Of the varying shades of “greenness” in buildings, architect Michael McDonough is pretty much in the realm of kryptonite.
High-performance, net zero energy buildings have not quite hit the mainstream, but a small number of architects and developers are changing that, and McDonough is one of them. (Click here to see the Net Zero Energy chart.)
“I’m trying to reinvent the future,” he said, looking every part the eccentric, but humble, scientist. “There has to be a hierarchy in green building, and it has to be set by the impact on the planet’s bio systems.”
An artist-turned-architect-turned-amateur-physicist, McDonough said for most of his professional life he has “conducted a series of investigations.”
These investigations have led him to the cutting edge of new technology and industrial design.
The LED (light-emitting diode) lighting he is co-developing wastes virtually no energy and can be directly wired to a solar panel. “LED’s lose 80 to 90 percent of energy as heat. We eliminated that problem,” he said.
The air conditioning unit he invented has no compressor, uses no electricity, and works off solar. “When I first turned it on my electric bill went down. I thought I was onto something.”
His bamboo furniture collection should be available in 6 to 12 months. “Actually growing [bamboo] has enormous benefits,” he said. It is a HEPA filter for air, it filters the water and eco-systems, it grows very rapidly, and it offsets the depletion of rainforest lumbar.
“So if you only look at bamboo as one point in a LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environment Design) system, because you bought a floor, you’re not understanding the large global impact of the material.”
An agricultural project he is working on will provide 10 acres of produce out of one acre. “It waters itself, and heats and cools itself; using all readily-available, off-the-shelf materials.”
But it’s whole buildings he has spent a large amount of time studying recently.
