Passive House Construction Continues – 8/7/15

A construction site without the construction becomes, simply, a site. But this isn’t just an earthwork sculpture. Lone pipes, cast-in-place sill bolts, and antennae-like structural ties all await their turn in the process. They hint at the even more complex work yet to come.

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Construction is in progress at the prototype Passive House!

Construction is in progress at Studio III Architecture’s prototype Passive House! As the foundations get their finishing touches, we reflect on how reality can force upon us design choices we wouldn’t otherwise expect. The original design called for screw pile foundations drilled into the soil as a way to float the main volume above the ground and reduce our carbon footprint by avoiding the use of concrete. Instead, bedrock covers almost all of our buildable area. And so we welcome concrete into our home, whether we want to or not. But at least no one can accuse us of building our house on sand.

Passive House in Middlebury, Vermont
Passive House in Middlebury, Vermont

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Site Visit to Willowell, with Monkton’s DRB

[slideshow]Studio III took a site visit to Willowell, in Monkton, Vermont, with Monkton’s Development Review Board, on a beautiful July evening.  The DRB wanted to evaluate Willowell’s proposed Arts & Sustainability Center plans on-site.

The red balloons were put up by Green Mountain Engineering, to show the heights of the proposed buildings.