Widdifield Home

 

 

 

Our emphasis for sustainable development is on energy use. Until recently (with the possibility of using local woods such as farmed eucalyptus and now bamboo) a large majority of building materials for construction have to be imported so the embodied energy use in creating and/or shipping those materials to the islands seriously reduces the environmentally friendliness of those materials. So we focus on “optimum value engineered” (O.V.E.) structures while using energy saving systems throughout the house to reduce the need to pollute our environment with the burning of fossil fuels.

 

 
A prefabricated home manufacturer on the island produced the shell of the house.  The manufacturer claims to use sustainably farmed lumber for the materials of the structure.  The building is built with redwood studs 24” O.C. and cedar siding, making the structure both O.V.E. and termite resistant.  Additionally we used a hybrid system of metal fame studs for interior walls and ceilings where possible

 

 

 

 

 

 

The home has a 10 MW P.V. system.

    

 

The home is cooled using the Venturi principle.

Notice that there are vents in both the floor near the outside walls and also high up on the interior walls; the vents in the floor are connected via ducts to vents that enter the building near the floor on the story below.  Because the building has a cantilevered second floor it was necessary to install structural wire cable cross bracing at the poles that support the second floor. These were in turn hidden with heavy redwood lattice.

The result is that the lower vents are always in-taking cool shaded air near the slab of the first floor of the building.  This air then passes to the second floor via the ducts in the floor and then circulate to the higher areas of the house via the upper wall vents and then ultimately vacuums out through the roof of the building.

 

 

 

The ceiling with air-escape venting near the skylight.  The skylight both warms the air in the ceiling creating the Venturi effect and provides light during the day.

 

 

 

 

 

This home also incorporates water catchment, unique filtering and pump system and solar hot water.  Cooking is propane.  Floors are termite resistant Ipe.