By Mercedes Quintanilla.

Location: 22 NW Shasta, Bend, Oregon, USA

Project type: Residential complex with a main house + two independent apartments and 3 garages

Built space: 2,236 ft ²– 682 mt ²

Certifications: LEED for Homes Platinum, Living Building Challenge and Earth Advantage Platinum certified.

Project description

The house was designed to combine architecture, art, and ecology in an effort to connect people, place, and planet through buildings. Desert Rain features locally-built materials, design rooted in place, and support of Bend’s native flora and fauna. While the desert may seem like an inhospitable place to many, with the right design and mindset, a sustainable home can emerge.

Desert Rain as a case study for the Living Future Challenge.

Site information.

Prior to construction, there were two houses on the land that were built between 1920-1930, the initial idea was to deconstruct one of the units and remodel the other, due to the poor quality and condition of the houses, both were deconstructed and carefully Some of the materials were rescued for reuse.

With respect to landscaping, a self-sustaining approach was used, rock outcroppings were built with the aim of being functional and aesthetic. Rock was mainly used to create microclimates, prevent erosion, and provide structure and beauty to the landscape.

Urban Agriculture Imperative.

Based on the Urban Agriculture Imperative and the build area, 35 percent of the project area is used for food production, this requirement was a challenge given the location of the project, the region typically receives an average of 11 inches of water per year, often even less in dry years, and edible plants need water.

Car free living imperative.

The owners chose this site because it is a neighborhood with easy access to public and private services, it is for this reason that the owners use cruiser bikes for many errands, even though the project provides enough energy to charge two electric vehicles throughout the year.

Net Zero Water Imperative.

In this demanding lathe, supplying 100% of the project’s water needs from rainfall was the most challenging imperative. Rainfall from metal roofs collects and directs water to gutters at the bottom edges of each roof, each channel is covered by a metal mesh to prevent coarse debris from entering the system, the water flows until it reaches the gravel filters located at ground level.

Ecological Water Flow Imperative.

Desert Rain has three residential structures that generate greywate: water from sinks, showers and washing machines which permanently exits the house into the constructed wetland treatment system. This consists of four main elements, the first traps solids and oils, the underground artificial wetland for the secondary treatment of suspended solids, the storage of treated gray water and finally the irrigation system to reuse the treated gray water.

Due to the large composting system, water loading and composting can be handled efficiently. Sensors are installed that monitor the compost system’s water level and provide early warning of a maintenance issue and also includes an evaporator to ensure compost leachate does not overflow into the public sewer.

Net Zero Energy Imperative.

Three renewable energy systems: solar panels, solar thermal system, and solar air heater. Living Building challenge requires all buildings to rely solely on renewable forms of energy and operate year round in a pollution- free manner. Dessert Rain accomplished this by installing three.

Civilized Environment Imperative

All three residences feature expansive windows and glass doors that lead to outdoor destinations. Knowing that the high proportion of glazing can seriously compromise energy performance, the team intentionally chose triple-pane upper windows. This increased the amount of natural light and views throughout the project.

Healthy air Imperative.

Desert Rain complied with the requirements to ensure the presence of a dirt track-in system, both indoors and outdoors; equipment to monitor indoor carbon monoxide, temperature, and humidity levels; and the fans required in the rooms, bathrooms and kitchen.

Biophilia Imperative.

Biophilia was initially considered only one element of the design required by the Living Building Challenge, but it became an effort to grow life for both the community and homeowners.

Embodied Carbon Footprint Imperative.

Materials were sourced as locally as possible, and attempts were made to use materials with low incorporated carbon content. For example, the wood was obtained in three different ways, recycled from deconstructed houses, salvaged from other parts of the region, and sustainably harvested wood.

Responsible Industry Imperative.

The team relied whenever possible on third-party certifications to document sustainability and fair labor practices. The main construction material was wood certified by the forestry administration as well as reclaimed wood.

Appropriate Sourcing Imperative.

For some materials, small exceptions to the red list had to be accepted, some of the cabling is PVC-coated as the team couldn’t find an alternative that would meet building codes. In other cases, the products were not manufactured locally, and exceptions were requested due to lack of alternatives, for example, LED lamps are manufactured in China and some valve accessories were manufactured in Israel to avoid the use of materials that were on the list. red.

Conservation + Reuse Imperative.

During the deconstruction phase the team intervened on the two old houses, it was decided to salvage as much as possible for use in Desert Rain. What could not be reused in the project was offered to Habitat for Humanity, the team also committed in the design phase to use local and natural materials that generated little waste on site.

Human Scale + Humane Places Imperative.

From the beginning the team tried to scale the complex to complement the scale of the neighborhood. The result was a small residential complex grouped by courtyards to maintain the human scale and foster a sense of community.

Democracy + Social Justice Imperative.

Although it is not a residential requirement, it was specified that two of the residences would be accessible for people with physical disabilities.

Rights to Nature Imperative.

Desert Rain posed no significant river or other barriers to people, the team was careful not to block the natural movement of wildlife through the property, no privacy fences were built between neighbors, but instead relied on vegetation to the detection.

Beauty + Spirit Imperative.

The project is a mixture of contrasts, independent of water in an arid and harsh climate. The material palette brings the outside in as a reminder of what existed on the site before the house was built. The culminating achievement is the capture and processing of rainwater to meet water needs, it is a true desert rain as the name implies and was designed to incorporate values ​​that celebrate beauty, culture and spirit everywhere. .

Inspiration + Education Imperative.

The owners envisioned Desert Rain as a demonstration project, organizing numerous tours while the project was under construction and further private tours for specific groups including friends and family when it was complete.

Finally there is a website for the project that the owners still keep active and share aspects of the construction. http://desertrainhouse.com