Designing and building a LEED Platinum house is reason enough for us to take notice. When the house is also the work of graduate students at the University of Kansas and it is designed to function off-grid, you can bet that we will anxiously follow its development. Studio 804′s 3716 Springfield House is a two-story residence that is exactly these things, and with the school year just wrapped up, so has the construction of this eco-friendly house in Kansas City.
Studio 804, part of the University of Kansas School of Architecture and Urban Planning, is an innovative design/build program integrated into a graduate-level studio which has previously been featured here at Inhabitat. The goal of the program is to ensure that the students understand the benefits of green design by providing students with hands-on experience. We were sad to hear that this home design actually broke the tradition of building the structure inside a warehouse. However, we are still very impressed with this site-built home and all of its green wonders.
The 3716 Springfield two-story house is being built in the the Rosedale neighborhood of Kansas City. The students reclaimed a retired building from the Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant for the project and used wood from the original structure to build the interior walls. The students did all of the construction themselves, from pouring the concrete through the the installation of HVAC, plumbing, and electrical systems. Throughout the construction, the student team carefully ensured that all materials would meet LEED Platinum standards upon completion.
The residence is equipped with a radiant floor and geothermal heat pump, and was designed for passive solar heating to keep it warm and comfortable during the winter. The home also includes a roof photovoltaic system and a vertical axis wind turbine which will allow it to operate off-grid.
The exterior of the home also includes a “cover” of sorts which is actually a wood rainscreen cladding. This facade allows water to pass behind the screen where gutters and downspouts are hidden to carry rainwater to an underground rainwater reclamation system.
Clearly, Studio 804 has created a truly impressive building. More interestingly, you can follow their progress at their website. Check it out here.
+ Studio 804
Via JetsonGreen
Great building and project!