Brilliance doesn’t shine too often or easily in our industry. It’s not that there’s a shortage of vision, creativity, or innovation coming from all sectors--far from it. But ground-breaking architects, developers, and home builders across the country are often too constrained by immediate market conditions to move forward quickly with game-changing designs and state-of-the-art homes--especially when it comes to adopting features that enhance and advance performance, health, and sustainability.
And so we often see the rate of adoption slowed to a “safer” pace, synched to buyers’ perceptions, market demand, and code compliance. Which is why, when we laid out plans for The 2015 Greenbuild Unity Home–a 1,620-square-foot demonstration show home that will be on display at this year’s Greenbuild International Conference and Expo--our goal was to provide a balanced kind of brilliance. We plan to reveal how high-quality design, engineering, and construction can be combined with practical and affordable features and state-of-the-art products and technologies to maximize a home’s performance, resilience, and sustainability, while enhancing the comfort, health, and security of those who live there.
We used these principles in selecting our team of building experts that includes New Hampshire-based builder Unity Homes and the Cradle to Cradle Products Innovation Institute, along with hand-selected product manufacturers and technical consultants. The end result, based on Unity’s affordable contemporary Zŭm model, will be a LEED Platinum, WaterSense certified, net zero-energy demonstration project that includes a full array of Cradle to Cradle-certified products.
Sound like a tall order? You bet, but we’ve got the team, technology, and track record to do it. For our Greenbuild demonstration home at last year's show, we brought together some of the country’s top sustainability experts to meet LEED v4 Platinum and Energy Star v3 standards and showcase Cradle to Cradle certified products and strategies.
Mark your calendar now: The home will be open for guided tours during the 2015 Greenbuild International Conference and Expo at the Washington, D.C., Convention Center, Nov. 18 to 20.
Rick Schwolsky’s monthly Greenbuild Unity Home Journal will chronicle each stage in the design and construction of the 2015 Greenbuild Unity Home, where BUILDER, Unity Homes, and the Cradle To Cradle Products Innovation Institute, along with leading product manufacturers, will reveal innovations in off-site production that deliver affordable advances in residential design, products, performance, resilience, and sustainability.
