WINNERS OF THE BIG! “Green” GREENHOUSE Design Competition
The Big green Greenhouse Design Competition attracted submissions from around the world for a project to be located in Snohomish County, Washington. SnoLeaf Branch Collaborative of Cascadia Green Building Council announced the top three winning designs at The International Living Future un-Conference in Seattle May 15th.
The competition challenged designers to design a 3000 sq. ft Greenhouse under the guidelines of the Living Building Challenge (LBC) – the highest standard of green building in the world today – the same standard that the recently opened Bullitt Center in Seattle is striving for. The Greenhouse had to meet the LBC criteria for Net Zero energy, water and waste. The project can not contain any toxic materials, had to include public meeting space and enhance and extend the growing season in our bio region. An expert and diverse panel of Judges (see attachment) reviewed all of the entries and have selected the designs that best meet the Living Building Challenge criteria and what they agree to be the most inspired and innovative designs.
1st Place THE LOOPER -Team members: Agustina Soler, Alan Averill, Amie Sell, Bill Jackson, Bryant Yee, Daun Jung,Ian Marcus, Mark Palmer, Jeramy Yoon, Jocelyn Hoppe, Patrick KeeneyThe Looper challenges the idea of a greenhouse and leverages one very simple concept: the growing of plants inherently cleans an ecosystem. To do this, The Looper repurposes an existing river barge into a greenhouse which collects, uses, filters, and returns water to the river in a remediated state – a loop. At the heart of the vessel is a “living machine” that distributes filtered river water to an aquaponics system growing both plants and fish. As the greenhouse barge moves along the river, it is able to restore water and habitat, serve multiple communities with access to fresh produce, and act as a floating classroom for an ecologically abundant future.
2nd Place The [NPK] house – Team members: Pat Lando, Pete Muñoz , Marc Boucher-Colbert The [NPK]house design is a unique culmination of proven technologies (solar, compost and heating) and ‘natural building’ greenhouse designs developed over the past 30 years from Rutgers University, The New Alchemy and rural China. The integrated systems have been advanced with the use of modern equipment, facilities and cutting-edge production methods. The goal of [NPK]house is to achieve an extended 3-season harvest with in-ground plantings that meet the living building challenge. The [NPK]house crops are tailored to meet the seasonal thermal fluctuations of the greenhouse by raising lettuces and low-growing crops in winter, which stay close to the warm soil. During spring, summer and fall, more of the volume of the structure can be filled by hanging baskets, and vining crops planted in the upper bed and living wall to make maximum use of all planting areas.
3rd Place GROWING POSTAL- Team members: Joseph Swain, Jesse Belknap
Growing Postal is a proposed joint venture between the USPS and a local Food Bank Farm (FBF). The FBF will utilize extra post office space for its greenhouse, freed by the downsizing of postal operations, thereby preventing the USPS from giving up a potentially historic building and cornerstone of Main Street. The USPS will provide food delivery to the FBF clients though its existing door-to-door mail delivery service. The partnership will provide the USPS with revenue from leasing some of its space, as well as fees for delivering weekly FBF food packages. Historically, the USPS has experimented with delivering fresh food to doorsteps directly from farms. Mail trucks in the 1910s did just this in its Farm-to-Table program. Today, with the demand for fresh, locally grown produce and more empty space in mail trucks, this model could be realized again.
The winning designs will be on display at International Living Future unConference at the Westin in Seattle May 15, 16 and 17th, Celebration of Food Festival (Lynwood Convention Center) May 19th, Everett, Snohomish and Everett Mall Farmers Markets throughout the summer, and at Sorticulture at Legion Park June 7th, 8th and 9th.
SnoLeaf Branch Collaborative will host events with Tulalip, PCL Construction, Cedar Grove Compost, Silicon Energy, Goldfinch Bros. Dykeman Architects, Food Bank Farms and others organizations throughout the upcoming year. All events will use the winning Greenhouse Designs to inspire and educate Snohomish County and its community on sustainable design and building practices as well as sustainable food growing. SnoLeaf Bran Collaborative will also be actively looking for a site in Snohomish County to build a greenhouse. If interested in contributing or hosting an event please send info to snoleaf@cascadiagbc.org.
For Greenhouse Design Competition interviews please call Fawn Clark 425.280.9569 or email at snowleaf@cascadiagbc.org
For further information about the International Living Institute and Cascadia Green Building Council, please visit www.living-future.org or contact nicholas.hartrich@living-future.org
Click here for Jurors summery.
