Page 22 - Green Builder Magazine January 2016 Digital Edition

CASE STUDY 3: Urban Renewal
A solarium regulates temperatures and greenhouse-like space can be enjoyed as living space in benign
weather and used as a greenhouse the rest of the time. It also
allows occupants to grow food in this encloses, buffers and moderates the conditioned space.

flexible urban design. The University at Buffalo team considered four themes for their
sustainable residential design: “nurture active stewardship, think
P ARTICIPATING IN THE Solar Decathlon for the first time, functional flexibility, live with nature and recognize energy hierarchy.”
the University of Buffalo took second place among the 14
teams with its Garden, Relax or Work—or GRoW—Home. The home was designed to flex with Buffalo’s climate, which
Designed for an urban environment, the home features is characterized by hot summers, cold winters and comfortable
living space that expands and contracts with the growing swing seasons. A tight thermal envelope encloses 770 square feet
seasons and centers on what contestants call a “GRoWlarium.” This of conditioned living space, divided into 489 square feet of “wet
module work area”—primarily the kitchen and bathroom—and

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CREDIT: THOMAS KELSEY, U.S. DOE SOLAR DECATHLON

Adaptable Rooms. Sliding doors and a movable partition allow occupants to manage light, heat and airflow.

20 GREEN BUILDER January/February 2016 www.greenbuildermedia.com