Concept Statement The CURV Appeal Home provides homeowners the means to directly participate in the energy economy at an affordable price, moving them from energy consumers to energy producers. Through the use of sustainable design approaches, materials, and energy efficient systems, the CURV Appeal Home becomes more than just an “off the grid” house; it represents an effort to economize building “green.” Sustainable design approaches governed our process to create a single, modular shell with layers and components that interact with the environment to provide an energy-efficient and comfortable home. The house is the primary vessel for inhabitation, with a thin section in one direction to allow for cross ventilation and daylighting throughout the interior. The house orients itself naturally along the east-west axis, to best take advantage of the southern exposure during the winter, and to reduce the over-bearing intensity of the sun in the morning and evening hours during the hot summer months. We incorporated a greenhouse into the design in order to supply the house with its own food and as a result we created a heat engine. During the winter, the greenhouse provides the home with heat while during the summer a canopy door can be pulled down to keep the house cooler. 0
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Materials were chosen based on several criteria including multifunctional capability. The exterior consists of a corrugated metal façade that forms the identifying curves. This material is both economical and structural. Further, the metal also functions on an energy-efficiency level by reflecting heat away from the home, thereby resulting in a decrease in energy usage. Inside the home are all low-VOC, non off-gassing materials that create a modern environment at an affordable price. The clean lines of the kitchen are juxtaposed with the curving elements in the furniture, walls, and ceiling which tie in elements from the exterior. The materials we used are all readily available, emphasizing the ease of manufacturability of our design.
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Energy efficient systems are used in the home and include photovoltaic panels integrated into the building envelope, fiber-optic and LED lighting prototypes, evacuated tube solar hot water heating, innovative HVAC and engineering systems design, and an aquaponic garden that provides enough food for two people. Our systems are all designed to be cost-effective. This reduces the longterm cost of the home and makes “green” building more available to the middle-class.
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The CURV Appeal Home represents a movement in architecture towards affordability and efficiency. The synthesis of these concepts is an aspect of the high marketability of our design. Further, by combining these ideas, our design is made feasible and responsible and follows the principles of collaboration – between the homeowner and the home, between a building and its environment, between ecology and economics.
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