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An Appalachian House:The Design and Analysis of aPassive Solar House

By Robin Rogers

A thesis submitted to the faculty of VirginiaPolytechnic Institute and State University inpartial fulfillment of the requirements for thedegree Master of Architecture.

Michael O’Brien, Committee ChairRobert Schubert, Committee MemberJohn Randolph, Committee MemberBill Galloway, Graduate Chair

10 May 1999

Blacksburg, Virginia

Keywords: Sustainability, House, Appalachia,Passive Solar

Copyright 1999 by Robin Rogers

An Appalachian House: Site viewed from highest hill on property

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AcknowledgmentsWithout the help of many, this entire projectwould have been impossible. I thank espe-cially, due to their extraordinary contribu-tions, Sally Rogers and Igor Kostic, as well asDavid Simpkins and Pam Linkous-Polan.Also, Nancy and Chuck Adams, Jim andAdelia Arrington, Bill Atkinson, Richard andWendy Avery, Ellen Braaten, Jeri and DonBrandom, Bob Buss, Rick Claus, WillClements, Marten de Vries, Naomi Engle,Byrgen Finkelman, Ann Goette, Julie Griffin,Diana Hammerdorfer, Heather Harris,Monty Hayes, Barbara Hogan, Edgar Henry,Kitty Irwin, Randy Marchany, Peggy Moles,Rick Mosley, Gayle Noyes, Lynn Nystrom,Linda Pacifici, Lisa Piedl, Bob Rogers, Jr.,Frances and Robert B. Rogers, Sr., JeffersonA. Rogers, John C. Rogers, Nan Rushton, JanSievers-Mahon, David Strandberg, JessicaTalley, Joe Tront, Lucinda Willis, and theVirginia Tech Art and Architecture Library,particularly Wanda Lucas and Donna Abel,and American Electric Power. I thank mycommittee members, too: Michael O’Brien inparticular for his support, guidance andinstruction in this project and others, andJohn Randolph and Bob Schubert for theirsupport and expertise.

Some of the pencil drawings were done for theNature Conservancy and are of endangered speciesin Virginia.

Windows through a barn window.

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AbstractThis project is a proposal for the design of ahouse situated on a plot of land within thetown limits of Blacksburg. It incorporatesideas drawn from many sources, particularlyfrom this region of Appalachia — its geology,architectural heritage, building materials,history, Blacksburg’s Comprehensive Plan,housing, agriculture and energy resources. Anintroduction discusses some ideas on architec-ture followed by chapters which provide thebasis upon which the design was developed,then, a description of the house design anddrawings followed by an analysis of theenvironmental responsiveness of the designusing a computer program called “EnergyScheming.”

An Appalachian House: Looking northwest from the highest point of elevation on the site.

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I. Introduction

In this thesis project, there is an attemptto gather together the separate strands thatconstitute living in an Appalachian region —the wealth of physical, historical and biologi-cal material, its agricultural character,architectural heritage, the ability of the landand climate to support a particular lifestyle,and sometimes the adoption of practices inliving which do not negate life itself, such asprotection of the land, water, air and peoplethrough responsive building – and then makea house from them, and finally, qualitativelyfit the house into its environs.

Architecture, as a composite of humanengineering, science, art, nature, and spirit, aswell as of the regional characteristics listedabove, becomes a tie that binds all. However,its product is also a separate thing that existsunto itself, while simultaneously being anintegral part of its surroundings.

Several architects recognize this duality inthe nature of buildings, and their architectureand writings support the quest for achieving abuilding that addresses many architecturalissues; for example, Charles Moore, et al,wrote in The Place of Houses [2] that “Agood house is a single thing, as well as acollection of many, and to make it requires aconceptual leap from the individual componentsto a vision of the whole.” Glen Murcutt notedthat “Harmony is about disparateness, aboutdisparate sounds, which when put together make

O nly those who are their absolute true selves inthe world can fulfill

their own nature; only those whofulfill their own nature can fulfillthe nature of others; only those whofulfill the nature of others canfulfill the nature of things; thosewho fulfill the nature of things areworthy to help Mother Nature ingrowing and sustaining life; andthose who are worthy to helpMother Nature in growing andsustaining life are the equals ofheaven and earth.”

Confucius (551-479 BCE) [1]

J a pleasing whole... not monotony, not sameness.”This particular project brought forward

several primary concerns related to the actualarchitectural “building” of the individualcomponents in the design, and called into

question the several challenges of architecture,which in this design dictate:• Accessing our primal needs (i.e. the func-

tional — shelter, water, food, air) anddesires (i.e. the aesthetic — art, music,spirit) to release the image and then build astructure that is conducive to fostering well-being in people.

• Transcending the mundane and humblingthe sublime, which is done differently indifferent places. This thesis addresses thesearch for expression in architectural termsof Appalachia — its distinctive geography,geology, people, climate, topology, history.

• Developing the responsivity of the design,wherein the entire house provides somesolutions to issues introduced in laterchapters — acid rain, fossil fuel consump-tion, sustainable lifestyle, solar access,regional characteristics. Equally essential are

ideas that are less quantifiable — access tospirit, nurturance of human desires anddreams. These all must be addressed in sucha way as to present a cohesive form thatcarries the individual components, butbecomes a whole expression of diverse ideas.

Other critical issues emerged, as well,regarding the basic concepts of the project,which required:• Integrating the sometimes discordant issues

of function versus aesthetic, need asopposed to want, practicality compared tovision, to create this single thing called“house.” As architecture does not allow forthe separation of any of these issues, to be“whole” means to acknowledge the symbi-otic relationship between what we see andwhat we do not see.

• Finding, utilizing and promoting theharmonious interaction of the explicateorder of the universe — that which we candefine, see, explain, sense.

• And then, discovering architecture as thevehicle for the expression and experience ofboth the implicate and explicate orders ofthe universe, allowing a dialogue betweenthe essentials of human nature.

These concerns have in some ways beenaddressed outside the realm of architecture,and the answers proposed contain ingredientsthat are applicable to the process of architec-ture. For example, the physicist David Bohmin Wholeness and the Implicate Order [3]laid out the entire universe as a single

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undivided whole in which there is nofundamental status of separate, independentparts; the interactions between differententities constitute a single structure ofindivisible links. He explained that “eachelement that we can abstract in thought showsbasic properties that depend on its overallenvironment...” The eminent scientist JacobBronowski in his Siliman lectures at Yale alsosupported the idea of a “holistic universe,”saying, “...I hold that the universe is totallyconnected, that every fact has some influence onevery other fact... we cannot extricate ourselvesfrom our own finiteness [4].” These ideas relateto the statements by both Murcutt andMoore, and, although their views seem toreflect a universe of many diverse elements,architecture provides a unifying element forboth.

Bohm did, however, see the universe asprimarily composed of two orders: theimplicate, which is the unseen, and theexplicate, or outwardly manifested realmAnother architect, Louis Kahn, was not farafield from Bohm’s picture of the universe;the crucial questions asked earlier wereexpressed and, to an extent, answered byKahn whose view of architecture we could sayassociates “Silence” with the implicate orderand “Light” with the explicate order of things— both laying the foundations of architecture[5]. Bohm further proposed that informationof the entire universe is contained in each ofits parts, similar to a holographic image, and

that these parts stipulate an unbroken whole.Each part carries the implicate order of thewhole and the whole itself is an unbrokenimage of itself. So, while we perceive isolatedparts that seem disconnected and unrelated,this is perhaps an illusion that betrays theunity of an implicate order

Another explanation is that there exists asort of paradox that can perhaps be aptlyillustrated in one aspect of quantum physics.Physicist Banesh Hoffmann wrote that spaceand time exist because of the fundamentalparticles of energy and matter, which tran-scend the concepts of space and time [6].“They are deeper and more fundamental, moreprimitive and primordial.” For example,attempting to study temperature or pressurein a single molecule is impossible; bothtemperature and pressure are crowd effectswhere the action of many molecules togetherproduces the effects of hot, cold, tight, loose.Hoffmann compares it to the individualletters of the alphabet which on their own donot have the quality of poetry, but strungtogether in a certain descriptive cadence theycan make us weep. Maybe, he writes, thefundamental particles of the universe lack thequality of existing in space and time. Or asBohm proposes, maybe they are part of awhole and cannot be judged singly. Using thisreasoning for architecture, we could say that abuilding cannot be judged solely by itscomponents, or its function, or its location,or its aesthetic, but rather by the combination

of all those things into one cohesive form.I see architecture in this way — a

building cannot really be isolated from itssurroundings, whatever they are. Architecturedoes not exist as a thing unto itself, thoughmany buildings are made as if they were. Thematerials must not only join together in acohesive form, but the form must coalescewith its environment. The independent partsare completely dependent on each other toachieve architecture.

Even the process has a structure that iscodependent. Kahn saw that each phase of

making a building is inextricably linked withthe other, forming a circle that begins withthe unmeasurable, progressing through themeasurable when being designed, and in theend is unmeasurable, when the spirit of itsexistence takes over. In slightly differentlanguage, Kahn supports Bohm’s theories of asort of holographic universe, but in relation toarchitecture. He saw all material in nature as“spent Light,” and viewed Light as the “sourceof all being,” and without material quality.Then, the resulting mass of material from thespent light casts a shadow, which belongs toLight. The symbiosis is evident in thisscenario, and Kahn further shows that Lightis attainable through structure — a building’swall is where light is stopped.

These considerations became a backdropto the design for a dwelling. The other thingsthat affect us — the materials themselves, thespirit of the architecture, typology, theenvironmental impact of our actions, theavailability of materials in close proximity tothe site, the soil’s ability to support life, thetemperate climate — are the building blocksof this project.

A house was designed for the site becauseit is basic to every human life — now, andwas in the past. On studying for the design ofthis dwelling for Appalachia, I noticed acomplexity that developed through the ages ofNorth American architecture, beginning fromthe sort of subsistence architecture of thestrictly utilitarian houses of more primitive

Frank Furness Building at the University ofPennsylvania [1]

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peoples to the contemporary idea of “home,”which continues to provide the basic necessi-ties of the “hut” but ostensibly carries with ita greater purpose or vision. That study alsoled to a question comparing earlier times withtoday: do we imagine that we expect morefrom a house today than our primitiveprogenitors who carved and painted andscratched images on the walls of caves inEurope? The famous female figure Venus ofLaussel of France, for example, dates tosomewhere around 18,000 BCE, and wascarved on the wall of a dwelling cave. Is itdecoration? communication? spiritualrecognition? shrine? fertility prayer? What weknow for certain is that the image was placedthere by human hands to augment, for somereason, what was already extant in the naturalcave home. Decoration of or creation of homecould have been the cradle of creativity, andthus the beginning of architecture.

Obviously, simple shelter alone was notenough for primitive people, and it seems tobe not enough for us as modern humans. Ifwe assume that a dwelling, at its most basic,provides protection, then what does Venussupply? Others have answered this far moreeloquently than I, but I would say that shefeeds an innate need in us to connect withsome universal truth — the synergism ofwhich we are all part, and that Bohm assertsin his views of the holographic universe. Thisis where a house — or any building —becomes a home. Architecture — an act of

creating a house and home — is the bridgebetween our physical environment and themore nebulous chorography of spirit (OlivierMarc’s heaven and earth distinction mightapply and is discussed in a later chapter ) [7].A vestigial image of the ancient “home”hovers in our consciousness like a tree withinan acorn — the cavern, with all its simplicity,still beckons to us from our castles, ourmonuments, our gigantic houses; thecomplexity we crave and perceive is a modern

manifestation of that same, simple ancientdesire to decorate the cave wall and live withour environment in a harmonious way, tocreate something that is beautiful andfunctional. We may not even understand whywe prefer “beauty,” if it is an intentional actor the natural expression of a beautiful spirit,as Campbell asked (he also asked “Is thebeauty of the bird’s song intentional?”)[8], butwe can certainly at least acknowledge anaesthetic sense in human creations. This iswhere that expressive element of design comesinto play.

