The bathtub itself is a wheelchair-transfer walk-In tub with a fast fill Faucet, and massage jets. The orthopedic and quality of life benefits of this are clear. And like the pot-filler* in the kitchen space, flow-rate is irrelevant because you'll put the same amount of water into it regardless of how fast it gets there. Getting it there faster will also save a small amount of energy because less heat will be lost before use.

The bathtub is set up like a peninsula extending into the bathroom instead of with its long side against a wall as would be the typical way to place it in the room. This is so that care-givers can access the tub from any of 3 sides, including the one where the sink is. The opposite side is the one with the door for transfer. Not only will this be much easier to get in and out for someone reliant on a wheelchair, but it will also be a very easy transfer using the suspension system dolly**. There is also a floor drain on that side as well tied to the recirculating shower***.

Enabling this level of self care and care-giver ease is very rare, worth the additional financial cost. Most of us that are more mobile-able take for granted the luxury of being able to shower or take a bath, not only for convenience but the significant mental health benefits.

The fact that the water in this house will be unparalleled in terms of its purity also means that the steam generated in the bathroom will have far fewer contaminants, keeping the indoor air at a higher quality.

This is all both much safer, and being offered to folks that have largely been withheld from many folks with mobility challenges, because its just too dangerous for them and their care-givers to attempt a bath or shower, because they really only have consistent access to the non-accessible bathrooms that come with the apartments folks with mobility impairments reliant on state subsistent benefits can afford, like this image of Ron's current bathroom. Although there are programs for even rented property modifications, landlords often don't want this to happen, and/or the square footage and other architectural issues simply make a renovation cost-prohibitive.

ACCESSIBILITY PROGRESS
The passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was a watershed moment and has been critical to especially new buildings and infrastructure systems becoming more supportive to more levels and types of mobility. But the victory did seem to result in a waning of effort to keep making progress, especially with regard to considering other sorts of capability differences amongst our population. That said, in the last 10 or so years there have been many product innovations and a rekindling of the discussion about to move toward universal support of all humans, and even other living beings, in the design movement's discourse.

DONATION
Unless we get these systems donated for all needs, our plan is to demonstrate and test a variety each one of these features, and highlight them over time, sharing our findings in blogs, social media posts, and in our educational materials with local and worldwide education partners.
If you're a product manufacturer that wishes to donate your product for one or more unit or typology, and thus be highlighted in all future press and education about the project, you can contact us at the project email listed on the website. Likewise, if you'd like to sponsor one or the whole array of these innovations, feel free to contact us.

AUTOMATION
With the help of our accessibility automation and IOT advisor**** we will be tech-enabling as much of this as off-the-shelf AI assistants and IOT allows, but with manual operation overrides/alternatives whenever possible as well, for the sake user preferences and instances of system failure (power or connective loss).

After we had planned the building the mechanical room, closets, and a couple of other pockets of air up against the northern wall of the home (*), and with the cross ventilation designed in such a way that as air warms it is also pushed and pulled by prevailing windows out of the upper windows (**) above the mechanical room we were left with a challenge of how to cap the mechanical room. Leaving it open would expose the main living space to all the noise of the equipment in the mechanical room, and also eliminate the opportunity for that room function as a space in which air is pre-cooled in the Summer or pre-heated in the Winter by the equipment***, before being recycled into the space by a combination of the fresh air supply system and the high efficiency heat-pump above the bathroom****.

Indoor green roof moderates temperature and humidity, improves IEQ, IAQ in terms of ?, O2/CO2

*link to Passive Design 3 Tool-Tip
**link to Cross Ventilation Vignette
***link to HVAC pre-conditioning (not yet written)
****link to explanation of mechanical equipment

Since air conditioning (cooling) caught on in U.S. designers of our buildings have largely ignored the effects of sunlight and wind on them, and as an industry and culture we've mostly lost touch with ways of not only reducing unwanted heat gains in Summer and losses in Winter, but conversely also don't typically consider or know how to maximize the benefical inverse of these factors.

Surrounding massing of buildings, trees, topography, and other structures are of course also key considerations. If there is or even may eventually be a large mass that blocks the sunlight to the south of the building, the southern windows won't be able to catch direct sunlight to gain more heat in cold months.

Surrounding elements can also be used to great advantage also. For example trees that drop their leaves in cold months will let sunlight through to reach the buildings and heat them, while they're fully leafed out canopies create shade and cooler microclimates underneath them in the warmer months. This makes them a great contributor to energy efficiency when they are located to the south, east, and west of the building. Coniferous trees which maintain their vegetation year round are very helpful in blocking cold winds from the NW direction in the Winter, and hot sun to the east and west, and even the north near the Summer Solstice.

