Phase II

A new phase for the Green Oak Initiative. A new semester. A new team. Since winning the U.S. EPA Sustainable Design Challenge, we have $90,000 in grant funding for a real-world application. After Phase I's success we can now continue to design and build a full scale building in Phase II.

The primary objectives in Phase II will be:

• To develop, detail, and construct a full-scale building using green oak pallet cants as structural members.
• To monitor, record, and analyze the demonstration project for structural, acoustic, and thermal performance over a two-year period as the green oak members dry. (Due to the length of time necessary for drying, only the first part of this monitoring will be supported by the P3 Phase II grant.)
• To disseminate our findings widely through multiple digital media platforms, peer reviewed publications, design award programs, and programs recognizing the integration of pedagogy and practice such as the NCARB (National Council of Architectural Registration Boards) Award and the ACSA (Association of Collegiate Schools of Architecture) Creative Achievement Award.

This semester will be for designing and creating drawings and specifications for the building. General task for the semester include:

• Meetings with community partner to identify any shortcomings in the proposed design
• Detailed climatic and site analysis
• Detailed code review
• Target setting for Living Building Challenge (LBC) or LEED Platinum rating as appropriate for selected project
• Preliminary energy modeling to “tune” envelope and solar apertures
• Daylighting studies
• Development of envelope sealing and insulating details
• Explore potential for sustainable site strategies such as graywater treatment or rainwater harvesting
• Explore sustainable strategies for interiors such as reducing the use of coatings with VOCs and low energy lighting
• Development of an outline specification for the envelope, site, and interiors.
• Refine the drawing set for the demonstration project
• Provide drawings and specifications to the county code officials in support of the issuance of a building permit

The building will be a cabin at Red Bird Mission's Campus in Beverly, Kentucky. People travel to the campus to assist Red Bird and the local community usually though construction and maintenance projects. During their stay they sleep in cabins on the campus. A new cabin will provide more beds, meaning more capacity for volunteers. The volunteers spend most of their time away working, but when they are on campus they clean up, eat, sleep, and hang out together. We intend for the cabin to provide spaces for washing up, sleeping, and community.

The site

Discussing Red Bird, the site, and the design requirements.

Inside of one of the cabins.

Surveying the site.

We are off to a great start this semester, but we still have a lot of work to do.