Also in this project, another unifying,coherent element of thought is comprised of agroup of more concrete ideas that could beloosely represented under the umbrella of“sustainable architecture.” James Steele hasdefined sustainable architecture as “anarchitecture that meets the needs of the presentwithout compromising the ability of futuregenerations to meet their own needs” and is bestdefined by the people involved as needs tendto differ from society to society [9]. Whereverwe are, we live, we cultivate, we eat, webreathe, we make, we do, and throughout weinteract, on some level, with architecture. Tome, through the architecture with which welive, there is a responsibility to make anattempt at sustainability – sustainability is inkeeping with the idea of a holographicuniverse where the parts are codependentupon each other and also depend on the effectof the “whole.” In June of 1993, the World

Congress of Architects met in Chicago anddeclared, in part, that: as the world’s architec-tural and design profession (they) would committo placing environmental and socialsustainability at the core of (their) designwork.[10]

Sustainability is a global issue that can beaddressed on a local level; in Blacksburg,Virginia, it spans over a range from themacro-environment of its AppalachianMountain region, to the unique small, rural,university town features, and to the micro-environment of the site within that region.Recently the town commissioned a study ofitself, looking forward over the next fiftyyears; a certain continuity of thought ispresent in the report: a desire to preserve thenatural, pristine beauty and intimate qualityof life in Blacksburg [11]. This idea goes handin hand with sustainability and, in fact, is anecessary precursor to sustainable action.Through architecture, many of the stateddesires of the town citizens can be addressedor even met.

From a wide selection of architects whohave dealt with some of the sustainablearchitecture issues put forward here, threewere used as primary models: Frank LloydWright, Glen Murcutt and Michael Reynolds.Wright’s well known views on organicarchitecture have heavily influenced thinkingabout modern architecture in general, and inparticular his solar hemicycle designed for theHerbert Jacobs family in Wisconsin was an

Venus of Laussel [2]

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appropriate model for my design.Murcutt uses his architecturalexpertise and knowledge of variousAustralian environments to createbuildings that respond on anintimate level with their surround-ings, but are not necessarilycomprised of “sustainable” materi-als. Reynolds, a more contemporaryarchitect currently practicing inNew Mexico, approaches architec-ture from a position of globalsustainability, using recycledmaterials to create housing that isself-sufficient. Each of thesearchitects has proved a measure ofsuccess in “passive solar” homes thatcombine the practicalities oftechno-focused design withaesthetic design. The passive solaraspect became important to theoverall design.

When I owned a house, I realized mybasic nature (and possibly that of mostanimals) is guided by a sort of heliotropismsuch as in plants — either upset by aninaccessibility to the sun, or in a constantsearch for solar access. I also discovered thatmy idea of house includes some universalideas of livability, which encompass the issuesaddressed in this thesis. So, as part of thesustainability issue, the seeds of interest weresown in “solar” architecture, though I hesitateto call this project merely a passively heated

solar house, even though the house functionsas a passively solar heated one. Clearly, thesolar aspect is only one element in a vast arrayof other considerations. Its prominence in theproject shows the immensity of the material ofsunlight rather than any overriding hierarchywith solar at the top. While bringing largeamounts of natural light to the inside of thehouse, and a certain desire to utilize a readilyavailable natural energy source, it becamenecessary to address the issue of solar gain.

As a further exploration into the concreteelements of the design, the modeling of this

house for its energy efficiency wasdone on a computer with a programcalled Energy Scheming. It helpedprovide a look at the house as afunctional building rather than as amere assumption of passive solararchitecture, and allowed theopportunity of making minorchanges to the design to promotegreater environmental responsive-ness, but without sacrificing thedesign.

The whole process of develop-ing the design presented an oppor-tunity to bring together manyseemingly isolated ideas, andallowed an attempt to createsomething out of these strands. I seearchitecture as one of the fewendeavors that transcends andcombines all aspects of our exist-

ence; it is the thing that binds all — aspira-tions, dreams, our physicalness, our spirits,our lives, our deaths — together in a cohesiveform. In an attempt to reconcile the twosometimes-opposing sides of architecture, itwas necessary to go back and forth betweenthe “building design” and the “design of thebuilding.” The final design eventually arosefrom that realm of unquantifiable spirit thatKahn called “the unmeasurable,” combinedwith the practicalities that he called “themeasurable.”

Olivier Marc wrote that in recent times

architecture has lost much of its stature aswhat he describes as the “richest mode ofhuman expression” and that only its conceptshave survived, imprinted on the human spirit.Said he, “If architecture is once again to becomecreation, must not the barriers between consciousand the unconscious, the objective and thesubjective, the inside and the outside, be torndown, so that the architect may discover thefoundation of future expression inside thehuman psyche, which throughout the ages hasgiven birth to form?” [7]

The disparity between the dualities thatMarc laments mirror those encountered inthis project of struggling to find an expressionof the marriage of art and science. In partialanswer to the questions raised, this thesisprogresses through discussions of habitation,the land, the region, the cultivation of plantson the land, housing, ecology, and thecomputer modeling of a single dwelling inBlacksburg. It is an unfinished product in thesense that the attempts at integrating all thevarious ideas have fallen short of my expecta-tions; however, this report documents thevarious steps on the path toward achieving anarchitecture – through the design of adwelling — for Appalachia, but without anabsolute, final destination.

Earthship by Reynolds [3]

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J II A 3. Ecology and Energy

Therapist Thomas Moore describesecology as the mystery of discovering,creating, and sustaining the experience ofhome. The word itself, he explains, is derivedfrom two fundamental Greek words: oikoswhich refers to house, home, and used for anydwelling; and logos which has a range ofmeanings, the favorite of which for Moore isthe “quintessence” or mysterious essence of athing. He then suggests that ecology, on avery basic level, has to do with the soul’sconstant longing for and establishment of“home” [28].

On a grand scale, Earth is home to us,and we make our livings within the context ofthe shelter of nature and all that it encom-passes. There is a common perception thatour entire planet is a delicately balancedecosystem which is suffering a dissolution as aresult of our wanton disregard of the effects ofhuman actions on almost every aspect of thisgigantic ecosystem; for example, we spewdangerous chemicals into the air with all sortsof combustion devices, wash pollutants intoour streams and oceans from fertilizers orpesticides or paper processing, kill our landswith practices that cause erosion or death toorganisms essential to life, and annihilateentire communities of living creatures.Beginning perhaps with Rachel Carson’sgroundbreaking work Silent Spring [29] inthe 1960s, we have been warned of the

inherent dangers of our technologicallyadvanced lifestyles. In More Other Homesand Garbage [30], published in 1982, theauthors noted “the demands made on theenvironment are often beyond nature’s regenera-

tive capacities. Humankind’s narrow under-standing of conservation and our shortsightedtechnological approach to satisfying only ourimmediately perceived needs have begun toseriously deplete stored reserves.” They addedthat with then current consumption of fossilfuels, pollution of water systems, and thedeterioration of fertile soils, there would laterbe catastrophic effects to “every dependentorganic system.” The Todds reiterated in 1994in Eco-Cities [25] an idea they had presentedin 1984: “the natural world cannot indefinitelywithstand the onslaught of the current life stylesof the industrial nations.” In June of 1992thirty thousand world leaders, scientists,political activists, corporate dignitaries andmany other concerned citizens of the earthwould gather in Rio de Janeiro — the largestmeeting of world leaders in history, known as

the Earth Summit — with environmentalissues at the forefront of their discussions.

Moore sees human abuse of earth as asymptom of homesickness that will berelieved when we have discovered that earthoffers the soul relief from its search for home.“What is called for is a radical shift in para-digm, a true postmodern way of living that re-evaluates fundamental modernistic assumptions,explores intelligent and sensible alternatives, andfocuses more on the heart and the imaginationthan on the mind with its literalistic applica-tions” [28]. While I disagree with him that ofall human activities “only religion and art touchthe soul,” I believe his prescriptions for doingeverything artfully and conducive to a senseof the sacred will impart those qualities to ourlives which ultimately lead to reverence of“home.” Architecture, in my view, can fulfillMoore’s idea that soulful education in ecologymight begin with an evocation of home thatbegins with the pragmatics of living, but thengoes deeper to satisfy the soul.

With the notable exception of nuclearpower, the energy we use on earth is allderived from the sun: plant growth, uponwhich we are totally dependent for suste-nance, is totally dependent upon the sunwhich provides the energy for photosynthesis— all the food we eat, animal or vegetable, issun-derived; fossil fuels are the partiallydecayed remains of plant matter which haveslumbered for hundreds of millions of yearsencumbered below the surface in coal veins,

O n the ground the inhabitants rarely showthemselves: having

already everything they need upthere, they prefer not to come down.Nothing of the city touches the earthexcept those long flamingo legs onwhich it rests and, when the days aresunny, a pierced, angular shadowthat falls on the foliage.

There are three hypotheses aboutthe inhabitants of Baucis: that theyhate the earth; that they respect it somuch they avoid all contact; thatthey love it as it was before theyexisted and with spyglasses andtelescopes aimed downward theynever tire of examining it, leaf byleaf, stone by stone, ant by ant,contemplating with fascination theirown absence.”

Italo CalvinoInvisible Cities [27]

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ment for Buildings, 8th Edition (MEEB)[33], the authors reprint a table of compa-rable energy quantities to the daily arrival ofsolar energy on earth. If the daily solar energyreceived at the surface in a single day is equalto one, then the use of energy of all human-kind in one year equals one-one-hundredth;the first hydrogen bomb would equal oneone-hundred-thousandth; the first atomicbomb would equal one one-hundred-millionth; the output of Boulder Dam in oneday is also the equivalent of one one-hundred-millionth; and the energy it takes to lightNew York City forone night is one one-hundred-billionththe energy the earthreceives each dayfrom the sun. Itmakes sense to focusattention onharnessing some ofthis energy for living.Also, while the sun isbasically a safe energysource, there aremany problems associated with the other fuelswe use.

Combusted fossil fuels are primarilyresponsible for acid rain in our immediateregion. Emissions high in sulfur fromindustry in the midwest, particularly munici-pal power plants, are picked up by westerlywinds, carried to Appalachia where the air is

forced to rise, cool and finally condense. Asthe condensate falls to the ground, it cleansthe air of sulfur, becoming sulfuric acid in theprocess, according to George Constantz inHollows, Peepers and Highlanders [34].The area suffering the most acid deposition isan oval that reaches southwest from New Yorkto Tennessee, across the Appalachian Moun-tains. “Acid rain” is directly attributable to ourconsumption of fossil fuels. In addition toharming or killing vegetation, this acidicprecipitation also changes our soils bydissolving heavy metals which can be lethal to

many living things. Our water, too, isadversely affected by a shift to acidic condi-tions which causes certain fish populations toexperience reproductive failures whileallowing a few resistant species to dominate.Also, amphibians such as the spotted sala-mander have high egg mortality rates in waterwith high acid content.

petroleum deposits or large pockets of naturalgas; wind energy used to pump water orpower sailing ships is the result of sunlightwarming the atmosphere and planet surface,causing the air to move; hydroelectric poweralso is dependent upon evaporation and windcurrents induced by the sun.

Fossil fuels and uranium-dependentnuclear power are considered to be finite,nonrenewable sources of energy. Even thoughthere is a possibility of using a more abundanturanium isotope in “breeder” reactors, theproblems associated with nuclear powergeneration, including disposal of its toxicbyproducts, pose enormous risks to society.There has also been some research into usingfusion to convert the deuterium in sea waterto helium, thereby releasing an exorbitantamount of energy — one gallon of sea watercould theoretically produce the equivalent

energy of 300gallons of gasoline.But, these solutionsare not forthcoming.Robert W. Noespoints out in TheSun Our Star [31]that there aredistinct advantagesto using solar poweras a fuel. First, itscollection is possiblevirtually anywhereon earth, minimiz-

ing transportation issues as sunlight iscollected and used in the same location.Second, solar energy, with the exception ofwood burning, is essentially nonpolluting.Also, the “mining” of solar energy is environ-mentally benign — safe.

There are some liabilities associated withthe use of solar energy; for example, it is adilute energy source. The maximum sunlightcollected on a cloudless day in full sunamounts to about 1 kilowatt per square meter,and it cannot be harvested with 100 percentefficiency. The nonconstancy of sunlight alsoposes challenges to its collection; at nighttimeor on cloudy days and during seasonalchanges, the rate at which the sunlight can becollected is adversely affected making itnecessary to store the energy (in suchmaterials as stone, water or concrete) [32].

