The zeroHouse
Specht Harpman is all over the place which isn’t surprising considering their innovative take on energy efficient living with the zeroHouse. I adore the zeroHouse but beyond this home even, I think that any architect firm listing “Impractical” as a design category is worth a good look.
If you haven’t heard of the zeroHouse I’d be surprised. This house emerged as the single winner in the 2007 TSA Studio Awards. DuPont has featured the home as part of their innovative ad campaign and more importantly a house like this could change the way we live.
The zeroHouse generates it’s own electricity due to high efficiency solar panels — so efficient that once fully charged, the zeroHouse can operate for a week with no further sunlight. Organic waste is churned into compost that only needs to be taken care of twice a year (which is really cool). One issue we found when trying to install a composting toilet was that people (i.e. buyers are concerned about maintaining). Twice a year chores are not that bad; plus you’d have garden material to boot.
zeroHouse is it’s own water collector by means of a rainwater collection plane that sends the water along to a 2700 gallon cistern. What’s very nice is that plumbing isn’t pumped but run by gravity so less power (none actually) is used for plumbing processes. The only downside to this home that I can see is the fact that all of it’s functions are self-regulated with sensors and a sort of “house brain” that can be run from your laptop. Fine. I know people want things to be easy but I cannot jump onto the home with a brain train. Sorry; robot like homes. No. I don’t think it’s too much trouble to turn dials myself or set up battery boards.
Course I don’t even own a microwave so I may be behind in the ever growing tech arena but I just don’t think putting all our faith into computerized everything is a good idea. Other than that this, zeroHome is a stellar idea. It’s easy on the eyes as well.
I actually like other Specht Harpman projects even more than the zeroHouse. Later this weekend we’ll see two more. If you want to take a look at the total tour of zeroHouse (you do) visit right about here.
So, what do you think? Homes with a brain or homes run by people. Maybe homes run by robot people? We could combine the two factors.
Tags: architect_firm, design_category, energy-house, offbeat-homes, solar-living, zero-house, zerohouseRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Design Trends, Eco Style, Modern, Solar Housing, Top Design
5 opinions for The zeroHouse
Linette
Dec 22, 2007 at 12:27 pm
I think I’d rather have a home run by people, but I really like some of the other features on the house.
Crabby McSlacker
Dec 22, 2007 at 6:12 pm
You gotta admire it’s efficiency, but, um, to me it’s kinda funny looking.
And I agree, I’m not ready to go get my laptop to turn stuff on and off. I spend enough time there as it is!
Kate
Dec 23, 2007 at 4:30 am
I am not sure why it would need to be on a laptop when everything is so easy and “low tech.” That said, do you need to build it in wide open spaces, or does it ultimately take up less space than a typical suburban bungalo?
Jennifer Chait
Dec 23, 2007 at 11:33 am
Linette ~ Resoundingly I think people want their homes robot free. That’s a good thing. The last problem we need are homes running the country. Or wait, maybe that would be an improvement. Hmmm.
Crabby ~ Honestly, I like the zeroHouse but not for it’s looks. It seems ready to take flight. Right away it reminded me of a seagull and I don’t want to live in a seagull. I let it slide considering how efficient it is.
Kate ~ It’s on a laptop because, well, say that you build this home in Oregon but then you travel to New Mexico. You can regulate heat and hot water from your laptop so you’re on your way home to Oregon and once you’re almost there you flip on the hot water. Make sense? I don’t know about space though. It’s small like most very efficient homes but it does spread out. It’s a lame answer but I’d guess it takes up a medium sized home amount of land. (?)
Impractical Architecture
Dec 23, 2007 at 3:34 pm
[…] other day when I showed the zeroHouse I mentioned that I like other designs from Specht Harpman better. First off I should say that any […]
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