by Paul Lukez Architecture
The easily built Flex-0-Net Home can meet the needs of a variety of family types while limiting the impact on natural resources and the landscape.
This Net Zero Energy 2000 SF single-family home reduces demand on the energy grid as a resilient, self-sustaining model for living. A super-tight building envelope reduces energy use. The roof structure’s inverted scissor truss optimizes the solar panels’ performance while creating an interior ceiling profile that encourages natural ventilation. The solar/battery system powers an EV, so house and car run off the grid.
The Flex-0-Net Home and Community create an uplifting environment by virtue of each home’s design and their contribution to a larger community. The house reinterprets historic New England barns, inverting the gabled roof into a contemporary prefab scissor truss optimizing sun exposure for solar panels. The two-story structure houses diverse floor plans, selected by residents in design phase based on their needs. The design’s embedded spatial modularity lets residents easily change layouts over time. Ancillary spaces – basements, garages, etc. – can become bedrooms, offices or ADUs. The house can expand up to 3000 SF and can include an ADU. Residents are thus more likely to stay in their homes and communities while accommodating changing family needs.
The Flex-0-Net Home is a building block for a thriving community like archetypal New England villages. These dwellings can be clustered to create community building spaces where public citizenry is supported and encouraged, by siting the private homes in community-oriented configurations. The Flex-0-Net Home’s openness and visual transparency thus encourages neighborly engagement. The design of both home and community encourages communion with nature, maximizing health and well-being.
The Flex-0-Net Home and Community helps the planet by shunning carbon-based fuels, charging EVs off renewable energy sources, and resisting inclement weather. Each house and community can be a resilient NZE island, reducing grid demand. Many of its parts can be prefabricated in controlled environments, reducing waste and integrating locally sourced recycled materials. As resident needs change, use of materials will be deployed when needed, not before, generating a more graduated demand curve on supply chains.
This design separates structure from infill, allowing use of longer-lasting materials for the shell and letting interior spaces be reconfigured as needed over time.
Category:Sustainable HousesYear:2021Location:Massachusetts, USAArchitects:Paul Lukez ArchitectureLead Architect: Paul LukezDesign Team: Paul Lukez and Roni Dos SantosContractor:Doug TierneyClient: Doug TierneyPhotographer: Courtesy of the Architects