In Mechanical and Electrical Equip-

Sun received on earth daily

Energy used by world annually

Energy in 1st hydrogen bomb

Energy in first atom bomb

Output of Boulder Dam daily

Energy to light NYC daily

Amount of Energy

1

1/100th

1/100,000th

1/100,000,000th

1/100,000,000th

1/100,000,000,000th

An Appalachian House: Site at sunset, looking west

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As documented in Tales of the Earth[35], at the 1988 consumption level of crudeoil, all reserves in the world will be gone in100 years. In the United States alone, ourenergy consumption has increased thirty-sixtimes since 1850, while our population hasincreased only twelve times. Worldwideenergy consumption, primarily of fossil fuels,is rising 3 percent annually. These fuels arenon-renewable; it took the earth a half-billionyears to create them. Natural gas has a longerlife expectancy at about 160 years, and coaleven longer still, perhaps as much as 500years. However, coal is by far the dirtiest toburn.

Along with the rapid depletion of fossilfuels, we also get the result of their combus-tion: the greenhouse effect. The United Statesheads the list of worldwide offenders,producing almost 18 percent of all harmfulgreenhouse gases. As an aside, one of theother factors contributing to the US lead, inaddition to the fossil fuel emissions, is themethane gas produced by livestock. There arealso emissions of sulfur dioxide which somescientists say will counterbalance the green-house effect; Officer and Page, authors ofTales of the Earth, offer that this would be adubious achievement of harmony by pollu-tion and waste [35]. In what seems a sad bitof irony, farming uses more petroleum thanany other industry, primarily in the form offertilizers and biocides, report the Todds inFrom Eco-Cities to Living Machines [25].

They also report that agriculture yields arenow dropping despite an increase in fertilizeruse.

Then there’s the added problem with theway we cool ourselves. Sunlight powers thecreation and destruction of ozone, a colorlessgas, 97 percent of which resides in the upperstratosphere. There, ozone acts as a shield todangerous ultraviolet radiation from the sun,too much of which can cause serious damageor death to living things on earth. Ourprotective ozone layer has been interrupted bythe introduction of chlorofluorocarbons(CFCs) in the atmosphere. These CFCs areproduced primarily for cooling various aspectsof human existence such as food (refrigera-tors) and indoor air (air conditioning units).Formerly, CFCs were also used as propellantsin spray cans but were subsequently bannedin the United States in 1987 when a substi-tute propellant was found, according toCharles Officer and Jake Page in Tales of theEarth [35].

Ninety percent of the energy consumed inthe US in 1850 was supplied by wood. By1970, 75 percent was oil and gas. Wood is arenewable source of energy and can be burnedsomewhat efficiently and cleanly with theintroduction of catalytic converters and so-called secondary combustion woodstoves. Awoodlot can produce a limited supply of woodeach year, however; it will do so for centuries ifproperly managed, according to Mechanicaland Electrical Equipment for Buildings [33].

On a local level, forty percent of energyuse in the town of Blacksburg goes fortransportation; the next largest portion isconsumed by buildings. The town is lookingtoward increasing the energy efficiency ofexisting and new buildings in the future,discussed in the town Comprehensive Plan[11] in Chapter II F. Also, “land use patterns

Blacksburg

(such as properly oriented, infill, compact, andmixed use development) can enhance use ofnatural heating and cooling and reduce resident’stransportation energy needs.” In view of thetown’s stated needs and current statistics onenergy use and its effects, lifestyles that areconducive to efficient use of resources shouldbe mandatory.

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N ow in houses with asouth aspect, the sun’srays penetrate into the

porticoes in winter, but in summer,the path of the sun is right abovethe roof so that there is shade. Ifthen, this is the best arrangement,we should build the south sideloftier to get the winter sun, andthe north side lower to keep out thecold winds.”

Socrates, 360 BCE [32]

J II A 4. Passive Solar Design

In From Eco-Cities to Living Machines[25], the Todds report that “in many areassolar heat is best suited for space heating and hasbeen used for this purpose with efficiency forthousands of years.” They further state that in1994 there were more than a million solarbuildings in the United States. “The imple-mentation of renewable energy strategies andsustainable design concepts into the practice ofmainstream and large-scale architecture... isbeginning to be made.” And they quote Timemagazine in an April 1993 article whichannounced the coming of age of “greenarchitecture” — environmentally soundbuildings “are cheaper to operate and offer ahealthier environment for workers.”

In MEEB [33], the authors point outthat buildings constructed before 1950 reliedheavily on sun for light, sometimes for heat,and thermal masses and breezes for cooling.Today, they write, solar collection deviceshave “reintroduced the significant architecturalimpact of heating” mainly through the visualimages of large glass areas, thermal masses,and sloping solar collectors. In their discus-sion of energy in architecture, they make twoassumptions: “buildings that encourage theirusers to directly experience the natural environ-ment will both facilitate energy conservationand enrich the user’s architectural experience”and “designers can have a positive impact onsociety through energy and nonrenewable

resource conservation.” They have noticed atrend back to renewable and local fuelsources, where the external skin and internalorganization of a building works with thesurrounding climate for passive heating,cooling and lighting.

Utilizing passive solar energy requiresattention to several basic points as outlined inMore Other Homes and Garbage [30]: solarinsolation (the amount of usable sunlight

striking the earth in a given location); climate(takes into consideration latitude, season andweather patterns); site orientation (southfacing slopes are preferred for regions withcold winters); solar penetration (glazing onsouth face of building allows sunlight tocompletely penetrate during winter, andpartial penetration during spring andsummer); shading devices (used as protectionduring warm periods); heat transfer (materials

Mean hours of sunshine

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such as stone absorb heat from sun toreradiate at cooler times of day); materialschoices (glass should be chosen for both itsinsulating and transmission qualities,masonry should be thick enough to properlytransfer heat); prevailing wind patterns (to beused for venting a building).

The authors also point out that in passivesolar homes, earth sheltering combines theadvantages of solar heating and naturallighting with the climate-moderating effectsof earth mass, as the earth helps protect fromtemperature extremes and infiltration due towind.They also mention the benefits ofincluding an attached greenhouse on thesouth side which can provide additional heatas well as an area for growing plants year-round [30].

Using Dodge City, Kansas, as anexample, MEEB [33] describes the climaticfactors associated with the city which occursat about the same latitude as Blacksburg. Theauthors write that the winter maximumtemperature is about 43 degrees F with 58percent relative humidity, indicating a needfor a backup heat source in a passively heatedsolar building. In summer, the maximumnighttime temperature is about 67 degrees Fwith 78 percent relative humidity anddaytime maximum temperature of 91 F with42 percent rh; they offer several strategies forcooling in a passive building: high thermalmass, natural ventilation and high mass withnight ventilation.

The Passive Solar Energy Book[36]provides rule of thumb solar direct gainguidelines for several areas of the country;Blacksburg would be considered in a “temper-ate” climate. The glazing versus floor arearatio in temperate climates, where wintertemperatures average 35 to 45 degrees F,should provide .16 to .25 square feet ofsouth-facing glass for each one square foot ofspace floor area. MEEB [33] carries a similarrecommendation of .11 to .23 for Roanoke,Virginia — in close proximity to Blacksburg,but generally a few degrees warmer. Theserecommended amounts of glazing will admitenough sunlight to keep the space at anaverage temperature of 65 to 70 degrees Fduring much of the winter. Also, a solarwindow can be oriented as much as 25degrees to the east or west of true south andstill intercept over 90% of the solar radiationincident on a south-facing surface. To preventdaytime overheating and large space tempera-ture fluctuations, a portion of the heat gainedduring the daytime can be stored for use atnight by locating a thermal mass (such asmasonry) within each space. In addition,wood frame construction on single glazedwindows transmits 10% less heat than metal,and recessed windows further reduce heatloss; double glazed transmits 20% less [36].

Perhaps one of the best known “solar”designs is Frank Lloyd Wright’s solarhemicycle employed in the residence for Mr.and Mrs. Herbert Jacobs in Middleton,

Wisconsin. Based on a six-degree sector of acircle, the building forms an arc concave tothe sun, surrounding the land with its centerin a sunken garden at the front of the house.Herbert Jacobs reports in his book Building

With Frank Lloyd Wright [37] that the solarhemicycle successfully addresses the environ-mental issues acknowledged by Wright.During storms with high winds that damagedor destroyed nearby buildings, the Jacobs’house withstood the test of force; Jacobsestimated that the wind force was cut in halfdue to the airfoil effect of Wright’s design.The heavily bermed north side of the houseprotects from cold north winds, although the

site is mostly assaulted by brisk winter windsfrom the southwest which tend to pile snowat the outer edge of the sunken garden aroundwhich the house curves. Massive stonemasonry walls form a thermal mass forholding and releasing heat during thenighttime, and cooling the house in summerby absorbing excess heat during the day. Evenin below-zero weather, Jacobs says thesupplemental heating system would shut offby nine o’clock in the morning and notresume until late afternoon. Large expanses ofsingle-pane glazing (the Jacobs opted againstdouble-pane glass for financial reasons)caused heat loss at night, but were insulatedby drapes of fabric made by the owners.Operable windows and doors provide ampleventilation and air circulation. As in Wright’ssecond generation Usonian houses, the Jacobshouse has a forced hot water floor heatingsystem embedded in the concrete, fired by afurnace. A large fireplace, while providingsome heat when in use, acts as anotherthermal mass, being part of the rear rock wall[37].

Since Wright’s time, many passive solarhomes have been built, particularly during thefuel oil shortages of the 1970s. MichaelReynolds is a contemporary architect whoemerged during that time and became apioneer in modern solar architecture, alsocombining the use of recycled and inexpen-sive materials. An architect in Taos, NewMexico, he has developed a residential

Wright’s Jacobs house, the solar hemicycle [5]

21

architecture which is responsive to andindependently provides what he terms the“necessities” of life: shelter, energy, food,water and air. He sees modern housing asenergy consumptive, non-sustainable, andpollution generators for which there needs tobe an alternative. He writes, “This (modernunsustainable) housing times 1 billion (popula-tion) is going to kill all of us and make ourplanet uninhabitable.” His method has been toeliminate many of the “systems” dependentupon sources outside the building in conven-tional housing in an effort to have his housesinherently provide those same systems.

Reynolds calls his designs “Earthships,”and says they are buildings “which emit nopollutants, deal with their own waste, are

partially covered with earth, and require nooutside systems.” Reynolds’ designs incorporatemany ideas towards achieving a sustainablelifestyle; they use both passive and active solarsystems for heat and cooling, and someelectrical needs; they provide a space andenvironment for growing food year round;sewage and greywater systems are integralelements of the house; in many cases, water iscollected in a cistern for use within the home;the materials of construction are oftenrecycled, and usually easily accessible andfrom renewable sources. In addition to thevery practical considerations of his homes, thedesigns for which he has refined after morethan twenty years of trial and error, he hasmade an effort to address the aesthetics of his

buildings and hasadopted localvernaculars in hishouses, such asadobe constructionin northern NewMexico and stone inMontana [38].

Reynolds’ ideashave been adoptedby designer/architectFred Oesch nearCharlottesville, Vir-ginia. He is,incidentally, agraduate of theVirginia TechReynolds’ Earthship plan [3]

architecture depart-ment. He focuses onsustainable buildingtechniques and ener-gy efficient housingand has recently fin-ished building a4,000 square foothome usingReynolds’ methodsof recycled tire andrammed earthconstruction tocreate a passive solarhouse in Batesville,Virginia. Oesch callsthis house an Earthpod.

While the design for the AppalachianHouse in this thesis does not utilize suchfeatures as a sunken garden or recycled tires,the influences of Wright and Reynolds are

Earthpod inBatesville,Virginia

evident in the form of the house’s seating inthe landscape, and the way the materials areused. As Wright usually did, this designincludes a land use plan, albeit on a largerscale to include all 54 acres of the site.

Drawingcourtesy ofFred Oesch

33

N o house should ever beon any hill or anything.It should be of the hill,

belonging to it, so hill and housecould live together each the happierfor the other.”

Frank Lloyd Wright,An Autobiography 1932 [48]

J III A 1. Land Use Plan

The site for an Appalachian House is anold farm on Glade Road inside the townlimits in the western area of Blacksburg. Forat least 150 years, this land has been used as afarm with an existing house that was built in1850. My proposal for the future use of thisland includes retaining its rural, agriculturalcharacter albeit with some developmentalchanges. The site now bears little resemblanceto the forest it certainly once was, the swollenhills mostly denuded of arboreal vegetation,and swathed in a patchy meadow instead. Thesteepest slope of land rises abruptly on thesouth side of a small creek which slicesthrough the property, flowing westward tojoin Tom’s Creek a quarter of a mile down-stream; it retains a stand of hardwoods —oaks, maples, hickories — and dotted about,here and there on the property, are other trees— Chinese chestnuts, locusts, non-nativespruces, hemlock, a few very old maples, anda couple of fruit bearing varieties.

