Sustainability
We Design for Sustainable Building
At White Oaks Studio, we take an integrative, holistic approach to sustainable design. Each step of building design and materials choice involves a whole host of decisions and compromises. As we make each of these decisions it is helpful to understand our client’s values as they relate to sustainable building. To assist in this endeavor I have come up with 6 sustainable values:
The 6 Sustainable Building Values:
- Energy Efficiency
- Low Embodied Carbon
- Low Harmful Chemical Content
- Climate Resilience
- Land/Building Interdependence
- Community Health
Sustainable Building Values Defined
1. Energy Efficiency
Energy Efficient buildings use very little energy allowing for minimal or zero fossil fuel use and low energy bills. But they also have other lesser known advantages. Building a highly efficient building involves an air tight, and highly insulated envelope, along with site design sensitive to the local climate. There are a number of positive unintended consequences that follow from this:
High Quality
The building science is fundamentally simple, but practically complex. You need to keep water out of the building’s walls. Because of the practical complexity of this simple concept, an airtight building needs to be constructed with a high attention to detail. Done right this has the happy consequence of producing a very high quality building envelope.
Comfort
Because of the air tight, and highly insulated walls, there are no holes for drafts, and no cold wall surfaces to bring a chill to the outer reaches of a room. This makes for superior comfort in the home’s interior air temperature, with no drafts or cold spots, and can often result in a lower overall thermostat setting.
Noise
All that insulation in the walls muffles any outdoor sounds, so you no longer have to worry about your neighbor who likes to mow at 6am every Sunday morning; encouraging the community peace!
2. Low Embodied Carbon
We keep in mind the environmental impact of all the materials used in our designs, and we do our best to keep those impacts as low as possible. Every building material has a certain energy cost, this energy cost is known as the embodied carbon of the material; how much carbon dioxide (or its equivalent in greenhouse gasses) was produced in the making of each building material.
Some materials produce great quantities of carbon during their manufacturing, others absorb carbon during their production (such as wood and other plant based product). Using these carbon rich materials can turn your house into a carbon sink, storing the carbon that would otherwise go into the atmosphere for the life of your house. This can turn your house into part of the climate solution instead of being a climate problem.
Natural Building
Natural building is a big component of the green movement. We support the thoughtful integration of this building form into all our designs. When used with sensitivity to the local climate and available resources, it can be a big part of a low embodied carbon building. Making your home part of the solution to pull carbon out of the atmosphere.
3. Low Harmful Chemical Content
We are sensitive to the chemical content of all the materials that go into our buildings. These chemicals can have disastrous effects on indoor air quality if not watched out for. We choose materials with low or no harmful chemical content whenever we have the option.
Health
The airtight envelope requires a ventilation system to bring fresh air into the house, instead of the conventional method of letting the outdoor air find its way through random cracks and holes in the wall. Because the outside air enters the house through a filtered ventilation unit, most allergens and pollutants are filtered out, giving those suffering from allergies and asthma great relief in their home.
For those worried about relying on a mechanical system for something so fundamental as fresh air, you can still always open the windows.
4. Climate Resilience
Climate change means higher average temperatures, but those high temperatures also mean more extreme weather. This extreme weather takes different forms depending on your location. In Florida, it means designs that can withstand category 5 hurricane force winds. In parts of California it means designs that create defensible space and are slower to burn and can resist forest fires. Here in the Northeast, climate resilience can mean flood resistance, tornado resistance or the ability to hold up to heavier snow loads. We take a careful look at your unique site conditions and recent climate trends in your area to design a building resistant to the particular extreme climate your building might experience.
5. Land/Building Interdependence
We are all ultimately dependent on the earth. By looking at how we can sustainably tie building into the surrounding land and local ecology we try to be a positive part of the local ecology.
6. Community
Whenever possible we strive to design our buildings to bring people together, whether through the collaboration of the construction process, or through the way the buildings are inhabited.
Download The Six Principles of Sustainable Building
Full discussion of principles: “Navigating the Complex and Ever-Changing Shoals of Sustainable Design: A Practical Guide for the Average Homeowner”
Download My Masters Thesis:
“Buildings Integrated into Landscape & Making People Care for Them: Exploring Integrated Land-Building Ecosystems and the Lifestyles Needed to Support It”
The Abstract:
As climate change worsens, it is imperative that we make drastic changes to how our buildings are designed. We need to create building systems that work with and enhance the surrounding ecosystem.
How to Begin
Please use the link below to schedule an exploratory call to see if we would be a good fit for your project. During that call we can speak together about your ideas, design goals and the next steps forward.