In
the article “This Detroit House is being turned into a living model of
cost-saving sustainable design”, Adele Peters (2016) illustrates how a group of
three architecture graduates decide to share their knowledge through purchasing
a house with the aim of sharing the techniques with the community of Detroit on
the construction process of energy efficient and eco-friendly house. They have
named the project ‘“Motown Movement”’ which is to transform their ideas into
reality. Background studies done by the students show that the locals had
already started to implement some forms of energy-saving techniques and
eco-friendly practices. However, the locals are still lacking in knowledge of
modifying their existing house in a more cost-efficient way. As such, the
students construct a real-life model of a two-storey house to serve two
purposes; the ground level acts as a training facility while the upper level is
use to accommodate family who have lost their home. Some sustainable examples
are incorporating solar panels on the roof, a “graywater system” which harvests
rainwater for flushing of toilets and even conversion of sewage into biogas and
fertilizer using septic tank. They are adopting the “do-it-yourself” style
hence the materials used should be available at any local supply stores.
Through the use of simple techniques and a variety of methods, their project
can also be applicable to cater for different climate conditions globally. All
in all, they want to increase the awareness of sustainable design by
constructing more of such houses alongside people to educate them on the
simplicity and benefits of it.
Indeed
the author is able to portray well on the sustainability direction the students
is trying to achieve. However, it is lacking in explaining the driving factor
behind the students’ decision in not attending “grad school like most of their
classmates”. The author quoted from one of the students behind the project
that they wanted to construct a house in real-life rather than drawing up the
house plans. The pros and cons of the students approach should be discussed in
the article to give the reader a better understanding on the students’
decision.
Firstly,
the article mentions on the reusing of materials from abandoned houses which
in-turn saves money from the material costing used during the construction and
how insulation can reduce energy of up to 70%. All these revolve around the
idea of constructing a living space with minimum cost. This may be misleading
to the readers as the central idea revolves around money instead of constructing
a model house that is sustainable.
In
addition, the structure the author presented the students' project is
more on a marketing concept as she emphasised a lot on the money aspects and
how the project aim can be expanded to cities around the world. The
cost-savings efforts highlighted in Adele Peters’ article seems to outshine the
other benefits of sustainable efforts. The savings in monetary terms should be
an added advantage of sustainability efforts rather than a focus of article. As
such, the message of sustainability efforts is not brought across to the
readers that effectively.
In
conclusion, while Adele Peters’ article discusses some examples of simple
sustainable techniques and the cost-saving benefits, it does not address the
need for sustainable efforts and why the students chose to construct a life
model instead of furthering their studies.
Adele
Peters. (2016, July 7). This Detroit House Is Being Turned Into a
Living Model Of Cost-Saving Sustainable Design. Retrieved from https://www.fastcoexist.com/3061563/world-changing-ideas/this-detroit-house-is-being-turned-into-a-living-model-of-cost-saving-s
-Summary
done by Team KAD
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