The original vision for this thesis was toestablish an intentional community thatcould raise fruits and vegetables and wool forits own consumption, and offer for sale anyexcess of goods to the greater Blacksburgcommunity. While it is still believed to be anappropriate use of the land itself, a commu-nity is seen to be more likely to developthrough a natural evolution and cannot beeffectively created by a single designer. James

Steele apparently agrees and writes inSustainable Architecture [9] that “people,left to their own devices, are capable of self-regulation for the common good andinstinctively seek a community if one doesnot exist.” It is possible, however, to create apremise for such a plan, and the land use plandevised leaves open the possibility for thecreation of a small community on thisproperty if the residents so desire. It is alsopossible for a single family to develop the landas suggested, possibly creating a CSA (com-munity supported agriculture) which typicallyinvolves many families buying “shares” andparticipating on a limited basis in the actualwork of an agricultural enterprise.

As mentioned in the chapter onBlacksburg, the town has determined that theTom’s Creek basin, of which this site is a part,

should remain rural/agricultural [11].Subsistence farming, even with the additionof a small retail outlet for the sale of excessproduce, fits well within the bounds of theTown’s comprehensive plan. Little of the foodcurrently sold in Blacksburg is locally grownand, as discussed in a previous chapter, small-scale farming is a desirable and sustainablemethod of agriculture for small communities.

In the Rocky Mountain Institute’s primeron sustainable building, the authors point outthat most of the food in the US is shipped anaverage of 1,300 miles and takes as much asten times the energy to grow, ship and processas the food itself contains. They recommendedible landscaping surrounding homes usingorganic, permaculture methods “that blendfruit and nut trees, grapevines, and other edibleplants and shrubs with ground crops.” In their

An Appalachian House:Sketch for land use plan

34

Eco-Cities book [25], the Todds use a modelof the forest to dictate the form of sustainableagriculture; they write that in a woodedlandscape, the agricultural element willinclude annuals, perennial grains and herbs,soft fruit, livestock and trees, among others,adding that when the fruit, nut and foddertrees become mature, they will provide aneconomic base for the farm.

Initial plans for the Appalachian Housesite call for an overall scheme for the processof development, delineating certain areas ofthe site which are suitable for certain types ofcrops and not others. For example, the state’sVirginia Cooperative Extension service inPublication 426-841 recommends orchardplacement on the tops or sides of hills toavoid frost damage, unexposed to prevailingwinds, and in soil with good fertility anddrainage. On this site there is one area thatmeets these criteria probably better than anyother, and it also is relatively close to thehouse site on a west-facing slope slightlyabove a small spring branch. There are similarrequirements for small fruits (blueberries,

grapes, raspberries) and VCE Publication426-840 advises plantings that are in closeproximity to the house for home gardens,making the south-facing slope an ideallocation for these crops.

Sugar maples, from which maple syrup isderived, are within their native range in thisarea of the Appalachians and it would beadvantageous to promote their growth highon the hill at the southern extreme of theproperty where it would be inconvenient togrow other crops. In fact, the culture of these

trees is compatible with the raising of sheep(for wool) which can graze around andbeneath younger trees. A typical stocking ratein cool season permanent pastures in Virginiais two to three ewes per acre according toVCE Publication 410-366. The total area onwhich sheep (or other ruminants) can graze inthe south pastures is about 20 acres.

The woodlot is an important aspect ofthis farm as it will provide an alternate heatsource for the house on cloudy days, as well asthe biodiversity necessary for a sustainable

farm located in a forested region. (Fifty yearsago J. Russell Smith emphasized trees as thefoundation for restorative agriculture, say theTodds [25].) While it is unknown what theactual requirements would be, the needs of a1500 square foot house can be estimated tobe approximately 2 cords of wood per year foruse as supplemental heat. Jim Clark, of theVirginia Department of Forestry, reports thatfor a fully stocked immature stand of hard-woods, the fuel yield is about a half a cord peracre per year; this brings the total necessarywoodlot size to four to five acres. Managedcorrectly, in a sustainable manner, this can beachieved indefinitely, according to theforester.

Small-scale grain production is alsoreported by the Todds to be an essentialelement in a successional, sustainable farm.Backed up by the venerable Rodale ResearchCenter and John Jeavons of bio-intensiveAn Appalachian House: Site looking south/southwest

An Appalachian House: From site of house looking due south

35

agriculture fame in California, they write thatperennial grasses protect and enhance the soilwhile producing an annual crop of ediblegrains. The site has a several-acre flood plainarea adjacent to the creek, which is suitablefor growing grains, particularly rice, butwould also accommodate wheat and rye.Jeavons has had success in his experimentalgardens, obtaining the equivalent of fifty-twoloaves of bread from a ten-by-ten foot plot[25].

Many of the crops mentioned require amaturation period, some for up to twentyyears such as sugar maples and woodlot trees.It is expected that, in the interest ofsustainability and posterity, these crops will beplanted for long-term economic and ecologi-cal gain, and future generations, rather thanfor immediate use. Other crops, however, willhave somewhat immediate returns such as

small fruits and fruit trees which can bear intwo to four years. In the interim, the produc-tion of grains, traditional garden vegetables,herbs and fruits, and sheep will provide somemeasure of support to a small family orseveral small families.

The cultivation of market vegetables,flowers and herbs is another possibility forincome and would require building smallcommercial greenhouses on the property. Theexisting house and outbuildings, which arelocated close to Glade Road, and thereforeaccessible to the public, could house a retailcenter that would offer for sale whateverproducts came out of the farm. The proposedAppalachian House is located in the center ofthe property with no public access, removingit from a potential retail center.

It is intended that this plan provide somemeasure of economic and energy indepen-

dence to the residents, but not create anisland. It would become an integral part ofthe greater community of Blacksburg, in partby fulfilling the ideas set forth in the Compre-hensive Plan [11], and then extending beyondthat to offer services (such as locally grownfood) to the town residents. It is a long-termplan that plants the seed now for sustainabilityin the future. Agriculture based on steward-ship allows that the culture of our food will bemore closely interwoven with the fabric ofsettlement, say the Todds.

In this design, the “settlement” wouldalso be an attempt at sustainability through itsarchitecture. On this site is the opportunity tocreate a dwelling that is compatible with thenatural environment and the functions ofliving on a small farm in town — it is hopedwithout compromising the standards set forthin the development of the land itself. I believe

An Appalachian House: Site looking north

that the essentials are comprised of a buildingwhich fits itself to its site and whose materialsare consistent with maintaining the health ofthe local environment. In addition, thearchitecture should provide a certain spaceinto which humans can easily care forthemselves and their land. Kahn asked “Whatare the elements of architecture that you canemploy to make an environment in which it isgood to learn, good to live, or good to work?”Well, these all must be satisfied in a residen-tial farm, and care must be taken to ensureecological treatment of the land whenhousing ourselves; our buildings can achievethe quality of sustainability with which westeward our land.

An AppalachianHouse: Site topo

N

S

37

W hen you make aroom out of a floor,four walls, and a

ceiling, you will have besides thosesix things, a seventh as well: space,a thing probably more memorablethan any of the physical elementsthat made it. Its creation, of course,is an illusion. You will not havemade something out of nothing,only separated a particular partfrom the continuum of all space.”

Moore, et al,The Place of Houses [2]

J III A 2. House

Several precepts have guided the designof this Appalachian house; one is that abuilding should be filled with nature; anotheris that nature should be substantially undis-turbed or even enhanced by a building’spresence; finally, a building should allow itshuman inhabitants to be the vehicle for adialogue between it and nature. Marc writesthat by building a house, humankind made aclear distinction between heaven and earthand between inside and outside. “The house,”he says, “is the temporal nucleus where manasserts his earthly condition.” [7]

While these distinctions may be present,the house also provides an assimilativestructure into which humans become not justobservers of the differences, but constantinterpreters. Our relation to our immediateenvironment is most apparent and relevant

and influential in our homes. Marc believedthat the psyche is influenced by its naturalenvironment and appears as a product ofnature, “a subtle form of life... Human types arethus the products of soil and climate in exactlythe same way as vegetation and animal species.”[7] Human architecture arises from thesesame conditions, providing both a mirror toits environment and a haven from it. Thisdesign responds to the challenges of existencethrough the construction materials and theirmanufacture, the house’s seating upon theland, the roof ’s profile against the sky, thearrangement of space delineated by the wallsof the house, the compliance with the naturallaws of the region.

It goes beyond these, too. It is a dwelling,as is all architecture for the living, and, as LeCorbusier observed, humans are the contentof architecture [49]. Marc has accusedmodern architecture of providing thecontainer without content. The architectswriting in The Place of Houses [2] believethe places in which we live should nurture ourdreams. They say that, through architecture,everyday life should be infused with imagina-tion, allowing for the everyday to becomeexceptional and leading one’s mind tomultiple associations. “The expression ofdreams is accomplished by transmutation,developing the dream so that only its essenceremains...”

Juhani Pallasmaa has said the “home is notan object, a building, but a diffuse and complex

condition that integrates memories and images,desires and fears, the past and the present.” [50]He believes the essence of home is a mirrorand support of the inhabitant’s psyche that isrevealed more through poetry, film, paintingand writing than through architecture. Heasks, “Can a home be an architectural expres-sion?” In his view, no, the home and house aredistinct; the house or dwelling is the con-tainer for the home — which is a collectionand concretization of personal images thatremind us of who we are. Joseph Campbell

Navajo hogan [9]

Kahn’s Salk Institute [10]

38

insists we all need a sacred place, which canbe extrapolated to mean “home.” “This is anabsolute necessity for anybody today,” he said.“This is a place where you can simply experienceand bring forth what you are and what youmight be. This is the place of creative incuba-tion.” [51]

In this region of softly rolling hills andtree carpeted mountain ridges, the land begsfor architecture that reflects the fluid move-ments of these graceful geographic features ofAppalachia. It is for this reason, in part, thatthis design is settled into the hillside on asouth-facing slope to capture the sunlight andbreezes for natural winter heating and

summer cooling. The materials are reflectiveof the locally available resources in the region.The forms are extracted from and compatiblewith the natural structures in Appalachia,from the tiny cone of the giant easternhemlocks to the segmented body of crayfish.

Of primary importance in the design isthe environment, which, after all, is the thingthat necessitates humans living anywhereother than in the open. It also informs howwe live “inside.” In The Place of Houses, [2]the authors write that the place one lives“should incorporate changing conditions ofenvironment, of light, heat, air, sound, so that...everyday rituals can be surprised by the excep-tional conditions.” There is some evidence tosupport the idea that how we interact withour living environment is actually crucial toour well-being. In Shelter [52], Rene Duboswrites in his essay “Shelters: Their Environ-mental Conditioning and Social Relevance”that “perfect adjustment to environmentaltemperature and humidity may not providesufficient stimulation for the full development ofhuman potentialities. Our bodies and mindspossess remarkable mechanisms for adaptation toenvironmental changes and are indications thatadaptive responses to environmental challengescommonly have creative effects and contribute toa sense of well-being.” Further, he argues thatsome geographers and historians, includingArnold Toynbee, believe that civilizationsarose due to adaptive responses to environ-mental challenges, such as pronounced

climatic changes that stimulated withoutoverpowering human adaptive mechanisms.(As an example of a successful humanadaptive response, Dubos notes the reliance ofpretechnological civilizations on thick-walledstructures, perhaps for fuel economy, fireretardation, resistance to storms, earthquakesand floods, and desirable acoustic and thermalqualities.)

The materials of the Appalachian Houseand their orientation are located in responseto their surroundings, and also will allow anhonest interaction with existing environmen-tal conditions. The stone on the south side ofthe house, for example, gets warm as the sunshines on it, and holds the heat long after thesun has set. Large areas of glazing allownatural light in, and the heat of the sun to

penetrate and bestored duringwinter months inflooring materialslike stone, ceramictile and concrete.Operable windowslet breezes coursethrough thebuilding, whileroof overhangsprovide shading tokeep the interiorcool in summer. Atimber frame roofstructure utilizes an

abundant renewable natural resource of theregion, while providing a more fire resistantstructure than the more typical light frameconstruction. Thick stone walls eliminate theneed for additional insulation in many areasof the house. All rooms of the house areoriented with a southern exposure and directaccess to the outdoors. Backup heat sourcesalso rely primarily on local natural resources.

