Sustainability
Window on the World
A window on the world
Project description
The BioSaddlebag and LouveRedi systems take advantage of whole-window replacement and building envelope improvement to introduce a few simple elements with no moving parts. Both systems are easily adaptable to new construction or renovation/rehab. Installation is simple and potential disassembly or reuse is anticipated by using standardized, high-quality components and common, resilient, reusable materials.
Access is provided to the window sill, a location often prone to damage over time and difficult to provide sufficient thermal isolation, air seal, and insulation. Placing shading systems or components especially in retrofit conditions, is often time-, labor-, and equipment-intensive, often requiring surface-mounted connections which may impact the structural integrity and weather resistance of exterior cladding. Both systems working in tandem to address this, leaving the exterior cladding intact and may be installed, adjusted, maintained, replaced, reclaimed, or completely removed from the interior without scaffolding or lifts. LouveRedi’s lightweight design reduces wind uplift forces and snow/ice dead loads, transfering no additional loads to the building.
The BioSaddlebag and LouveRedi systems together introduce a ‘micro-climate infrastructure’ to existing buildings resulting in a vertical garden. A covering of plants can provide an insulating layer of air (similar to a double-skin facade), promote good air circulation, reduce temperature swings by reducing solar radiation, and extend the life of exterior surfaces by diverting ultraviolet rays and minimizing damage by wind-driven rain. External shading can provide an ambient temperature reduction of up to 10 degrees at the building exterior and reduce thermal conduction or radiation to the interior by 75%. The effects at one window location are noticeable, but over a large complex of buildings, the environmental impact is even more significant. A difference of several degrees may be the difference between comfort and discomfort.
The BioSaddlebag and LouveRedi systems implement simple, straightforward ways for a building occupant to interact with, and effect, their surrounding and personal environment - they encourage us to clear the detritus from our windows and put them back to work, reconnecting us to the world in ways large and small. Installed systems are as readily apparent from the street as from the dinner-table. Plucking herbs and vegetables from a window planter teaches daily that what we consume, how it arrives, and how we use our land are intimately connected to how and what we design. These systems are meant to work with existing buildings, thus demonstrating and communicating clearly that our older buildings: a) possess considerable embodied energy b) may be retrofitted with relative ease without significantly altering their function or character. c) are worth using for many years to come. It is no accident these systems closely resemble vernacular and time-honored responses to the challenges of sun, wind, light, and sustenance. Window boxes, trellises, awnings, canopies, louvers, and window treatments of every conceivable variety throughout history attest that the sometime trial-and-error, sometime measured study of materials, components, and processes is required in order to arrive at suitable solutions to make the life of buildings cyclical and truly sustainable.
(494 words)
Resources
Proposed project images (see image captions for descriptions)
Window on the World, board #1, format: JPEG image, dimensions: 1600 × 2400 pixels
Window on the World, board #2, format: JPEG image, dimensions: 1600 × 2400 pixels
Credits
- Team Dave Hampton, Michael Repkin
- Special thanks Ken Ortiz and the OBI Deconstruction crew, Mark Kutek of Virtus Fidus Probo Corp.
Previous work images and descriptions
Living wall installation, Discovery World, Milwaukee, IL, 2009.
Project dimensions: 8 × 14 ft.
Image: In-progress view, format: JPEG image, dimensions: 480 × 412 pixels
Living wall installation, “Act Natural” show, 32nd & Urban Gallery, Chicago, IL, 2008.
Project dimensions: 4 × 12 ft.
Image: General view, format: JPEG image, dimensions: 360 × 480 pixels
Rooftop garden (green roof retrofit), True Nature Foods, Chicago, IL, 2007
Project dimensions: 960 square feet
Image: General view, format: JPEG image, dimensions: 480 × 298 pixels
Team:
Owner: Paula Companio, True Nature Foods
Landscape and biological design: Michael Repkin, Repkin Biosystems
Architect: Dave Hampton, Echo Studio
Structural engineering: Louis Shell, Louis Shell Structures
Installation, maintenance, and planning: Urban Habitat Chicago
Global Green USA New Orleans sustainable community competition, 2006 (semifinalist entry)
Image: Aerial view of residential development, community gardens and community center, 640 × 480 pixels
Global Green USA New Orleans sustainable community competition, 2006 (semifinalist entry)
Image: Perspective of community gardens, 480 × 359 pixels