Very cool little blog on ASU’s GIOS building over at Inhabitat. Head over there and check out some nice pictures of the building. Lots of cool green features in this renovated building. I remember when it was really dark and drab back when it was the nursing school building.
Old bequeaths new in the form of Arizona State University’s Global Institute of Sustainability, situated in the campus’ beautifully renovated former Nursing Building. Conceived by Lord, Aeck & Sargent along with Gould Evans Associates, the $6 million renovation included asbestos abatement and standard modernization for classroom use along with a bundle of environmentally and sustainable enhancements. Their innovation turned a once dreary, old and dark building into a new institute filled with enough daylight to inspire its new inhabitants as they look for ways to improve the environment, the economy, and the social challenges we all face today.
I don’t know, but thanks to a project in the works by the non-profit Arizona group Everlasting Marks we may be able to find out. They are raising money to build a earthship at Superstition Farm in Mesa. The construction is a training build that will train their future camp counselors the building process that they intend to use at the thier camps. Everlasting Marks eventual goal is to create international youth camps that promote cultural understanding and environmental awareness. When they complete the construction of the earthship it will be donated to the East Maricopa Natural Resource Conservation and be open to visits from the general public. This could be a great place for everyone to visit to see what life might be like living in a eco-friendly earthship without air conditioning. I know I’ll check it out because I really want to see one up close and see if it stays comfortable in the summer.
Everlasting Marks can’t complete this without help from the community, so if you want to help head over to their website and volunteer or donate some much needed funds.
If you don’t know what a earthship is check out our post about them here.
Earthships are extremely energy efficient homes constructed from earth and recycled materials. They are usually off grid and collect their own electricity and water. They are a great mix of old and modern technology to create great sustainable structures to live in. I know there are some Earthship homes in Arizona, but have never seen one up close. I’m really curious if they stay cool enough without A/C here in the desert.
The two videos below show what these unconventional homes are all about.
A development team in downtown Philly consisting of a developer, architect, and builder has set out to build a modern, green home for $100K in construction costs and another $100K - $150K for land. They came up with this plan because modern design with an eye for sustainability was important to them, however, homes of this sort currently do not exist in any affordable way. A total cost of around ~$200K seemed to be the “magic number” to them as it was a price they and their friends could afford. Depending on location and cost for the land these can obviously end up being more or less affordable. Here in Arizona it would probably be easier to find more affordable plots of land than in downtown Philly.
The team building these homes is starting with a pair of modest 2 story loft-style houses with 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, and 1000 sq ft of living space. This would be a great starter house for young couples, small families, or retirees looking to downsize. Back when I was house shopping a few years ago I didn’t come across any homes with green features for anywhere near this affordable price range and ended up settling on a conventional home that we could afford. Had these been available to us then we would have snatched one up in a heart beat!
The plan is also to make these homes as eco-friendly as possible and even strive for LEED platinum certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED platinum certification is a stringent measure of many different factors, including energy efficiency, water use, building materials, etc. There are very few LEED platinum homes in the U.S. and probably none at the price point they are shooting for. The green features they plan to incorporate are:
Lets hope they are successful, I’d love to have options like this if I ever need to move again. To keep tabs on their progress and to get all the details of their plan check out the 100K house blog at http://100khouse.com/.
Here is a video of Nic Darling from the developer of this project, PostGreen, presenting the 100K house idea at Ignite Philly.
Know about any other projects like this? Leave a comment and let us know.
The Memorial Union at ASU’s Tempe campus was damaged by fire last November and as part of the clean up they are going to do some renovations with a focus on sustainability. This is exciting news, I can’t wait to see what it looks like when the construction is finished next Fall.
“We had to repair the fire damage. Why not use the opportunity to upgrade the building as well?” she said.
ASU spokeswoman Leah Hardesty added that many of the University’s efforts will focus on sustainability.
The University will be going for a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, or LEED, certification in commercial interiors, she said.
LEED certification is given to buildings that have achieved high degrees of sustainability in terms of construction that recycles and reuses materials and buildings that make use of energy-efficient designs and appliances, among other factors.
The new dining facility is tentatively named the Starlight Terrace and Eco-Fresh Café, Lowe said.
The restaurant will make use of local organic foods and environmentally friendly practices such as recycling.
“We’re still mostly conceptualizing on the Starlight Terrace,” Hardesty said. “But we do know it will be entirely sustainable.”
James Towner | 
01 14th, 2009| 
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