Some of the most successful examples inmodern American architecture of environ-mentally responsive homes are the Usonianhouses of Frank Lloyd Wright [53]. Wrightbelieved that external changes in temperaturework to “tear down the human body” inmuch the same way as they tear down abuilding. John Sargeant wrote that for Wright“this factor was viewed as an opportunity forSonoran Desert house by Charles Johnson [5]

Wright’s Hanna house interior [11]

39

An Appalachian House: Early sketch of the plan of house

An Appalachian House: Model showingplacement into hill

40

design to work with natural conditions, indeedto express them.” In Usonia [54], AlvinRosenbaum reveals that Wright’s integrationof site and structure were fundamental to hisprinciples of organic design. Wright’s well-known views on organic architecture beganwith the very basic premise: “Architecture andacreage together (were) landscape... We seekbeauty of landscape not so much to build upon— as to build with.” In his Usonian houses,Wright attempted to create homes that workwith the climate to produce comfortable

conditions by using natural means. (He was,therefore, opposed to “air conditioning.”) HisUsonian houses embodied the indoor-outdoor qualities of organic architecture,glorifying nature through the least invasion ofthe soil; they were small, but open andspacious places with access to outdoors frommost rooms. Although generic, each indi-vidual Usonian house was reflective of itslocale and site. (Wright’s utopian vision forAmerica was extended from his house designsto a large, unrealized plan for Broadacre City,an integrated, cooperative, community wheredesign commingled withnature and spiritualharmony was integratedwith material prosperityacross an unspoiledlandscape, writesRosenbaum.)

This Appalachianhouse design incorpo-rates some of Wright’sideas, and in particular,the form has beenborrowed from the arc ofhis solar hemicycle thatarches into the hillsidewith a bank of solarglazing facing the south. The south-facingaspect was deemed critical in this design, as itis a primary source of warmth in winter andnatural lighting year round. Where the Jacobs’house is bermed to the north, this one is

settled into the hill, merged with the land andalso surrounded by it.

The shape of arc is derived from one ofwhat Marc calls the four archetypal signs(square, circle, cross, triangle) — the primary

elements of architecture[7]. (The complemen-tary elements toarchitecture, he says, arethe spiral, wave anddot.) The arc is swungout from a point on theland where water iscollected from runofffrom the house to washthe fields below it. Itconsciously stresses acentral point, as VanEyck has pointed out inreference to his ownprojects, by establishing

a spatial hierarchy and subordinating all elsearound it. From within the house that curvesaround this point, it clearly allows a point ofrotation to a wider landscape, offering a placeof stability. Schoenauer, in History of

Housing [55], wrote, “Theconcave shape is womblike andmaternal: it invites, harbors,shelters, and the concavecircular plan is an ‘intuitive’form, in sharp contrast to thesquare and rectangular forms,both of which are rationally or

intellectually devised.” This house, however, isalso somewhat rectangular or trapezoidal inthat its expansion occurs radially about thearc segment, causing a curvilinear spacewithin. It is this curve in fact which estab-lishes the hierarchy of the plan.

Another example of environmentallyresponsive architecture is the Magney Houseon Bingie Point, Moruya, Australia [56]. GlenMurcutt, like Wright before him, created ahome in response to the existing conditions ofthe site, and the desire of the clients topreserve the light-roofed sense of being undercanvas (as in a tent). The house has a lineararrangement, oriented towards the sun at duenorth, with the roof extended above and

Wright’s Jacobs house [12]

Wright’s Jacobs house [12]

Geometric analysis of the Parthenon byTons Brunés [13]

An Appalachian House: Plan hierarchy

An Appalachian House: Model roof

41

An Appalachian House: Proportion studies

42

beyond the fully glazed surface, clipped at theequinox cut-off angle. The bottom glazing hasexternal adjustable metal blinds (the upperclerestory glass is unprotected) allowing forfull-day winter sun, no penetration ofsummer sun, and access to dramatic views oflake and coast. Economical water collection

was achieved with one main gutter forming aroof valley between the north-face livingspaces and the back, south-face servant areas,ushering the runoff to two large drain pipes atthe east and west ends of the house. Toprovide warmth on cool winter nights andprotection from wind, the house sits atop aninsulated slab on grade that acts as a thermalheat sink, along with the south, back wallwhich is constructed of brick. Finally,Murcutt produced a sculptural response tothe landscape’s folded forms, with the rooflinearching up to gently caress the house beneath

its giant wings.While addressing the local or immediate

environmental concerns here in Appalachia, itwas also important to look at the materials ofconstruction, preferably using locally availableones when possible, and ones that areproduced in a sustainable way. In SustainableArchitecture [9],James Steele discussessome of the moreprevalent materialsused in modernconstruction and theireffects on the environ-ment. For example,concrete is a hugeenergy guzzler and airpolluter; producingjust the cementelement of concreteuses approximately 6million BTUs per tonof cement, andproducing 76 millionmetric tons of finished concrete generates 9.8million metric tons of carbon dioxide. Ofcourse, concrete has many advantages (highthermal mass, fire resistance, low mainte-nance, etceteras), but people tend to use it asthough it were environmentally cost free.Nevertheless, —benefits outweighingdrawbacks — this design uses an eight-inchconcrete slab beneath stone as a thermal mass.Aluminum (siding, window frames, insula-

tion) is made from a limited natural resource(bauxite ore) which is obtained from stripmining, and its manufacture requires highenergy; however, it is recyclable and manyaluminum products contain up to 100%recycled content. Plywood, a mainstay ofmodern construction, also requires high

energy consumptionto manufacture, usingtoxic glues and resins;interior gradeplywood often ismade with bloodadhesives, which isadditionally offensiveto many vegetarians.The most energyintensive of allconstruction materi-als, according toSteele, is steel; wemust mine five timesthe material (iron ore,coal, limestone) than

the ore retrieved, and it is done usually inopen pit mines; most steel, however, is nowmade with recycled materials.

This Appalachian house design incorpo-rates as little of these materials as possible,relying instead mainly on local stone, wholetimbers, glass and concrete. In the Sustain-able Building Sourcebook [57], a compila-tion of “green” building techniques andmaterials published by the City of Austin,

Texas, these and other construction materialswere reviewed such as foam insulation androofing materials. Basically, materials weresought that have a lesser environmental costinitially in their manufacture or harvesting,and also require little or no maintenance

Murcutt’s Magney house blinds [14]

Murcutt’s Magney house [14]

Magney house site plan [14]

Magney house roof section [14]

43

An Appalachian House: Large timbers frame roof of house

44

throughout their lifetimes, but also that donot require sacrificing the design. Theseinclude materials that are grown, made ormanufactured within the region, therebyreducing transportation costs, and hence theemphasis on “local.”

Glass, an essential element of this design,is produced from another abundant naturalresource — sand or silica. Its manufacturerequires high energy, but many consider itslong term benefits to outweigh the cost ofproduction. It is manufactured relatively closeto Blacksburg in West Virginia, so transporta-tion costs are minimized, and it is a recyclablematerial.

Insulation is a major concern for bothsustainability reasons and energy efficiency.This design requires insulation in the roofand north wall of the house that is submergedin the soil. Perhaps one of the most benignmaterials would be perlite; it is non-flam-mable and chemically inert, and is derivedfrom a naturally occurring volcanic mineral.It could be used as loose fill in the wall and insheet form in the roof. Cementitious foam isalso a possibility, although transportationcosts would be a factor as it is derived fromseawater, and therefore a fairly distantmaterial to the Appalachian Mountains.Another choice is cotton insulation, alsoknown as agricultural fiber insulation, madefrom low grade, recycled, mill waste cotton,including recycled blue jeans; it is available inbatts similar to fiberglass batts, and is treated An Appalachian House: Early sketch of south face

with a fire-retardant. Wool is also available asan insulation material. Additionally, work hasbeen done using clay as an insulation infillmaterial, usually mixed with wood chips orsome other fiber.

There is probably no way around the useof plastics as vapor barriers in the north walland roof — all the sources used on sustain-able building products simply don’t mention“green” vapor barriers; this could be due tothe fact that there are no or few publicizedalternatives now to such systems as Enkadrainand Tyvek (which might even be relativelyinnocuous, but no information was available).Also, the end goal is to minimize the use ofnon-sustainable materials – not eliminatethem entirely.

The Appalachian regionis heavily forested

and so provides a plethora of timber, whichcan be harvested in a sustainable way,although under many circumstances it is not:clearcutting is unfortunately still practiced inthe area. The region also provides an abun-dance of stone. In This Rock Is My Home[58], Werner Blaser writes “Stone and timberare the materials which provide (humans) withthe widest opportunities for shaping (their)environment. And this still holds true today inthis age of synthetic materials, at least in aregion where stone and timber are plentiful.” Inour region of Appalachia there is a lot of slateand schist, both metamorphic rocks good forbuilding, according to Ken Kern in TheOwner Builder’s Guide to Stone Masonry[59]. He says they are both good or better inwater absorption resistance, insulative quality,mechanical strength, durability and possessingfew impurities that would weaken the stone.Other local stones are also suitable: quartzite,another metamorphic stone, has poorinsulative value but is good in other areas;sedimentary rocks include sandstone,dolomite, shale and others, and are useful insome types of construction; limestone, too,

has a poor water absorption resistance ratingand poor insulative qualities, but is strongand somewhat durable, says Kern. Sites nearBlacksburg on Brush Mountain provide aclose source of stone that can be removedfrom the surface of the ground (flag andfieldstone). The area also has many quarriesfor cut stone, although the overextraction ofthese materials causes unsightly blemishes onthe landscape.

In this design for an Appalachian house,the stone is laid to become walls that radiatefrom a point removed from the house itself. Itis also the floor, resting on top of a thickconcrete slab; together the stone and concreteform a thermal mass to prevent overheatingand large interior temperature fluctuations.The mass of masonry will store some of theheat gained during the day, releasing it slowlyduring the night.

The solar windows are almost continuousalong the south wall, and smaller windowspunctuate the east and west walls within thedoors. Along the north wall, which is mostlyimmersed in earth, is a narrow band ofwindows which admits some north light, butmainly presents a solid front to the hill and

the colder side of the house. Insidethe house, glass sits

45

atop the walls separating each room andseparating the hallway from the rooms. Smallwindows tucked under the eaves where theroof changes in elevation also admit diffusedsunlight. These conditions all allow the lightto completely infiltrate the house.

Perhaps obvious in this design is thatlight becomes animportant element. Itis not just heat, butanother material aswell — energy resourceas well as visualaesthetic. Kahn said,“The sun does notrealize how wonderful itis until after a room ismade. A (human’s)creation, the making ofa room, is nothing shortof a miracle. Just think,that a (person) canclaim a slice of the sun.”[5] He also spoke ofthe character of light,which alternates withthe tones of space,perhaps high andnarrow with graduat-ing light to darkness, so that a vault or adome or a column are all choices for acharacter of light.

Kahn claimed a slice of sun in the longvaults of the Kimbell Art Museum and wrote

of the experience: “And the cloud that passesover gives the room a feeling of association withthe person that is in it, knowing that there is lifeoutside the room... So light, this great maker ofpresences, can never be... brought forth by thesingle moment in light which the electric bulbhas. And natural light has all the moods of the

time of day, the seasonsof the year, (which) yearfor year and day for dayare different from theday preceding.” [60]

On a verypractical level, thewindows mustperform. For instance,the windows on thenorth side of the housecan be useful — deepbut shallow-in-height,and so could functionas coolers for food —an alternative toelectric refrigeration.Michael Reynoldspoints out inEarthship III [38]that this is an oldmethod of food storage

that uses lack of solar gain on north glazing,the cooler air infiltration through the glass,and some type of interior shutter to insulatefrom the warmer inside air of the house.

While the windows allow a certain

aesthetic in thebuilding design,they are alsofunctional as thereceptors of thesunlight on thesouth side. Becauseof this, there aresome requirementsthat facilitate therelationship of glass to mass. In the PassiveSolar Energy Book [36], Mazria recom-mends that in temperate climates the floor/glazing ratio should be .16 to .25 (square feetof window needed for each one square foot offloor area). This figure is for Dodge City,Kansas, the location also used for the EnergyScheming analysis, which is at the samelatitude as Blacksburg (Lat 37° 46°N). Thefollowing chart illustrates the ratio for thishouse, which gives an average of .267. It isslightly higher than the recommended values;however, this is offset due to the largeramount of thermal mass present in thedesign’s floors and walls, which can store largeamounts of heat. It should be noted, too, thatin Chapter III D. there is a discussion of the

computer program Energy Scheming; thedesign was run through the program thattakes into account this ratio as it analyzes thedesign.

