LEAFHOUSE
11.7.07
At Hurd & Obenchain, Inc. we’ve increased our green building initiatives significantly as environmental concerns grow - not only in our marketplace - but in the world at large. With our Directors creating green leadership by pursuing LEED accreditation, considering hybrid vehicles to replace their gas-guzzling SUV’s, and making sure other green initiatives are part of our everyday project consideration, Hurd & Obenchain, Inc. is committed to changing with our client and industry needs. In addition to the LEED projects on our books and our environmental considerations in our private lives, the employees of Hurd & Obenchain, Inc. are finding another way to “walk our talk” with the LEAFHouse project.
Explained very simply, the LEAFHouse is a contest entry in the 2007 Solar Decathlon. Using verbiage from the LEAFHouse’s website (www.solarteam.org) that, inarguably, exposes the depth of this project very well, the LEAFHouse is a “resource-efficient home being powered by renewable energy” being designed by School of Architecture students at the University of Maryland. The goal of the project is to show many people - at different levels of relation to the project - that a residential house using sustainable energy sources is possible, immediately. This proactive project is designed to get the message out that everyone can contribute to a stable environment because the resources are already out there.
Dale Leidich, AIA, an old friend of Hurd & Obenchain, Inc. (who is now at MTFA), recruited Hurd & Obenchain, Inc. to donate design time. We obliged with an innovative residential sprinkler system, designed by Mr. David Rakes (an H&O employee), which put us in the Sustaining Level of Sponsorship for this project.
Two weeks ago, the contest came to a close. The LEAFHouse—which is said to have had the lead until the last, cloudy day—took second place overall to the Darmstadt team (of Technische Universität Darmstadt). Although The LEAFHouse did not win, it also did not leave the contest empty-handed; it received all of the following awards in recognition of their outstanding service to green building:
- 2nd Place Overall—Solar Decathlon
- 1st Place Communications Contest
- 1st in Energy Balance Contest (a 7-way tie with all having perfect scores)
- 2nd Place Architecture
- 2nd Place Market Viability
- 2nd Place Lighting (1st place in the Lighting Subjective Contest and, actually, the overall Lighting Contest Award was ceded from Darmstadt who believed the LEAFHouse lighting was of better quality and aesthetics)
- BP’s People’s Choice Award
- ASHRAE’s Integration for Renewables for Sustainable Living
- NAHB’s First Place in the NAHB Marketing Curb Appeal Award
- PV AIA Annual Awards Program’s Advancement of the Art and Science of Architecture
I’m sure it is agreed all-around that this is an exciting project in which to be associated. There even has been conversation about The Discovery Channel doing a special program featuring the top three finalists (Technische Universität Darmstadt, University of Maryland, and Santa Clara University). Watch for updates to come on any future publicity and please remember to thank Dale Leidich, Randy Daniels, and David Rakes for all their efforts in order to give Hurd & Obenchain, Inc. this thrilling opportunity to support the future of our industry!