Meadowlark House Breaks Ground

As you may have read, GreenTown held the ceremonial groundbreaking for our second demonstration eco-home over the Anniversary Weekend celebration two weeks ago. We have been working very hard over the last year to iron out the many details that go into the design of a new home, and we are just about ready to begin the actual site work. I thought this would be a good opportunity to reintroduce the project and kick off regular updates on the construction progress.

Back in 2009, GreenTown and our friends at FreeGreen.com held an international competition soliciting designs from architects, students and other designers for the next link in our Chain of Eco-Homes project. The participants were challenged to think outside the box and incorporate innovative wall systems, building techniques and technologies that we could use to demonstrate sustainability to the thousands of visitors who come through Greensburg annually. We received over 150 entries from teams in 38 states and 13 foreign countries. After a multi-round judging process, a winner was chosen. Michael Stevens of Steven Learner Studio took the top-prize with his winning design called Meadowlark House. (The meadowlark is the state bird of Kansas.)

The house will contain many sustainable features that will be detailed here over the coming months. We are very excited that Meadowlark will be built to Passive House specifications; this is a rigorous, voluntary building standard for energy efficient structures. It is a relatively new idea for the American market, but it has been gaining traction in this country in recent years and is popular in Europe. The basic concept is to design and construct a super-insulated shell that is virtually air-tight. In doing so, the building will use 80-90% less energy than a standard home - in fact, it uses so little energy that it is said a hair dryer is enough to heat the whole house! There is a lot to learn about Passive House and more information will be provided as the project progresses.

An HIB-System block. Credit: HIB-System LLCAnother exciting feature is the home's wall system. Meadowlark will utilize innovative, prefabricated wood blocks from Germany called HIB-System. The 100% biodegradable, toxin-free blocks provide excellent insulation qualities and are structurally capable of withstanding the high winds of southwestern Kansas. The pre-manufactured blocks are easy to handle and quickly assemble together in a "Lego" style operation. This will be the first project in the United States to use this system and we are very excited to be introducing HIB to our country.

These are only two features in a home packed with much more! Stay tuned here for regular updates and, as always, if you have any questions, let us know at info(at)greensburggreentown.org.