TREEHOUSE
SUSTAINABILITY
The prototypical tree house provides its renewable energy through solar panels installed on the roof. In order not to lose heat to the environment, the place gets advantage of ventilation with heat recovery. Triple glazed windows are installed to work as passive house windows. Regarding the thermal insulation, rigid Polyurethane Foam with an R-value of approximately R-6.3 per inch of thickness is utilized to roofing, walls, floors and ceilings to reduce heat loss. It is also worth mentioning that this type of insulation is fire resistant. The structure of the tree house is wood. Trees grow across North America, wood can often be sourced locally, reducing transport costs. Rainwater is collected in a barrel to flush toilets or water landscaped areas. Using rainwater minimises main water use, reduces flood risks, and saves on energy costs required to pump water up into the building.
Living Room & Kitchen - Ground Floor
Bedroom - Second Floor
Small Study - Third Floor
LEED MEASUREMENTS
SUSTAINABLE SITE: The tree house is built in the woods and no trees are cut to this end, yet it would be integrated with trees on the site in order to connect to its bioregion.
LOCATION & LINKAGES: This tree house is designed to be used as a "rehabilitation centre". It is located in Lynn Headwaters Regional Park so that the users could get the best of their experience by being in nature. To facilitate the commute and accordingly reduce carbon emissions, an electric shuttle would be devised once a week back and forth to the tree house with no extra charge.
ENERGY & ATMOSPHERE: The prototypical tree house provides its renewable energy through solar panels installed on the roof, facing true South to the latitude of 49° 13' plus 15 degrees in winter, or minus 15 degrees in summer. Triple glazed windows are installed to work as passive house windows. Regarding the thermal insulation, rigid Polyurethane Foam with and R-value of approximately R-6.3 per inch of thickness is utilized to roofing, walls, floors and ceilings to reduce heat loss. It is also worth mentioning that this type of insulation is fire resistant.
WATER EFFICIENCY: Rainwater is collected (e.g to flush toilets) in a large standard plastic water tank on a pallet, located underneath the rain gutter. The rainwater is fed through a very basic sand filter into a storage system. The filtered water would be be topped up every few days with an automatic valve system.
MATERIALS AND RESOURCES: The structure of the tree house is fully wood. Trees grow across North America, wood can often be sourced locally, reducing transport costs.
INDOOR ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY: As it is located in the woods (with high quality outdoor air), natural ventilation can be used to augment or replace mechanical ventilation. This can also lead to increase energy efficiency and reduce costs. The designed tree house gets the most of natural light with big windows on both sides of the building in a triangular shape. This ample light, not only make people more productive, but also it reduces the energetic consumption of artificial lighting.
INNOVATION IN DESIGN: The idea of building a sustainable tree house in it's own nature is an innovation in designing spaces.
AWARENESS & EDUCATION: To raise awareness for this cause and letting people with the same interests know, first the target audience would need to be identified and then some educational and social events would be hosted aligned to the sustainability and greenness of the place. There is always a story behind something that makes it unique. These factors are the story of this tree house that makes it compelling.
