"Much work has already gone into UB’s entry. The student designers identify it as a GRoW Home, their acronym representing Garden, Relax or Work. Its unique approach to sustainable urban living here relates to local farming and gardening neighborhood initiatives. GRoW Home residents will replace energy-intensive food production by growing their own fresh, healthy produce.
Here is how the team describes some of the house’s attributes: “In support of food production, GRoW Home features a glass-enclosed solarium that provides ample light for plants during the growing season and passively heats the house in winter. The solarium can be continuously tuned to the appropriate conditions for growing and living. In the summer, operable cloth shades on the roof and southern facades shade and cool while vents and windows allow heat to escape.
“Durability, comfort and efficiency are depicted in the functional layout as well as the chosen materials. GRoW Home features ‘work’ and ‘relax’ boxes with windows that allow natural light to enter and give occupants views to the outdoors and into the solarium. The work box is highly functional and designed to be easily cleaned. The relax box is compact and designed to provide a warm, cozy retreat in colder months.”
Some of the house features include its small but expandable size, a combination of active and passive features providing twice the energy it consumes, an indoor climate tuned by the user and separate areas for growing, working and relaxing.
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