Also, in the parameters set for EnergyScheming, energy efficient window systems(i.e. double glazing with low-e coatings) wereused which usually have the added benefits oflower sound transmission qualities, reducedUV transmission into the building, and arecooler in summer and warmer in winter.

On cloudy days and at night, supplemen-tal heat is a practical necessity in a passivelyheated solar building; this house has two: ahot water radiant floor system throughout thehouse, and a woodstove. The success ofradiant floor systems is well known, from

Kahn’s Kimbell Museum [15]dimension glaze glazing area dimension floor floor area ratio glaze/floor

12 x 5 60 sq. ft. 12 x 12 249 sq. ft. 24112 x 6 72 sq. ft. 12 x 12 249 sq. ft. 289

22 x 7.5 165 sq. ft. 22 x 16 552 sq. ft 29912 x 6 72 sq. ft. 12 x 16 270 sq. ft. 26712 x 5 60 sq. ft. 12 x 12 249 sq. ft. 241

An Appalachian House: Earlier sketch of south face of house

46

Wright’s pioneering use of them in the Jacobs’solar house to Mies Van der Rohe’s imple-mentation of one in the Farnsworth House.In using an airtight woodstove (with acatalytic converter to reduce pollutants) forsupplemental heat, according to Mechanicaland Electrical Equipment for Buildings,[33] the areas that “see” the stove will getmost of the benefit since radiant heat is thedominant form of heat output. However,“circulating” stovesconvert a larger portionof their heat to con-vected heat, whichproduces a layer of hotair at ceiling level. Byproviding a pathbetween rooms at theceiling, this hot air willslowly spread through-out a building. Themore thermally massivethe ceiling construction,the longer it will storeand radiate heat fromthe warm air mass. Inthis design, the wallsbetween rooms have anoperating glass transomat the top that allowsboth air and light topass, but minimizes the transmission ofsound, although not simultaneously.

Water, an essential part of the overall

design of this house, became an especiallyimportant element when designing thedrainage off the roof, and also the collectionwas important to the conservative livelihoodof the inhabitants, it’s movement essential tothe life out-of-doors. It is a basic ingredient ofsustaining life in this house and a sustainer ofotherworldly qualities that could be calleddreams and magic. Water image in mythol-ogy, according to Joseph Campbell, is

intimately associatedwith the mythologicaluniversal motif ofbirth, and death,representing also anythreshold or passagesuch as that from lightto darkness, fromchildhood to adult-hood, birth to death[8]. In some mythswater is a vehicle ofpower of the goddessor other guardian ofwater who personifiesthe mystery of thewaters of birth anddissolution, alsorepresenting water’slife-furthering or life-threatening aspects.

Moore and London say that moving watercan represent life; still, it can signify death;captured in pools and reflecting light, water

connects the infinite and the intimate.In Charles Moore’s dissertation at

Princeton University, Water and Architec-ture [61] he wrote, “Architecture is anintermediary that negotiates connections orseparations between people and water, commu-nicating sensory clues through forms andmaterials.... Our two principles for the use ofwater in architectural composition, then, arefirst: that its movement should seem to bring itfrom, and then take it to, great, or even infinitedistances; but that when in its cycle it comesopposite us, the contact should be intimate; andsecond: that its movement must be composed inour time, but should suggest a natural timebeyond our own. With these principles, weshould be able to create some specific designs, touse water in architectural composition.”

Floor coils in Batesville, Virginia, Earthpod,courtesy Fred Oesch

Indoor stream in desert house [5]

Murcutt’s Magney house roof drain [14]

Urban water path [16]

47

Moore also wrote, “Water is a naturalmaterial with an unchanging identity, whereverit appears in architecture or nature... Its use inarchitecture should reflect the attitude about thenatural world held by the people who design,construct, or inhabit the building.... At the endof our millennium, we are faced with thedilemma of balancing human needs with respectfor nature. If water is being used neither muchnor well in our own architecture, then surely

some of the difficulty can be traced to ourconfusion over what sort of attitude towardnature we are trying to express. Yet if we caneffectively incorporate water’s symbolism, history,and physical nature, then our water andarchitecture can have potential for wonderunmatched by any other material that we caninclude in our environments.” [62]

In arid Australia, Murcutt often exploitswater as an animating element, using it tovitalize his buildings. He creates what PhilipDrew in Leaves of Iron [63] called “receptorsof the sky’s delicate tears.” In the MagneyHouse water is an essential material used togenerate the design for the two wings of theroof that slope to capture rainwater. Several ofhis farmhouses incorporate water storagetanks into the character of the houses. In theShort farmhouse, Murcutt connected a linear,horizontal water link from the house to adam. The Kempsey Museum has enlargedcylindrical drainpipes with helical seams thatswirl the water to the ground. Murcutt saysabout water, “look, that is something preciousand I wish to attach a certain importance to it.”[56]

In the Appalachian House, the roofaccepts water and guides it on the north sideto cisterns on the east and west sides; on thesouth side, vertical channels funnel the waterfrom the roof down to small pools, which inturn allow it to flow through shallow horizon-tal channels along the patio and into a largerpool; from there the water is dispersed and

directed towardsterraced gardens. Inthis design, theAppalachian Houseboth collects water foruse and uses it as adesign element. It isallowed to behave, asDonlyn Lyndon writesin Chambers for aMemory Palace [64],like everything else that“seeks the center of theearth, but being slipperyand mindless it shim-mers across and aroundimpervious material until it reaches its own inthe ocean or in vast subterranean aquifers. ... allwater systems depend on the simple propositionthat water, domesticated or not, yearns for thesea.... (Water) makes such a potent andubiquitous element of design — whether tracingthrough roof slope, gutter, and downspout,bubbling out of faucets and fountains, orshaping the slope of the land.”

Moore also tells us in Water andArchitecture [61], “every drop of water on theplanet takes part in the water cycle. The cycleguarantees that all water is connected in acontinuous global chain, so that water neverremains an isolated incident and never exclu-sively belongs to any specific time or place. Eventhe tiniest drop of water shares a heritage withthe greatest ocean.” He relates the words of

Flowforms to carry and purify water(Waterforms, Inc.)

architect Nicola Salvi, designer of the famousTrevi Fountain (completed in 1762) in Rome:the fountain “shows the essential mobility ofwater, which never ceases in its operation and isincapable of ever remaining still, even for thebriefest moment.” Moore says of the fountain,“With a relatively small amount of water, all theworld’s water is called to mind, and it is waterthat provides the lifeblood for meaning inarchitecture.”

There is a practical side to water, too. Forexample, the collection of water for domesticuse is emphasized in architect MichaelReynolds’ Earthships, most of which are builtin arid regions of the country [38]. Many ofhis homes incorporate cisterns, which havebottoms that are slightly raised above thefloor of the house thereby using gravity toprovide pressure and delivery of the water tothe dwelling. Reynolds also recommends theconstruction of a reservoir above houses builton a sloped site to catch the run-off from thehill, but such a system requires additionalfiltering, possibly even for bacteria. The bulkof the water from the roof of this house willcome off the south-facing roof and will alsobe collected, but for use in exterior gardensand landscape design elements.

A solar batch water heater can beincorporated into the Appalachian Housedesign near the entry to the house; it islocated adjacent to the bathroom so wouldrequire minimal piping. Reynolds suggeststhat installation of a tank can be perpendicu-

An AppalachianHouse: Waterpaths leading tocollection pond

48

lar to the winter solstice sun for maximumwinter performance as summer hot water canbe at a lower temperature to be comfortable[38].

As a backup to the batch heater, a gas-powered demand hot water heater can beinstalled; these small (18x13x36”) wallmounted units are placed about three feet offthe floor, and vented through the roof (8”diameter hole). This small system can becombined with the batch heater so that theindividual hot water sources are valvedtogether into the same line.

Reynolds advocates the use of greywatersystems for houses, separating the blackwater,or sewage/toilet water, from the apparentlyuseful, relatively innocuous waste water fromall other sources in the house (such as bath-tub, washing machine, kitchen sink, bath-room sink) [38]. In Virginia, there is nodistinction made between blackwater andgreywater and so it is illegal to use thegreywater without first treating it, accordingto Clare Zaronsky, environmental healthspecialist for Montgomery County. Thetreatment is the same as that for blackwater,so most systems combine the two types ofwater.

Because the Appalachian House site ismore than 200 feet from the town sewer lines,it is possible to have a variance from using thetown sewer system and use instead a septicsystem on the property; there is plenty ofspace on the west side of the house for a drain

field that is more than the minimum 50’required distance from the creek and containsno trees. As it stands, this two-bedroom houseis gauged to use 300 gallons per day of wastewater and requires a drain field consisting offour 75-85’ lines on 9’ centers. (In Reynolds’Earthships, even the septic tanks are con-structed with recycled beverage cans.) Atsome future time, it might be useful toactually design a greywater treatment facilityon the property using an Aeration TreatmentUnit (ATU) where the waste water is passedthrough a series of tanks and filters, andpossibly using a constructed wetlands forfurther filtration. As an alternative to these

methods of dealingwith waste, there isthe compostingtoilet, whichReynolds says,“believe it or not,are developed to thepoint that they workwell and do notsmell.” [38]

Obviously,many elements gointo the making ofa house. Some,such as materialslike timbers andstone, are knownentities and havebeen used for

construction for thousands of years. Theeffects of putting these elements together incertain ways are not always as well known.The computer program “Energy Scheming”takes the materials, orientation and design ofa building and then produces a simulation ofthat building’s energy needs, uses and results.

Chapter II A 4 discusses the use of thecomputer program Energy Scheming toperform an analysis of the AppalachianHouse, and also presents a comparison byAmerican Electric Power of relative electricityconsumption between the Appalachian Houseand a “typical” house in the area.

Reynold’s Earthship cistern [17]

Sustainable FeaturesOverall, the Appalachian House incorpo-

rates many features that are consideredsustainable. In review, some examples includethe use of local materials to save transporta-tion costs; the use of double-pane low-e glassto facilitate the efficient collection of solarradiation inside the house; the construction ofa large thermal mass to store heat from thesun during the day so that it can be slowlyreleased through the day or night to save oncommercial power consumption; a green-house provides a place to grow food andpossibly store batteries for active solarcollectors; the installation of efficient supple-mental heat sources, particularly thewoodstove that uses a renewable resource; thecollection of rainwater for use in gardens andgreenhouse; the efficient use of space andrelative small size of the house; the durableconstruction materials of the house floor,walls and roof; and ultimately the use of solarand geothermal heat to make the house acomfortable place to live.

Other features could also contribute tothe sustainability of the Appalachian House,such as the use of efficient lighting systemsand fixtures, energy conserving appliances(refrigerator, hot water heater, washer, stove,etc.), water conserving fixtures (toilet, showerhead, sinks, etc.), and non-toxic materials inthe insulation or roofing materials, forexample.

O nly after the last tree has been cut down,Only after the last river

has been poisoned, Only after thelast fish has been caught, Only thenwill you find that money cannot beeaten.”

Cree Indian Prophecy

J III A.3 IllustrationsThis section includes several views of An

Appalachian House: drawings, sketches, andmodels. These give an overview of the way thehouse is put together, its appearance, as wellas the way water is shed from the roof. Linedrawings show the plans and elevations of thehouse and were also used to scan into thecomputer for use with Energy Scheming.

Floor and Walls

South Elevation

(Left) Sketches of the Appalachian House are superimposed on photos of the site. 1 isa view of the greenhouse on the east end looking towards the setting sun; 2 shows thewest end of the house; 3 is looking at the house from the northwest; 4 is the approachfrom the northwest.(Far right) Central chimney with woodstove.

1

2

3

4

Slate Roof

Timber Frame Structure that Supports the Roof

Central chimney

Rainwater is guided into cisterns on the north side(next page top sketches and this page top sketch). Onthe south side (this page bottom sketch), water isfunneled from roof drains into sloped end wallchannels (above) that deliver the water to the patiowhere it is carried away from the house in veryshallow trenches in the stonework.

Sketch plan view

Roof Plan

Floor Plan

Floor Plan and Use Plan

57

B uildings shaped withoutregard for the sun’s impactrequire large amounts of

energy to heat and cool.Approximately 20 percent of theenergy consumed in the UnitedStates is used for space heartingand cooling of buildings.”

