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SANCTUARY20SANCTUARY21hoUSe pRofileAmSTeRdAm
AN AmSTeRdAm ARChiTeCT TAkeS TheTRAdiTioNAl CANAl hoUSe eNeRgY-NeUTRAl
courage
Words
AA Cug
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J Lw ArALL & A Ptr FöLL
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the home’s mezzanine livinoom is sspended on anenie elm nk c don andsalvaed fom beside one ofAmsedam’s canals din aqay econscion pojec.Phoo by John Leis ashall
 
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on a series of artificial islands in a sea lake east of
central Amsterdam, a new residential area called IJburg is taking shape.The blank canvas is giving designers the opportunity to reinvent thetraditional narrow canal house that characterises the old city centre. Although IJburg is not specifically a “green” development, for his houseon Steigereiland (Docks Island) Pieter Weijnen of FARO Architects sethimself the ambitious target of complete energy neutrality: zero netenergy consumption and zero annual carbon emissions.He was well positioned for the challenge. Inspired to take actionafter seeing the Al Gore climate change film
 An Inconvenient Truth
, Pieterdesigned and built his first energy-efficient house, the Steigereiland 1.0residence, nearby. During this project, Pieter was already realising thathe could go further. He incorporated a range of new features into thedesign for Steigereiland 2.0 and chose materials that fit into a “cradleto cradle” lifecycle, all with an eye to reducing the house’s lifetime CO2emissions to as close to zero as possible.Pieter’s strategy was three-pronged: firstly, he used careful designand comprehensive insulation to ensure strong passive thermalperformance. This makes it possible for the house’s minimal activeenergy needs to be met using small-scale renewable energy technology – the second prong. Thirdly, the “cradle to cradle” principle: “materialsused in the house can be re-used or recycled without additional CO2output,” explains Pieter. “For instance, the matting just under thefloorboards is made of old mattresses. This matting is not glued onto thestructure, but lies loose so that when the house comes to be demolishedthose mats can easily be pulled out and used again.”Materials were chosen for longevity and low maintenance. Thehouse’s structure is timber, with adobe bolstered with phase changingmaterial in some walls to provide thermal mass. To avoid the need forpaint or other sealants on the exterior, the facade is clad with larch thathas been scorched. This traditional Japanese technique blackens thesurface of the wood, preserving it and giving the house a natural, texturedlook.The result of all this attention to detail is a light, very liveable homethat performs well thermally, even during the cold, dark Dutch winter.The four-storey townhouse squeezes a generous 230 square metres of floor space and three bedrooms into its 72 square metre footprint. Onthe ground floor, the front door opens into an entryway that acts as anairlock, insulating the main living space from the outdoors. Throughthe internal door, the open-plan kitchen and dining area is lit by large windows in both facades. The floor is granite-tiled, acting as thermalmass to absorb warmth from the sun during the day and release it slowly at night. Suspended above the kitchen on a beam fashioned from a wholetree trunk is a mezzanine living room. Above, the upper floors housethree bedrooms, two bathrooms and a plant room.In his quest for energy neutrality, Pieter paid close attention to thethermal efficiency of the house. He claims that the joints are not only liquid-tight but air-tight, and believes that his family has the world’s best-insulated cat door! The entire building envelope is insulated toR10, helped by organic wood fibre insulation in the walls and cellulosein the roof. A flexible Aerogel blanket insulates the very tight spaces. All windows are triple-glazed and the wooden window frames includethermal breaks to prevent the conduction and loss of heat to the outside.In fact, careful thought was given to the elimination of thermal bridges inevery aspect of the construction. Heat is not lost even when ventilatingthe house. A heat transfer unit harvests warmth from the “used” air andtransfers it to the fresh air brought in from outside before it is circulatedinside. Extra help to further warm outside air in winter or cool it insummer comes from a ground source heat exchanger sunk two metres beneath the house, where the temperature is relatively constant. [Formore on ground source heat pumps, see p72.]On the roof, an urban wind turbine contributes to the house’senergy needs, and integrated photovoltaic cells will be installed soon. An evacuated tube solar heat collector built into the rooftop parapetprovides hot water for floor heating and for kitchen and bathroom use.Pieter is particularly pleased with the power, heating and ventilationsystems incorporated in the house. “These were all state of the art anduntested when we put them in, and now we can use the results from thishouse to innovate for other and larger projects,” he says.The experience of building his second energy-efficient house hasstrengthened Pieter’s feeling “that we as architects should do muchmore to create a more sustainable environment.” The Steigereiland 2.0residence is certainly helping. With the small physical footprint of thetraditional Amsterdam canal house, its carbon footprint is even tinier –truly a house for a new era of sustainability.
Further information about the IJburg development: www.ijburg.nl/english
Materials used in the housecan be re-used or recycled without additional CO2 output
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Lae indos on hesnny soh-eas facadele amh in din ineand ae ed ih shadesceens fo smme. thenao indos aeecessed o povideshadin fom he sn,and he facade is cladih scoched lach. Phooby John Leis ashall
 
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the family’s favoie hinabo he hose is ha i’slih and open, and yepivae. the mezzanine livinoom in paicla “feels like aam nes and binscosiness o he vas volme ofhe hose”. Phoo by JohnLeis ashall
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Csom-desined LD lihsa oo level cas paens onan psais oo, and help olih his inenal alkay.the csom-made pipesembedded in he adobe allae pa of he hea ecoveyvenilaion sysem haopeaes hoho hehome. Phoo by John Leisashallosa anie iles ee sedfo he hose’s slab oo.wide doble doos open ohe soh-eas facin aden.Phoo by John Leis ashall
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the elm nk as lifed inoplace ealy in he conscionpocess, and he hose henook shape aond i. Phooby John Leis ashall
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