Mountain Studios,

“Center for Urban Agriculture” by Mithun

DESIGN BY MITHUN

 http://mithun.com/projects/project_detail/center_for_urban_agriculture/

Food, water, and energy are the focus of the “Center for Urban Agriculture” (CUA) design. Agricultural features include fields for growing vegetables and grains, greenhouses, rooftop gardens, and even a chicken farm. Vertical construction allows for the CUA to incorporate more than an acre of native habitat and farmland on the building’s .72 acre site.

With the goal of self-sufficiency, the CUA is designed to be completely independent of city water ― even providing its own drinking water. Grey water, as well as rain collected via the structure’s 31,000+ sq. ft. rooftop rainwater collection area, would be treated and recycled on site. The filtering and purifying would occur through the use of greenhouses, planters, and biomembrane plants which utilize plants’ ability to remove contaminates from water. 34,000+ sf of photovoltaic cells would collect energy, regulated over the seasons by storage as hydrogen gas in underground tanks.

The site would provide 318 small studio, 1- and 2-bedroom affordable apartments. The entry level could feature a café serving organic foods grown on site. The CUA could further benefit the surrounding community by serving as a site for neighborhood stormwater collection and distribution. The facility would have 45 extra storage tanks, allowing for handling of 20 times its own discharge potential, which could be a source of revenue for the project. Produce grown at the CUA would be distributed to local grocers, saving even more energy by reducing transportation miles.

This project was originally conceived as a response to the Cascadia Region Green Building Council’s Living Building Challenge and was awarded most visionary of the 19 entries. The term “living building” comes from the idea that it is possible to create a structure that functions like a living organism ― able to survive using only the natural environment around it.

• Center for Urban Agriculture by S.A. Johnson, Rathaus, Nov 25, 2008 – New, creative and affordable ways of enhancing our built environment with sustainability in mind.
• From Farm to Market, Down the Stairs, Around the Block by Zach Mortice, AIArchitect, Oct 26, 2007 – How do you design an urban, vertical farm on a compact downtown site?
• Mithun Architects’ Vertical Farm for Seattle – by Lloyd Alter, TreeHugger, Sept 19, 2007
• Seattle Off-Grid Concept Combines Chickens, Crops + Sustainable Living by Preston DK, Jeston Green Blog, Sept 17, 2007 – In the heart of Seattle, the design professionals at Mithun see a farm rising vertically into the sky.
• Mithun and Perkins + Will win green design contest by Katie Zemtseff, Seattle Daily Journal of Commerce, May 1, 2007 – The Living Future Conference challenged area-designers to create a structure that could produce all the energy and water it needs.

View a video about the concept for the Center for Urban Agriculture.

Specifications

• Start: 2007
• Location: Seattle, Washington

Project type

• Housing | Mixed-Use

Read more: http://mithun.com/projects/project_detail/center_for_urban_agriculture/#ixzz33SodQMtr

SUSTAINABILITY COEFFICIENT OF A STRUCTURE

Abstract

Earth  is  a  world, she  is  also  a  complex  structure.

Our  earth is a  completely  sustainable  system  or  is it  otherwise?

The  previous  axiom  is  correct  with  the  assumption  that the  sun’s  light, heat  and  energy  is  a  free gift from nature, created by the Almighty.

There  can  be  no  totally  isolated system operating indefinitely  without  energy  provided  from  the  outside  world.

Let us take  for example  a space station,  it is not  entirely self  sufficient. The space  station  uses  energy  derived  from  solar power  batteries, etc.  and is  also  dependent  on  the  supplies  provided by  Earths’  spaceships.

What  is the  coefficient  of  sustainability  of  a  space  station?

The  Coefficient  of  Sustainability  of  any  structure  (or  of  a  group

of  them  taken together)   is  defined  as

                                                     Total  Energy  required - Energy  from  the  outside   

Coefficient  of  Sustainability  =  -----------------------------------------------------------

                                                                        Total  Energy  required

        Energy  produced  within  the  system

= --------------------------------------------------------

                   Total  Energy  required

where  Total  Energy  required  is  defined  as  the  total  of  all energy required  to  operate  the  system, i.e  foods,  fuel, water, objects,  people,  air,  plants,  trees,  animals, soil, tools  etc…

Energy  from  the  outside  is  defined  as  Energy that  is imported  to  the  system  from  the  outside  world  and  is  not  Energy  produced  within  the  system.

The objective is the conservation of energy. Thus the larger our Coefficient  of  Sustainability is, approaching 1.00, the more energy efficient our system is. 

The  Medieval  County  system

A  medieval  county  consisted  of  a  noble mans’  castle-town, the countryside  where  peasants  lived  and  farmed  the  land  or  raised animals and the forest.  This  was  to  a  great  extent  the  most  self  sufficient  system ever  established. Little was  imported  from  the  outside, mainly  metals  and  spices.

The  noble mans’ castle  included  the  administration, an  army  unit,  servants  and  a  small  town.

In  the  small  town  you  would  find  craftsmans’  shops, small  industry  e.t.c . At  the  same  time  the  countryside  abundantly  gave agricultural products  and  meats. It also gave liezure activities for  many.

Thus  we  observe  that  the  Coefficient  of  Sustainability  of  the  medieval  county  system  must  have been  high. Nothing  was  wasted

and  everything  was  used. The greatest  decrease  of  our  coefficient  of  sustainability  would  come  from  an invasion  from  the  outside  world  by  a  foreign  army  and  from  the  introduction of  new  requirements  in  the  life  and  customs  of  the  original  population (i.e new  products needed, new  inventions imported).

The  Green  Home

The  idea  behind  creating  an  efficient  Green  Home  is  to  lessen

the  adverse  effects  of  the  structure  to  the  existing  ecosystem  while  at  the  same  time  we  achieve  a  superior  way  of  daily  living.

A  home  built  on  a  parcel  of  land  is  presented  with  all of  the  following  challenges  as   far  as  becoming  a  green  home,  efficient

and  sustainable:

A.  Energy.  Reducing  the  amount  of  energy  required  for  heating/ac

and  electricity. This  can  be  achieved by  installing  a  photo-voltaic

panel  system  , creating an  ecological  biowaste  burning  generator  and  foremost  designing  our  home  in  an  energy  efficient  manner. Vertical and horizontal gardening is a must, which reduces the energy consumption for air conditioning and heating.

B. Foods Production  of  vegetables, fruits, legumes  e.t.c  shall  be  done

on  the  open  areas  of  our home – lot or in the balconies and flat roofs.

Also  some  animals will  provide  milk, eggs  and  poultry  meat (if allowed by the City).

C. Water.  Fresh  water  is  supplied  either  from  the city  and  or  from

processing  rain  water,  well water  etc.

D. Waste  water. It  is  produced  after  the  use  of  clean water. Waste  water can  be  treated  on  our  site  from  a  filtration  system. Treated  waste  water  can  used  for  the  watering  of all  plants. Note  that  in  order  to  effectively  treat  waste  water  the  soaps  used  must  be  ecologically manufactured products.

NEXT: DESIGNING THE SUSTAINABLE GREEN HOME!