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Chapter 11 Designing for Sustainability
Adaptability
Finally, consider what will happen to the
home when it is no longer needed or wanted.
This may happen when people begin a family,
or when their children grow up and move away.
Sometimes a homeowner has to move to take a
job in another location. The usual result is that
the home is sold to another homeowner. Some-
times, however, the needs of the entire commu-
nity change. The land on which the home was
built may be rezoned for a different type of use.
Will the home be torn down, or can it be repur-
posed? As a designer of sustainable housing,
you should consider both of these possibilities.
In general, the more fl exible a structure is,
the better its chances of being repurposed. See
Figure 11-16. Although it is diffi cult to look
ahead and know what purposes a home may
serve many years from now, there are certain
things a designer can do to make the building
more fl exible. For example, by designing the
home to meet Americans with Disabilities Act
(ADA) standards, you can make it easier to con-
vert the home for commercial purposes later.
See Chapters 7, 8, and 9 for more information
about ADA guidelines and other accessibility
guidelines.
Another idea that can make a home more
fl exible is movable walls. Several manufactur-
ers now offer wall systems that can be installed,
moved, or uninstalled in just a couple of hours
by homeowners without a knowledge of con-
struction. Being able to move walls allows a
homeowner to carve a new bedroom out of
excess space, or to join a living room and din-
ing room to make a great room. This fl exibility
may allow the homeowner to keep the house
even when his or her needs change. If the prop-
erty has been rezoned, movable walls allow the
home to be repurposed more easily into com-
mercial or industrial space.
In some cases, no matter how fl exible the
building design, a home must be torn down.
This raises other sustainability issues that
should be addressed during the original design
stage. From the roof to the foundation, what
will happen to the materials from the home?
In a sustainable design, every material in the
home can be either reused or recycled, without
generating waste.
We are not yet capable of zero waste, but
we can plan and design homes using materials
that signifi cantly reduce waste, use nonrenew-
able resources, and increase effi ciency. The ideas
presented in this chapter are merely a starting
point. New and better processes, techniques,
and materials are being developed every day.
As a potential home designer of tomorrow, you
can make a big difference by keeping up with
new ideas for sustainability and incorporating
them into your designs.
Figure 11-16. This historic building, a former row
house constructed in the late 1800s, was converted
to offi ce space by an architectural fi rm. The style
of the original home was retained, both inside
and out. The interior space features a restored
staircase, exposed ceiling beams, and refi nished
pine fl oors. (BELL Architects headquarters in
Washington, DC; photo by Anice Hoachlander)