cost effectiveness.
The project is in partnership with Tenants to Homeowners, a nonprofit that pairs low-income home seekers with "workforce housing" at below-market price. Executive Director Rebecca Buford said the project started when SIPSmart owner Michael Morely pitched the idea to her years ago.
"He approached me and said, 'I think I can do a smaller project and really test the limits of affordability,' she said. "The idea of doing a smaller footprint of this that starts affordably really excited me."
The focus of the home's design is structural insulated panels. SIPs are comprised of two layers of wooden or metal structural board separated by a thick layer of foam. The factory sends the house in a kit for speedy assembly.
The three-bedroom, two-bath dome-home in East Lawrence,
model name ARCX 29-9, should
take just four months to build, finishing in June.
The pieces fit together to produce an airtight, energy-efficient home that requires significantly less power and thus less money for utilities. Kim Chaote, a SIPsmart representative, said that the 1,470-square-foot home would have a monthly utility bill of $30 to $50.
Chaote said the building's unique dome shape was chosen by Morley and the SIPSmart team to capitalize on the panels' ability to span large distances without many supporting walls and to use as much area as possible on the building's small lot space. The SIPSmart team said they felt the dome also had aesthetic advantages.
"I can't describe it, but there's something about not having square corners — the flow," Chaote said. "It definitely has a more relaxed feeling to it. When you're inside a space like that, it inspires awe and uplifting thoughts."
However, SIPs are more expensive than traditional materials. According to Chaote, this custom made SIP design costs about $25,000, not including the building's final interior or exterior design or the pricey shipping and installation charges. Using available subsidies and partnerships with contractors to lower costs, Buford said the Tenants to Homeowners' budget for the home was about $150,000.
"Anyone with a million dollars can build a green house," Buford said. "It's not very hard. The question is can you do it without a ton of money and can you get a good return on that answer quickly. I'm using this project to answer that."
Whether the building's dome design is gaudy and impractical or novel and unique, most people
Though the house is still for sale, Buford said she hopes to get it contracted in April in order to take advantage an Affordable Housing tax credit program that ends this month.
However, not everyone in
"The response from the community was supportive and positive." Belt said. "I think we are a quirky neighborhood of sorts I guess and I think this house goes well with it."
about, and I do think if they would get out of the nonsense of the shape and think of how to use SIPs to take advantage of the shape, then they could really make a difference," he said.
"It's been important to offer them something with low enough energy bills that they will be able to live in it, beyond just buy it in the first place," Chaote said. "And that's the beauty of this."
Even after construction is complete and the home is occupied, there may still be disagreement about how the house looks. More difficult to argue about, however, is the economic and ecological advantages that the SIP technology provide for a low-income family.
Lawrence agrees that the building's dome shape is a smart move. Chate recalled at least two people who called the design outlandish, promising to throw eggs at the building if it was built. Other objectors have more practical reasons.
REBECCA BUFORD
Homeowners executive
director
"I think that's the most unfortunate thing about the project, is the design of it leaves something to be desired," Rockhill said. "It seems to ignore elements of passive design, the movement of
in East Lawrence seem excited for its completion.
"Anyone with a million dollars can build a green house. The question is can you do it without a ton of money and can you get a good return on that pretty quickly."
Rockhill said although usin
Passive solar design is a method of crafting buildings that takes advantage of the sun's daily and yearly cycles to reduce the necessity of climate control energy use. Often this can be achieved through things like such as south-facing windows. Rockkill said the dome's shape rendered it incapable of taking advantage of crucial passive solar elements.
the sun. And that I think is really ignorance, you can't not consider that when talking about sustainability."
"I congratulate its occurrence, but it also needs to have a little clarification as to what it's boasting
Hundreds of homes also were damaged in the storm, which carved a path of devastation from the Louisiana line to east-central Mississippi, and at least three dozen people were hurt. Rescuers spread out Sunday to find anyone who might be trapped, while survivors returned to demolished homes to salvage what they could and bulldoze the rubble.
Edited by Allyson Shaw
But an hour later, she heard a peep. A mechanic took apart her dashboard and found the 14th duckling. Speed says the brood is healthy and expected to survive.
NATIONAL
"This tornado was enormous," said Gov. Haley Barbour, who grew up in Yazoo County, a county of about 28,000 people known for blues, catfish and cotton. The twister wreaked "utter obliteration" among the picturesque hills rising from the flat Mississippi Delta, the governor said.
F a f
The woman gathered each into her car and took them to the Humane Society.
Tornadoes also were reported in Louisiana, Arkansas and Alabama. The storm system tracked northeastward, downing trees in northwest Georgia early Sunday before moving offshore.
YAZOO CITY, Miss. — At least 10 people were killed when a tornado ripped through the rural Mississippi countryside.
10 killed in in tornado disaster in Mississippi
ASSOCIATED PRESS
ODD NEWS
The woman told Speed that a vehicle in front of her appeared to intentionally hit the mother duck, leaving her ducklings confused in the middle of the road.
Woman rescues 14 ducklings
WEST ALLIS, Wis. — A mother duck didn't survive her walk across a busy Wisconsin roadway, but a motorist made sure the 14 ducklings stayed safe — even one that wiggled under her dashboard.
Angela Speed of the Wisconsin Humane Society says the good Samaritan was driving in West Allis, a Milwaukee suburb, on Friday when she saw the newly hatched mallards trying to cross a busy road.
Associated Press