SmartDwelling

This design initiative aims to counter unsustainable suburban housing design and its accompanying lifestyle by reconceptualizing the American home into a more compact, efficient, and regionally sensitive form. [i]
 * Project:SmartDwelling:**



The SmartDwelling project came about as the result of a design exercise sponsored by the //Wall Street Journal// in April of 2009. While the initial proposal, Steve Mouzon’s SmartDwelling1, has remained theoretical, construction plans are underway for different SmartDwelling houses that embody the same philosophy. [ii]
 * History:**

• Emphasizes intelligent use of space as a way to compensate for lower square footage • Focuses on both innovation and learning from the past to maximize efficiency • Individual designs tied to regional vernacular, “because green strategies that make sense on Cape Cod are likely to look ridiculous in New Orleans, and vice versa.” [iii]
 * Principles:**

• The plan for SmartDwelling1 is about the size of a Solar Decathlon house--1,200 sq. ft.--but it has three beds and two baths • SmartDwelling1 uses modern technology like solar panels integrated into the roof and façade, but it also embraces ideas from the past such as a breeze chimney, which provides “a kind of old-school air conditioning” by taking advantage of interior/exterior air pressure differentials to facilitate the evacuation of hot air from the house. [iv] • Despite its aesthetic resemblance to a traditional free-standing house, SmartDwelling1 was specifically designed for an urban lot of 40’ x 100’ served by a rear alley—“In short, it works in many infill conditions, or in creating New Urbanist neighborhoods.” [v]
 * Attributes:**

• We aren’t the only people tackling issues of sustainability and lifestyle through design; the fact that like-minded proposals exist reveals that support for these values does too. • Lack of square footage does not equate to a lack of features. It’s all about efficiency and clever use of space. • Creating an environmentally-sustainable house does not necessarily require using every available new technology. Sometimes tried-and-true methods of saving energy can work just as well. Think “can it work?” rather than just “is it new?” • “Infill” is a broad concept that can apply to a variety of housing types and locations. • A house’s location is an important factor, both from a design and a functionality standpoint.
 * What We Can Learn:**

[i] “Initiatives,” The New Urban Guild, http://www.newurbanguild.com/NUG/Initiatives.html [ii] Alex Frangos, “The Green House of the Future,” //Wall Street Journal//, 27 April 2009, http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124050414436548553.html; “SmartDwelling,” http://www.newurbanguild.com/NUG/SmartDwelling.html [iii] “SmartDwelling,” The New Urban Guild, http://www.newurbanguild.com/NUG/SmartDwelling.html [iv] Michael Levenston, “Steve Mouzon’s SmartDwelling1—The Kitchen Garden.” http://www.cityfarmer.info/2010/11/19/steve-mouzons-smartdwelling-1-the-kitchen-garden/ [v] “The Wall Street Journal on SmartDwelling,” Original Green, http://www.originalgreen.org/blog/the-wall-street-journal-on.html