rd
RESIDENTIAL
responsible development awards
THE EDGE HOUSE RODWIN ARCHITECTURE IMAGINES A CONTEMPORARY RESIDENCE ON THE CUTTING EDGE OF SUSTAINABLE DESIGN
A space that encompasses the living, dining and family rooms flows easily to an outdoor dining room via a fully retractable accordion-like glass wall. The design team achieved a healthy indoor environment by eliminating all formaldehyde and by using exclusively low- or zero-VOC products, including formaldehydefree engineered lumber, low-VOC construction adhesive, and zero-VOC paints and prefinished bamboo flooring. 64
“Architecture is typically defined and inspired by its constraints,” says Scott Rodwin, principal of Rodwin Architecture in Boulder, Colorado. “It’s an architect’s job to find the most graceful, intelligent and efficient way to respond to those constraints.” So it was most unusual when a new client approached Rodwin not with a list of do’s and don’ts, but with one simple directive: “design a home that’s as green as you can make it, and do the very best job possible.” So began the process of designing a LEED Platinum-certified, near-net-zero-energy home in Boulder that uses about the same amount of energy as it produces over the course of a year. The home includes a 10-kilowatt photovoltaic system, a solarthermal system and ground-source heat pump, as well as passive-solar design, a super-insulated thermal envelope, high-performance fiberglass windows, and a palette of building materials low in VOCs and completely free of formaldehyde. >>
STORY BY CHRISTINE DEORIO PHOTOGRAPHY BY JEFF SCROGGINS
65