Former student nets second-place
finish in sustainable design contest

A former student's design netted a second-place finish among more than 200 entries in "Who's Next," a contest for sustainable residential housing sponsored by FreeGreen, which features sustainable house plans on its website.

Alan Knox '03 BED, an architect at Jacobs Engineering Group Inc., designed a 1,796 square-foot, 3 bedroom, 2½ bathroom loft house for the contest.
 
"The concept starts with the iconic form of a house," said Knox in his contest entry. "One side is then stretched away from the traditional mass to create a two-story height volume, which is fully glazed at each end to create a light-filled volume which serves as the major unifying element of the home."

It was designed, he continued, to incorporate sustainable strategies for the environment and the family dynamic.

His home received many rave reviews, such as this post from Sheila Bates Macaluso, a retired real estate appraiser.

"The open layout is good, flow is remarkable, very little wasted space with hallways," she wrote. "Lighting is superb, while keeping the west sun out. Most importantly, it's livable. It would work well as a patio home, zero lot line construction, in high-density subdivisions, and other situations. Love it!"

Knox said the contest's top three entries will be turned into construction documents and posted on the FreeGreen website for sale to builders and the general public.

See Knox's design and more information about the contest at http://www.freegreen.com/

- Posted: April. 4, 2010 -