Green Building Blog - Jetson Green

Tripod: A Plug and Play Housing System
Submitted by the Carnegie Mellon University Solar Decathlon team, this project won both in the Building Category (Student) as well as the Outstanding Achievement Award: Best Greenhouse Gas Reduction Design.  TriPod is a prototype house demonstrating the "Plug and Play" concept and is designed to provide an innovative alternative to the current housing industry.

Loblolly House: Unbolt, Detach, Reassemble
Submitted by KieranTimberlake Associates, this project is the winner in the Building Category (Professional Built).  The Loblolly House represents a novel approach to pre-fabricated and modular housing conceptsm and introduces off-site fabricated elements which are detailed for on-site assembly, future disassembly, and redeployment.

The Workshop
Submitted by Schemata Workshop, this design is the winner in the Building Category (Professional-Unbuilt).  The Workshop is assembled of prefabricated building components for optimized efficiency and minimum waste.

Trans/spot: Transient Awareness Center
Winner of the Innovation Category (Student) and Outstanding Achievement Award: Best School Design (K-12).  Trans/spot is a modular configuration that is assembled in empty lots across the city of Chicago to provide information to the local residents. In time, the structure has the flexibility to truly adapt to the needs of the community.

PlanetReuse
Submitted by Bradley Hardlin of Planet Reuse, this tool is the winner of the Innovation Category (Professional Built).  PlanetReuse is an on-line resource that provides homeowners, architects, decon professionals, and local municipalities with an industry solution to find, reclaim, and sustainably deconstruct and reclaim building materials.

Spoor House
Submitted by Spoor Design, this design is the winner of the Outstanding Achievement Award: Best Residential Design.  The goal of this project is to promote sustainable living in suburban communities.  The design focus is on a dwelling to the size of the average home built in the 1970s, which is 1550 sq. ft., on a 0.1 acre plot.  The house is to be prefabricated with 5 ISO containers, using off-the-shelf sustainable technologies, and conventional building techniques.

Contain Your Enthusiasm
Submitted by Group 41 Architects, this design is the winner of the Satellite Competition: Best of the Bay Area.  Upcycling used containers is a highly “green” and responsible alternative.  Three containers make a gracious 3-bedroom home of 1,300 square feet with 9 foot ceilings. Their industrial quality is softened with simple wood trellis elements that provide shading.

Sustainable Prototype
Submitted by Studio 804, this project was named Honable Mention in the Building Category (Student).  The Sustainable Prototype serves as an Arts Center in Greensburg, KS. The construction and delivery of The Sustainable Prototype was provided on the one year anniversary of the tornado that devastated Greensburg.

Second-Life Iraqi Housing: Temporary to Permanent
Submitted by Eric Hansen of the University of Utah, this design was named Honorable Mention in the Building Category (Student).  Honorable Mention for a realistic solution to a real-life problem.  The design consists of flat-packed, folding panels which are brought to the site by Marines, along with the supplies they already bring.  The structure can be quickly erected by the workforce of 36 marines during the night. 

Grass Valley Project: Design with Deconstruction in Mind
Submitted by Graham Thiel of IDEAS, this project was named Honorable Mention in the Building Category (Professional-Built).  Honorable mention for excellent use of reclaimed material.  The Grass Valley Project is an integrative design process that incorporates principles of Environmental Design, Green Building, Passive Solar, Natural Daylight, and Reclaimed Building Materials.

Corporate HQ Renovation for Multiple Lifecycles
Submitted by Haworth, this project was named Honorable Mention in the Building Category (Professional-Built).  Honorable mention for exceptional design of office strategies and interior modularity system. Haworth renovated its U.S. headquarters by stripping the building to its metal skeleton and concrete structure.  More than 98% of deconstruction materials were reused, down-cycled or donated, and 11,626 tons of building materials were reused or recycled.

Modular Expandable: Living Unit (ME: LU)
Submitted by Clay Aurell of AB Design Studio, this design was named Honorable Mention in the Building Category (Professional-Unbuilt).  Honorable mention for excellent use of a container.  ME:LU stands for Modular Expandable: Living Unit and is based on a concept of providing a housing module that can work for a single person, a family, or even a temporary work force while still exemplifying a lifecycle form of design.

Life-Cycle Assessment Study of Buchanan Building-D
Submitted by Busby, Perkins + Will, this design received Honorable Mention in the Innovation Category (Professional-Unbuilt).  Honorable mention for holistic lifecycle analysis quantifying the benefits of renovation.  Originally built in 1960 as a multi-purpose classroom, Buchanan-D is currently being renovated using an in-depth look at the salvaged value, environmental life cycle benefits and ramifications, the tradeoffs of renovating versus constructing a new building, and lifecycle cost analysis matrix.

Lifecycle Building Challenge partners include the American Institute of Architects, the Building Materials Reuse Association, West Coast Green, Southface  Energy Institute, and StopWaste.Org.

Images via Lifecycle Building Challenge.