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Earth Fold: Off-the-grid passive house in Upstate New York
Earth fold is an off-the-grid passive house in Upstate NY designed for a private client who was inspired by 70s Earthship Houses in Nevada. The American Green Movement started there, and the Earthship houses were the pioneering prototypes for the off-the-grid house revolution. The building area is 2800 sf, completely submerged in the back yet spacious and bright at the front, with expansive landscape views. There is a second-floor guest room tucked under the green roof which blends with the landscape through paths and walkways. Earth Fold is the future of single-family housing for the conscientious.
The shell is cast in concrete with a triangular steel framed deck supporting the green roof which houses the attic. There is a top terrace that opens onto the landscape along with two semi-buried terraces for the front bedrooms. The super-insulation in the thick back walls, an air-tight membrane, and triple-glazed windows enable passive house technology saluting the early pioneers of Earthship builders. Thank you, guys. It takes courage to invent.
Design principal
Selim Vural, AIA
Project team
Rima Askin
Dom Wipas
Year
2019
Phase
Schematic Design
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