North House

North House

Photo of the north house designed by Geoff Thun and Kathy Velikov at dusk with the lights on

PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATORS: Geoffrey Thün (lead), Kathy Velikov

YEAR: 2009

LOCATION: Washington D.C (2009); Cambridge, ON (current)

North House is a full-scale demonstrator for a net energy positive glass house that pushes the boundary of adaptive architecture through the integration of responsive technologies, high performance assemblies, prefabrication, and solar energy. It combined a digitally controlled exterior and interior shading system that was algorithmically controlled by a custom designed home automation system with both predictive and reactive controls that would respond in real time to both climate and building use in order to optimize energy usage. The team also developed a novel inhabitant interface as a central component of the environmental ecosystem of the house. This not only enables inhabitant control of the home, but also informs the inhabitant with detailed, real-time, and personalized energy and water use, speculating on the use of the future of social media to influence behavior.

Team
Geoffrey Thün (Lead), Kathy Velikov, David Lieberman, Dr.John Straube, Dr. Michael Collins, Phillip Beesley, Dr. Alan Fung, Dr. Lyn Bartam, Dr. Rob Woodbury, Rob Wakkary. 
 
For full team see: http://www.rvtr.com/projects/north-house
 
Collaborators
Team North (University of Waterloo, Ryerson University, Simon Fraser University), MCM Fabricators, Blackwell Bowick Partnership Ltd., Eco-Options Geosolar, Vertech Solutions, Red Electric
 
Funding
US DOE / NREL, OPA Technology Development Fund, Publications: Design and Construction of High Performance Homes (F. Trubiano ed), Constructing Green: Social Structures of Sustainability (R. Henn & A. Hoffman eds.); Journal of Architectural Education (JAE)
 
Awards
Architect Magazine R+D Award, RAIC Innovative Practice Award, Evergreen Awards, Eco-Structure Magazine: Special Jury Award, Ontario Association of Architects (OAA) Design Excellence Award

 

Publications
High Performance Homes (F. Trubiano ed.), Sustainability and the Places We Inhabit (R. Henn and A. Hoffman eds.)
Photo of the north house designed by Geoff Thun and Kathy Velikov at dusk with the lights on Closeup photo of the Automated external shading system. Photo of the constructed house A section diagram showing the different layers and components of the wall envelope. Photo of the assembly of north house Exploded axon of north house