123
Coates Design with Tim Meldrum,
C2C Home, Roanoke, Virginia,
United States
e winning entry for the Cradle to Cradle
Home Design and Construction Competi-
tion will be built on an infi ll lot, to join a
series of other entries that began construc-
tion in 2005. e design evolved from a new
consideration of the idea of the hearth and is
centered on a core that serves all the essential
systems of the house, including rainwater
collection, black and gray water treatment,
ventilation, thermal storage, and daylighting.
e core will be clad in a superconductive,
photosynthetic plasma cell material based on
spinach protein, but until this experimental
technology is available, the core remains a
solar chimney and heat sink.
124 Sustainable Environments
Above e structure is set into the low in-
cline of the land, which slopes to the street.
A play area with groundcovers among a
grid of pavers leads to the house. On one
side, a landscape of native plants replaces
the usual front lawn; on the other, a row of
planters is irrigated by treated wastewater
from the house. e vegetables cultivated
in these beds complete the cycle of use and
production.
125
Above One wall of the main core is the
house’s wet stack (the blue block in the ren-
dering). All household plumbing fi xtures are
located on either side of the wall, which also
holds the rainwater collected and fi ltered by
the green roof system. Stored in a tank, the
harvested water is used for fl ushing toilets
and other nonpotable functions as well as
subsurface irrigation for the plantings. us,
the house relies on municipal water only for
consumption and bathing and requires no
connection to the public sewer.
Hydrological Systems
126 Sustainable Environments
Above and Right Environmental materi-
als are incorporated into the house wher-
ever possible, such as soy-foam insulation,
salvaged steel for the structure, and recycled
membrane roofi ng. e skylight at the top
of the core has photovoltaic, servo-actuated
ventilation louvers.
operable insulated skylight
w/ mechanical ventilation louvers
reconstituted concrete structure w/
insulated core
rainwater collection gutter
self-draining green roof system
bathroomentrykitchen
gray water reservoir behind
interior partition
rigid soy-foam insulation panels
embedded in concrete structure
custom stainless steel gutter liner
E.L.T. panelized green roof system
w/ climate-appropriate vegetation
recycled single-ply membrane roofi ng
rigid soy-foam insulation panels on
FSC-certifi ed plywood decking
integral drain tightline to gray
water reservoir
salvaged steel structure
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