All Things Green Under One Roof

A special exhibit at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C. represents a new archetype for “green” building, comprehensively illustrating how builders and home owners can go green without being perceived as peculiarly eccentric or avant-garde.

The exhibit, called The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture and Design, aspires to answer the questions: What makes a home or product green? How is a green home healthier, safer and more comfortable? What are the costs of going green?

“The National Building Museum is uniquely suited to the task of bringing the nuts and bolts, as well as the theory, of sustainable home design to the attention of Americans,” says Chase Rynd, executive director of the Museum. “This is the only museum in the country dedicated to all aspects of architecture, design, engineering, construction, and urban planning,” he points out.

Broad strategies for building and renovating homes as well as tips for going green are featured in five separate themed galleries at the 7,000 square-foot interactive exhibit. The galleries house interactive displays designed to educate visitors on environmentally-friendly principles, products and projects. 

For example, in an effort to de-mystify the selection of environmentally-friendly materials and structural systems, the Materials Resource Room gallery features variety of environmentally-friendly material that incorporates “green” into all aspects of home building and home living. This gallery highlights a variety of green domestic materials from carpets to countertops, as well as a selection of environmentally-friendly structural systems in concrete, wood and metal.  Visitors can learn about the properties and benefits of these materials.

The Glidehouse™ serves as a centerpice for the National Building Museum's The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture and Design exhibit. This picture shows the exterior deck looking to the interior of The Glidehouse™. Photo by F.T. Eyre, courtesy National Building Museum

The center showcase of the exhibit is The Glidehouse™. Designed in 2004 by Northern California architect Michelle Kaufmann, it represents a new breed of prefabricated, or modular, housing.

Here are a few of the characteristics and systems that make “The Glidehouse™” green:

• The prefabricated nature of the house results in comparatively little construction waste, particularly on the building site.
• The house can be positioned on its site to minimize solar loss in the winter and solar gain in the summer.
• The roof is sloped to receive solar panels and create a clerestory window that brings in natural light and minimizes the need for artificial lighting.
• The walls and roof are made of structurally insulated panels, or SIPS, a system that is well-regarded for its resistance to mold and soft foam insulation, which fully fills each panel.
• Floors are bamboo, a fast-growing, easily renewable material.
• Lightweight concrete countertops are made of recycled newspaper and fly ash.
• Kitchen appliances are energy-smart.

Another gallery of the exhibit, called “Contemporary Green Houses,” features models, photographs and drawings of 20 homes from around the world that demonstrate how cutting edge architects and builders are applying green principles to the design and construction of aesthetically innovative homes. Sample wall sections made from materials like straw bales and rammed earth accompany the models and photographs of these and other houses with like structural systems.

A grand opening for the The Green House: New Directions in Sustainable Architecture and Design exhibit was held on May 20th, 2006. It will be open to the public through June 3, 2007.

During the exhibition’s tenure at the Museum, lectures, construction watch tours, films and a major scholarly symposium in fall 2006 on the design and construction of green houses will be held.

After its close at the Museum in June 2007, the exhibit (The Green House) will travel to major museums across the United States for two years. Currently being considered for tour stops are museums in Los Angeles, New York and Chicago. The traveling portion of the exhibition will include the models, photographs and drawings featured in the Contemporary Green Houses Section, as well as all the Materials Resource Room and the concluding videos.

Location: The Museum is located at 401 F Street NW, Washington, D.C.
Hours: Open to the public Monday through Saturday, from 10 am to 5 pm, and Sunday from 11 am to 5 pm (closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year’s Day).
Website: www.nbm.org