Edward Mazria,The Passive Solar Energy Book[36]

J III A 4. Energy Analysis

When this project was begun, it was agiven that passive solar heating would be onecomponent of the design. A south-facingslope on the property was selected to get goodsolar access for lighting and possible heating.As the house was designed, there was aconstant reference to the sun angles andshadows; the results of these studies did notdetermine the design, but rather informed thedesign at certain stages in the development ofit. After realizing a basic structure — withform, size, orientation on site, etceteras — thedesign was taken to the computer for a closerlook at its configuration in regard to itsenergy requirements. A program called EnergyScheming provided the basis for an analysis ofthe building’s broad energy needs. AmericanElectric Power supplied an analysis of theAppalachian House electricity requirements

for heating/coolingneeds, as well as acomparison with a“typical” house in theregion.

Energy Schemingis a software packagedeveloped at theUniversity of Oregonfor use with AppleMacintosh comput-ers. It is a design toolthat can be used tohelp create an energyefficient building bylooking at broadarchitectural concerns rather than narrowenergy issues. For example, the programcalculates net heat gain and heat loss loadsbased on four sets of default data: buildingcomponents, climate data, building geometry,and materials. After calculating the heat flowsfor given times of year, the program tellswhere heat loss or gain is occurring and timeof day of gain/loss. By studying the energyreports issued from the program based on aparticular set of design parameters, alterationscan be initiated or integrated into thebuilding’s design.

Having already designed with energyfactors in mind, Energy Scheming allowed arefinement of the design. Prior to using ES toevaluate the building for energy efficiency, thedesign for this house was originally developed

using sun angle charts and calculations basedon information in The Passive Solar EnergyBook [36] and Mechanical and ElectricalEquipment for Buildings [33]. The house/site model was also photographed with anapplied sun peg shadow chart which showedthat the sun would enter at brief periods oftime in certain windows causing overheatingat those times. The ES report supported this,also showing possible overheating and heatloss at other times. After extending overhangsslightly on the overheating windows, addinginsulation to the roof, and constructing lowwalls on the south face (which were part ofthe original design), the ES report showed amore efficient and responsive buildingwithout changing the basic design.

Overall, the report is positive andSun angles chart MEEB [18]

Sun angle peg chart [18]

58

Sun peg chart was applied to model, then tilted in sunlight to simulatecast shadows at different times of the year.

a.

b.

c.

d.

e.

f.

a. Shadows cast at 5:30 p.m. on the 21st ofMarch and September show late afternoon sunpenetrating the interior on the east end of thehouse. This would probably cause some overheat-ing, which was confirmed by the EnergyScheming analysis, and roof overhangs weresubsequently extended. b. At 4 p.m. on the sameday, the sun penetrates the interior. c. December21st at noon shows a desirable full penetration ofthe sun into the house, which would result in themassive floor storing heat for later nighttimerelease. d. Also on December 21st, later in theday at 4 p.m., the sun continues to shine on alarge percentage of the interior floor area,continuing to heat the house. e. At 5 p.m. on the21st of April or August, the sun is mostly shadedby the roof overhang, although one small area isreceiving sun inside, which could cause someoverheating. Extending the roof overhangscorrected this for the most part. f. The hotnoonday sun in April and August is preventedfrom infiltrating the house by the roof overhangs.

59

validates this building design as an energyefficient one (in a general way). Please notethat the calculations for the design did notinclude the front entry and the greenhouse onthe west and east ends respectively, as theircontribution to the overall energy picture isnegligible due to the massive wall thatseparates each from the house interior. Also,the entire floor space, including the hallway,was used for “area” in calculating the floor/glazing ratio to allow for more realistic heatcirculation throughout the house. For morethorough calculations, ES is capable ofrunning figures for every hour of the day for ayear using even more specific design param-eters. (Please see Appendix for the ES energyreport graphs.)

Annual Energy Report SummaryIn the final Annual Summary of the ES

Energy Report, the calculations show dailyheat flow for both cloudy and clear days inSeptember, March, June and December.Overall, the figures look very reasonable andreflect a building that is responsive, mostly ina positive way, to its solar environment andable to cope with the days of obscuredsunlight. In some cases, supplemental heatingor cooling might be required, but in verymoderate to normal amounts (say, a couple oflogs on the woodstove).

In September on a clear day, there is anexcess of heat (25494 Btu/h) shown duringlate afternoon/evening. This is due to the late

summer/early autumn sun resting lower inthe sky (low altitude or angle from thehorizon), at an angle (azimuth or angle fromtrue south) closer to south at those times ofday that allows a lot of light into the windowsat the extreme east and west ends of thehouse. The house could be somewhatuncomfortable in some areas at those timesand might require additional cooling throughthe use of supplemental cooling devices suchas fans or the installation of internal windowshades that block the sun. It also might becompletely bearable. On a cloudy day inSeptember, there might be a need for supple-mental heat as the report shows a loss of214,793 Btu/h for the day. This figure doesnot take into account the mass of thebuilding, however, as the program assumes nomass on cloudy days; it is entirely possiblethat the large amounts of mass in the housewould retain sufficient heat or be slowenough in cooling off that the house wouldremain comfortable.

In June, as in September, the excess heataccumulates in afternoons to 108,699 Btu/hand could be “cooled” with fans or notallowed to penetrate the house to begin withthrough the use of internal shading devices.There is also a possibility of using evaporativecoolers, although the moisture content of theair in Blacksburg might be so high that theseunits would be ineffective. Even though theexternal roof overhangs on the south side aredeep (six feet), they are still not sufficient to

block out all thesummer sun along thesouth face of thebuilding in theafternoons andevenings. Resolvingthis without the useof large air condition-ing units is stilldesirable; using airconditioning unitswould require 9.06tons of cooling (heatgain in Btu/h dividedby 12,000 = tons ofcooling) per day.Perhaps the house’s occupants could gooutside and sit under the shade of a tree. On acloudy day in June the report shows acomplete daily balance of no heat flow. Aclear day in March shows no heat gain and noheat loss, while a cloudy day has a heat loss of164,462 Btu/h, probably requiring supple-mental heat.

The greatest loss of BTUs occurs inDecember on cloudy days. If the mass doesnot have enough stored heat, supplementalheat will be necessary to replace the report’sestimated loss of 346,888 Btu/h for a 24 hourperiod. (A good day to bake bread?) Using theairtight woodstove, this would mean addingaround one hundred pounds of wood for a 24hour period, which is a fairly typical amount.This assumes the “best” efficiency factor (0.5)

for the stove and using seasoned or dryhardwood with high density (for example redoak at 36.2 lb. per cubic foot or sugar mapleat 34.9 lb. per cubic foot). (Using theequation: lb. per hour = Btu per hour heatloss divided by Btu per lb. times efficiency;this translates as 14,454 BTUs per hourdivided by 7000 BTUs times .5 = 4.13 lb. perhour or 99 lb. per day of wood fuel.) Theconversions for other fuel sources are 3.3gallons of heating oil per day or 101.76kilowatts per day of electricity, both reason-able figures for heating the space required.

To increase the performance of thebuilding, installing night insulated shadeswould help in areas such as the north-facinghopper windows and the south-facingcasement windows, but maybe not signifi-

60

cantly due to the large amounts of thermalmass which will release heat during the night.

Comparison of Energy ConsumptionIn order to assess the value of the Energy

Scheming results for the passively solar heatedAppalachian House, it was determined that acomparison with another energy source(electricity) and a “typical” or “average” houseof similar size would be useful.

The comparison of the energy saved inthis design for an Appalachian House versus a“typical” house of similar size was based onAmerican Electric Power Company computercalculations to determine the average electric-ity consumption for heating/cooling for thetwo houses. The figures presented take intoaccount construction materials, orientation onsite, size of windows, R-values, insulation,ceiling heights, slab size, and size of rooms.

In the Appalachian House, the estimatedaverage annual heating cost was found to be$322.49. The calculations for this residencealso take into account the use of a geothermalexchange electric heat pump in conjunctionwith the hydronic floor coil heating system,itself a very efficient heating system. The costis a very conservative estimate and couldactually be much less due to the slightly lessdetailed information supplied to the computerprior to calculations.

For the “typical” house in this region ofAppalachia, which is ranch-style with smallerand fewer windows, the estimated average

annual heating cost is $532.25.The difference of $209.76 represents a

savings of 40 percent over the entire year,showing that, at least on paper, the Appala-chian House is a feasible design for energyefficiency.

(Please see Appendix for the actual energyreports from American Electric PowerCompany.)

Carbon Debt RestorationAnother motivation for energy conserva-

tion is that levels of carbon dioxide can be

reduced through decreased use of fossil fuels.The build-up of CO2 helps create the negative“greenhouse effect” and, therefore, it isdesirable to limit the increased carbon levelsby using more efficient appliances, drivinggas-powered vehicles less, and increasing theuse of non-CO2-producing energy such assolar power. It is suggested that to balance ourannual greenhouse gas emissions, we can planttrees (three for every ton of CO2 emitted) toabsorb carbon dioxide, thereby making ourlifestyles “carbon neutral.” The averageindividual is responsible for generating about

10 tons of CO2 annually. The AppalachianHouse design, using an electric geothermalexchange heat pump, emits an estimated fourand a half tons of CO2 for heat annually. Foroffsetting the heating carbon debt alone,about 15 trees could be planted to achievecarbon neutrality. The land use plan for theAppalachian House (discussed in Chapter II A1) calls for the planting of a small five-acreforest as a woodlot with hundreds of trees, andso would more than fulfill the requirementsfor being a carbon neutral home.

An Appalachian House: Sun angle sketches

63

T he spirit of a createdthing derives from acommon source which

goes back to the origins of theuniverse, of (human)kind, ofcivilizations, back to our birth,and is revitalized with the dawn ofeach new day.”

Olivier Marc [7]

J IV. Conclusion

The goal of this thesis project was firstand foremost to create a livable house — onethat is comfortable, sustainable and efficientinside and outside — by exploiting thecontrasts that are inherent in any building.This was achieved in part by a deepenedharmony between the house and its con-structed and natural environments, whilesupporting its dual roles of both engaging theinhabitants with nature and protecting themfrom it.

The challenge was to select and assemblethe many contrasting variables in the mostconstructive way in order to create a houseappropriate to this Appalachian region. GlenMurcutt, in looking at contrasts, said, “If bothhold their integrity, each will tell about the other.One clarifies the other... I think that thatdifference is very important. Not for difference’ssake; difference must come out of an understand-ing of scale, of material, of structure, of light, ofshade, of wind, of smells, of sun, of the verandah,the change from outside to inside, the structure ofthe landscape...”

Contrasts become evident in this house inthe configuration of material versus functionversus aesthetic versus sustainability versuslivability, and are also manifest in certainproperties of the house: light versus darkness,horizontal versus hilly, open yet protected,fluid but stable, inside versus out. This housealso offers a contrasting perspective of the

historicalprecedents in theregion related tothe vernacular; inparticular, whileusing many of thetypical materialssuch as heavytimber and stonethat were used inearly log cabinsand otherstructures, it

employs a more technological approach intheir assemblage to take advantage of modernmaterials such as low-e glazing. This lastexample offers one representation of howcontrasts can be reconciled through thesuccessful “clarification” of one another,thereby producing a house that is imbuedwith many different ideas that work togetherto form a common, integrated whole. This, atleast, was one of the goals.

Comfort is achieved, not just with objectsand their arrangement, but also throughappropriate use of materials, and sustainableresponses to the environment. It is anobligation to the entire environment (land,sky, water), and to the community as a whole(people, animals), to choose correctly now forthe generations to come.

Towards this end, this AppalachianHouse achieves success through the attemptsat energy efficiency as evidenced by the

Energy Scheming reports and the AmericanElectric Power analyses. Also, the house andland use plans are commensurate with theTown of Blacksburg’s vision for itself in thefuture, and is therefore a suitable program forfuture small town development. Thesustainability issues are also addressed throughthe house’s composition of primarily localmaterials and their durability, and thepractical land use applications. Other issuessuch as history and agriculture are woven intothe fabric of the design as well.

Several issues were not addressed in thisdesign for an Appalachian House, but whichare nevertheless important and worthy ofconsideration in future projects. One is thecost of building such a structure; estimates forthis house are high due to expensive materials,systems, and their implementation. Althoughthe house is designed for long-term livabilityand use — which inherently carries a greatercost — it would still be desirable to discoverways of achieving sustainability while limitingthe cost. It is recognized, too, that while initialcosts might be high, there could be substantialsavings over long periods of time (i.e. install-ing a geothermal heat pump now would be aninvestment for perhaps the next seventy-fiveyears).

