SPRINGFIELD HOUSE

This LEED Platinum Certified house was the first project where Studio 804 acted as the developer.  They found the property, funded the construction and after some delay brought on by the difficult housing market in the United States during the late 2000’s sold the house. It was an important step for Studio 804 as the program was becoming more interested in using modern design to explore new technologies and the type of sustainable concepts that will impact the future of architecture and this was easier to do when the entire process was under their control.

This house incorporates the passive strategies Studio 804 had used for years such as the proper orientation to take advantage of solar gain for heat and the prevailing breezes to cool the house through it solar chimney design. But to meet their new goals a much more comprehensive effort was required. They used high-performance glazing, radiant floor heating, geothermal heating and cooling and an energy-recovery ventilator and they intended to aggressively minimize the energy loads over the year and offset it with integrated active systems. The house is powered by a 4.8-kilowatt photovoltaic array and a vertical axis wind turbine, whose combined production capacity was calculated by taking 70 percent of the total wattage that the house would use if it was running all of its electrical devices at once. To allow the owner to profit fully from these design features Studio 804 had to work with the local utility to introduce net metering to Kansas City, Kansas.

The house’s barn-inspired shape ties into the neighborhood while updating the classic form with clean lines and expanses of glazing. The siding and the roof are clad with a FSC-certified cumaru rainscreen. The cumaru also finishes the garage door and minimizes it impact on the design.  The PV’s on the roof are set flush with the wood to retain the clean lines of the building’s form. 70-year-old reclaimed lumber from a decommissioned WWII Sunflower Army Ammunition Plant in eastern Kansas was used in framing the building.

Images and Plans

Technical Description

With a very few exceptions all of this work is built by the students. From the moment a Studio 804 class gathers in August the work is hands-on.  Even the design phase includes working on mock ups.  We do everything ourselves; the students are on site every day working on the excavation, pouring concrete, framing walls, welding steel, laying masonry, installing roofing, folding flashings, and setting windows and doors. We run plumbing lines and set fixtures, and we even do work on the mechanical systems and as electricians.   In short, there is little about building the students won’t have a chance to experience during a Studio 804 project.

 

SUSTAINABLE FEATURES

 

  • LEED Platinum Certified
  • The floors are a concrete solar mass to store the heat that passes through the glazing of the long south elevation.
  • The louvers are calculated to manage the sun’s penetration into the space depending on the season.
  • The building’s orientation and the locations of the openings promote cross ventilation for cooling.
  • All the rainwater from the roof is harvested and stored in an underground cistern.
  • The PV’s on the roof and the vertical axis wind turbine were designed to meet the building’s energy needs over a calendar year.
  • This project introduced the concept of net metering to the county in which it is located.
  • A Geothermal Heat Pump system is used to condition the space when passive strategies are not enough.
  • The landscaping uses native grasses.
  • All of the materials, paints, flooring, sealants and adhesives used inside the addition emit low or no volatile organic compounds.
  • All of the lighting fixtures were of the highest performance standard of the time.
  • The envelope is insulated and sealed beyond code compliance.
  • Promotes carbon sequestration by using sustainably harvested FSC or reclaimed wood for both the structure and the finishes throughout.

Facts

Client
Studio 804 Speculative Project
Financing

Academic Discipline(s)
Architecture
19 Students
Academic Facts
Discipline
Transportation of Skill
Project Context
Function
Housing
Construction Methods/Techniques