Another issue is that of expandability; arevised “future” floor plan (next page) showsan added area to the north side of the house.Basically, a new space would be carved out ofthe hillside, behind the kitchen, with access

64

from either side of the kitchen. It is envisionedas an “entertainment” or “family” room andwould maintain the sustainable conceptspresent in the main house such as the use ofpassive solar for heat and natural lighting,massive materials, and use of a woodstove forsupplemental heat. The room would be evenmore able to take advantage of the geothermalqualities of the soil around it due to its three-quarters surround of earth. The house couldalso be expanded along the east/west axis veryeasily.

An additional concern is whether or notthis design for an Appalachian House, or atleast elements of this design, could beimplemented in a more urban setting with ahigher density of housing and much smallersite. This design exists in a sort of ideal worldof envelopment by a large plot of land withgreat views and terrific solar access. Obviously,such a location cannot be found everywhere.Of course, there are limitations to usingpassive solar heating methods, including thenecessity of southern exposure. Still, it wouldbe useful to apply many of the lessons fromthis project to other, less ideal circumstances.

Finally, Juhani Pallasmaa has defined thephenomenology of architecture as beingfounded on actions rather than things, andthis project has been one attempt to create abuilding that could also be described as acomposite of acts — the act of warmingoneself by the window or woodstove, not thehearth itself; the act of approaching the house

from around the hill as opposed to the entry;the act of listening to the water cascadingdown the walls, not the wall itself; the act of

living in the home, not the house. In thisdesign even the so-called “passive” heatingshould become an active engagement of the

building between the sun and the people whoinhabit it.

An Appalachian House: Future expansion

67

J

V. References

Illustrations

11. The Architecture of Frank Furness,James F. O’Gorman, PhiladelphiaMuseum of Art, 1973

12. Historical Atlas of World Mythology,Vol I Part I, Joseph Campbell, Harper &Row, 1988

13. Earthship, Volume 1, Michael Reynolds,Solar Survival Press, 1990

14. Encyclopedia of Native America, TrudyGriffin-Pierce, Viking, 1995

16. The Eyes of Discovery, John Bakeless,Dover Publications, 1950

17. Highlights in the Early History ofMontgomery County, Virginia, LulaPorterfield Givens, 1975

18. Town of Blacksburg 1996 On-LineComprehensive Plan

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17. Earthship, Volume II, Michael Reynolds,Solar Survival Press, 1990

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Sources

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14. The Origins of Knowledge and the

Imagination, Jacob Bronowski, YaleUniversity press, 1978

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19. Pamphlet Architecture No. 9, Rural andUrban House Types, Steven Holl,Pamphlet Architecture, 1982

20. Notes on the State of Virginia, ThomasJefferson, Harper & Row, 1964

21. A Special Place for 200 Years: A Historyof Blacksburg, Virginia, ed. Clara Cox,Town of Blacksburg, 1998

22. Gaining Ground, J. Tevere MacFadyen,Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1984

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27. Invisible Cities, Italo Calvino, HarcourtBrace, 1974

28. Care of the Soul, Thomas Moore, HarperCollins, 1994

29. Silent Spring, Rachel Carson, HoughtonMifflin, 1962

30. More Other Homes and Garbage, JimLeckie, et al, Sierra Club Books, 1981

68

31. The Sun Our Star, Robert Noyes,Harvard University Press, 1982

32. Sun Rhythm Form, Ralph L. Knowles,The MIT Press, 1981

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34. Hollows, Peepers and Highlanders,George Constantz, Mountain Press, 1994

35. Tales of the Earth: Paroxysms andPerturbations of the Blue Planet,Charles Officer and Jake Page, OxfordUniversity Press, 1993

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43. The Eyes of Discovery, John Bakeless,Dover Publications, 1950

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Van Nostrand Reinhold, 1977

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Appendix

Energy Reports

79

Appendix

Energy ReportsThe appendix includes the energy reports

issued from Energy Scheming and AmericanElectric Power.

Energy SchemingThis section of the appendix includes the

energy analysis of the basic house design withprint-outs of graphs showing the heat gainsand losses and their causes for four criticaltimes of year, June/December and September/March, for both clear and cloudy days. Theanalysis was performed using Energy Schem-ing, a computer program designed at theUniversity of Oregon to facilitate developingenergy strategies in the design phase of abuilding.

Four sets of default data are used as thebasis for the program: building components,building materials, climate and buildinggeometry.

The climate data is based on Dodge City,Kansas, at latitude 37° North (Blacksburg,Virginia is at 36.5 North). It incorporatestemperature, relative humidity, wind speed,wind direction, solar radiation, solar altitudeand solar azimuth, all of which obviously willvary depending upon time of year andwhether or not it’s a clear or cloudy day.

For the building data, basically the housewas broken down into sections due to thecurvature of the house on the site. This

an R-value of 1.17.All windows in the house are double-

paned, low-e glass with a 90° tilt. All areoperable to provide cross-venting capabilities;north sides are hopper-type, and south side iscasement type windows. Due to overhangs onboth sides of the house, a shading coefficientof .25 was added to each window. To accom-modate the curvature of the house, windowswere also broken into sections to moreaccurately reflect their orientation towards thesun.

Because of the passive solar nature of thehouse, and due to the large thermal mass, themass was calculated separately for a betterreading of its effect on the structure as awhole and its more direct impact on theenergy efficiency of the house. Mass wasdescribed as an 8" thick solid, and was alsobroken into sections to reflect its access tosolar radiation.

Using these parameters, an overallanalysis was performed for one day at a time.The heat flow was calculated for each hour ofthe day, yielding the total BTU gains or losses

for the entire day.The first time the test was run, the results

showed some overheating during late after-noon hours in April and September. Also, thereport showed overheating during June andJuly in the afternoon. Modifications weremade to the design of the roof overhang toextend it farther; that partially solved thesummer overheating.

After running new tests, further modifi-cations were made to the design by extendingthe roof overhangs even further so that theynow are six feet beyond the walls of the houseon the south side. In addition, more insula-tion was added to the roof to bring it up to6".

These adjustments created a much moreenergy efficient house, without compromisingthe design. The results that are shown herereflect the third round of changes made. Thefollowing graphs are the result of EnergyScheming’s computer calculations, andbasically show a building that is very posi-tively responsive to its environment andmaterials.

allowed the correct orientation of each walland roof to give a closer representation of thebuilding’s overall orientation with respect tothe sun. The front entry hall and the green-house were not included in the calculationsdue their negligible effect on the overallanalysis and their separation from the mainhouse by insulated doors.

The back retaining wall was broken intofive sections facing north (277-sq. ft.), north-northeast (110-sq. ft.), northeast (91-sq. ft.),north-northwest (112-sq. ft.) and northwest(85-sq. ft.). It is comprised of solid concretewith an R-value of 17.15, with 3" of rigidinsulation, and is considered to be “massive.”

The walls on either end of the house andthe south façade walls were also considered“massive” and concrete (even though designedas stone), with 3" rigid insulation, and thesame R value. Orientations go from southeastto southwest.

The roof was broken into ten differentsections, five each on the north and southsides, again, to accommodate the curvature ofthe house. Each section has a 4" pitch anduses metal sheathing with plywood deck,wood structure, interior wood, and 6"insulation in the cavity. The R-value is 33.28for both gain and loss with a 9-hour lag time.

Floors constitute 1923-sq. ft. with aperimeter of 232-l. ft. The slab-on-gradeconcrete has a quarry tile finish and 1’ rigidinsulation underslab and around the perim-eter. Floors are also considered “massive” with

Annual Energy Summary Graphs: June/DecemberAnnual Energy Summary Graphs show heat gains above a “comfort

baseline” losses below.. The graph on the left shows the different element groups,such as lights, mass, solar radiation, windows, infiltration, etceteras, and theiraffects on the comfort level inside the house. The graph on the right shows thenet heat gains or net heat losses for the same day. These graphs represent acloudy day in December and June, and a clear day in December and June.

June Cloudy Element Group: Not much heat is coming in that can’t bevented. Early morning and late evening heat gains are due to interior lights, butare shown to be vented. Net Gains/Losses - There are no losses or gains.

June Clear Element Group: This shows heat from the sun is warming thefloor (thermal mass) during the day, but is vented away with no real heat gains.Later in the day, there is some heat gain through the windows, however, thefloor’s thermal mass effectively counteracts it - the floor, which has cooled off atnight, cools the air coming in through the windows and absorbs heat from thesun. Again, electric interior lights cause some heat gain in the early morning andlate evening. Net Gains/Losses: This shows overheating in the afternoonsalthough mainly due to internal lights. Therefore, turning off the lights andmaybe other electrical equipment, such as a television, would probably eliminatethis overheating problem..

December Clear Element Group: There is some nighttime infiltration,which is mainly balanced by the thermal mass of the building releasing its storedheat and the lights radiating their heat in the early morning hours. Later, thesolar gains are quite large, much of which becomes effectively stored heat fornighttime, although between three and five o’clock venting is necessary. In theevening, lights provide additional heat necessitating more venting or turning offthe lights. Net Gains/Losses: No heating losses or gains shown

December Cloudy Element Group: Between one and eight o’clock in themorning, there is a lot of infiltration with little except for electric lights toprovide heat. This program assumes well-caulked windows, but does not assumethermal mass on cloudy days. There is a probability that the thermal mass of thehouse will hold some of its heat to be released on a cloudy day. Otherwise, somesolutions would be to install night insulated shades, another to build a fire in thewoodstove, do aerobic activity in the house, bake bread or turn on all the lightsand other electrical equipment. Net Gains/Losses: Clearly shows heat losses formuch of the day with the exception of early morning as the sun is rising and lateevening with the setting sun. Supplemental heat would be probably be required.

Annual Energy Summary Graphs: September/MarchAnnual Energy Summary Graphs show heat gains above a “comfort

baseline” losses below.. The graph on the left shows the different element groups,such as lights, mass, solar radiation, windows, infiltration, etceteras, and theiraffects on the comfort level inside the house. The graph on the right shows thenet heat gains or net heat losses for the same day. These graphs represent acloudy day in March and September, and a clear day in March and September.

September Clear Element Group: Basically very balanced heat exchangewith the stored heat of the mass being vented at night and the solar gain duringthe day being absorbed by the mass. Interior lights cause slight overheating, butcan be mostly vented or turned off. Net Gains/Losses - Slight overheating shownin late afternoon, probably ventable.

September Cloudy Element Group: Shows some heat gain due to lightswhich can be vented and a little solar gain midday which appears to present noproblem, and could even be an asset depending on the day. Net Gains/Losses:Might need a little supplemental heat here due to some heat losses, but maybenot.

March Clear Element Group: Infiltration at night is warmed by the thermalmass and helped by lights turned on in the early morning (who gets up at 5anyway?). The daytime solar gain is collected by the thermal mass for nighttimerelease. Evenings between seven and ten o’clock have heat released into the houseby electric lights that can be vented if too hot. Net Gains/Losses: No heat gainsor losses reported.

March Cloudy Element Group: Nighttime infiltration would probablyrequire some supplemental heat, although the graph shows lights providing somegain. During the day, the solar gain through the windows is warming thebuilding a bit without much available for storage in the mass. Lights are shownto provide some heat in the evenings as well. Net Gains/Losses: Small heat lossesare evident which may not be a problem. Small fires are a possible method ofcontrolling interior temperature if necessary.

82

American Electric PowerAmerican Electric Power uses a spread

sheet program on manual J to generate heatgain/heat loss studies on buildings, which is acommonly used sizing method in the HVACindustry. Studies are based upon hourlycalculations; for example, the heat loss isstated as 52794 BTUs per hour, meaning thehouse has a heat loss of 52794 BTUs everyhour. AEP’s cost estimates are based on amonthly cost and are calculated by using theefficiency of a particular heat pump and Bindata (weather data) from the past 20 plusyears. Wall orientation and glass size are takeninto account along with roof overhang.

Following are energy reports that wereissued by AEP. The three attached reportsprovide an analysis of first, the AppalachianHouse design, incorporating a geothermalheat pump; second, an average house ofsimilar size to the Appalachian House for acost comparison; last, the Appalachian Houseusing 50% less glazing.

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