Bat Boxes - Most people are skeptical about including support for bats in their in their local ecology. But then they learn what bats eat. Particularly since the Zika virus, Malaria mostly in other countries, and other mosquito born pathogens made their debut,
Google AI Overview
Bat boxes can be good for a variety of reasons, including:
Protecting your yard
Bats eat many types of insects, including mosquitoes, moths, and beetles, which can help keep your yard pest-free.
Providing a safe place for bats
Bat houses offer a safe place for bats to roost, especially when they're raising their young.
Helping bats survive
Bat populations are declining due to habitat loss, and bat houses can help provide a place for bats to roost that they might not otherwise find.
Helping the environment
Bats are important pollinators and seed dispersers, which can help plants grow in new areas.
Being fun to watch
Bats are fascinating to watch, especially during their nightly acrobatics.


Pollinator hotel

Vertical vegetation wall

Green roofs

In a healthy village...
children are not stuffed into boxes to learn things, or at least thats not the only or primary way learning happens. In a healthy village most of the youth's learning, and the most important sorts of learning, happen in community, and with several other generations. And they are likewise teaching their elders some things, regenerating the learnings and keeping the elders from settling to firmly into attitudes and positions.

The often adopted/appropriated concept of 7 generation thinking has been misunderstood by even well-intended descendents of settlers. It does not (just) mean thinking about the implications of our decisions on our descendents 7 generations in the future. Nor does it just mean we consider 3 behind us, our own, and 3 ahead of us, though apparently this is closer. Apparently it refers to the number of generations we should each encounter in our lifetime. When we're born we might be lucky enough to know great-grandparents and others from their generation; our elders' elders. But we may also live long enough and be lucky enough in other ways to meet our great-grandchildren. Tending to life-wisdom across 4 generations at any given moment creates resilience in that wisdom. Resilience unavailable when our elders are relegated to only being with each other, often in medical buildings they'd rather not be in, and our children's energy is pulled out of our community most waking hours, so they can learn, mostly data, and not how systems work or how to understand living systems, and step into their working.

We are going through ridiculous business model contortions and creativity in order to enable evolved approaches that not only allow a reintegration of our generations in western modernity, but also weave learning back into that shared-presence, and some technological and programmatic crutches for them to all step into co-learning about both the timeless systems, and rapidly evolving modern ones alike.

The washer/dryer unit is placed in the mechanical room for convenience, and shortens pipe length from treatment systems to all fixtures and appliances using treated rain for washing and irrigation. This will also slightly post/pre-heat return air before it is exhausted through an energy recovery ventilator (ERV) or cycled back into the house. This is also creating a warmer pocket of air on the northern wall, and is whats called "waste heat capture," which is good because Lancaster will remain a "heating load dominant" climate for at least the next couple of decades.

As with the more public living/dining/kitchen/guest room, we wanted the bedroom first to be optimal in terms of accessibility and health effects, then second efficient in terms of space. Like the more public side of the wall, this room must not only be a medically well-equipped but homey bedroom, it also must be an entertainment space, dressing area, and an exercise room. While we did some tricky things with convertible furniture in the more public room, but in this room we simply hung the entertainment system (TV, and HDMI streaming product, and a small soundbar with a great wireless headphone connection) from the roof/ceiling with some basic, inexpensive, but safe and strong hardware. We will likely add a single-sized murphy bed as well in case the queen sized one in the office nook is not sufficient for all the guests on a given night, or in the event that the caregiver needs to be in the same room for some overnights.

Pollinator Hotel under porch facing driveway. Bat boxes and bird houses. These are important to a healthy ecosystem and agriculture that doesn't require herbicides and pesticides.

Vertical vegetation wall

Green roofs

As with our split cooktop* our design team, including our accessible equipment advisor** have come up with an approach to some of the appliances which we think will increase accessibility for more folks. By placing two half height appliances together, one on top of and one under-mounted respectively to a section of height adjustable counter the full sized microwave and an oven (respectively) can both become highly accessible with minimum area consumed. The adjacent height adjustable sink (which uses flex hose to allow the fixture move) provides a pull-in beside the appliance regardless of their height. But when the counter is raised someone using a wheelchair could also pull in under the oven, and likely reach both appliances, but the oven easily. When the pair are lowered the whole way to a point at which the oven is on the floor, the microwave could be all the way down to under counter height, and easily accessed from the front, or by someone in a wheelchair who has pulled in beside it under the sink.

The sink will also have an additional metered faucet control. Metered faucets are those activated usually by pushing down a knob and which then run for a specific amount of time. The button or knob slowly pops up stopping water flow when it has returned to its deactivated original position. This metered control will not control a faucet that pours into this sink however. This is a manual backup for the irrigation system for the indoor green roof*** just beyond the top of the kitchen wall, which caps the mechanical room behind it. The primary irrigation system is described at the indoor green roof's own information dot****. The primary faucet will be a sensor activated basic kitchen faucet. We will likely also provide a typical sprayer that can also be held and activated by a button on the sprayer head.


ACCESSIBILITY PROGRESS
The passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was a watershed moment and has been critical to especially new buildings and infrastructure systems becoming more supportive to more levels and types of mobility. But the victory did seem to result in a waning of effort to keep making progress, especially with regard to considering other sorts of capability differences amongst our population. That said, in the last 10 or so years there have been many product innovations and a rekindling of the discussion about to move toward universal support of all humans, and even other living beings, in the design movement's discourse.

DONATION
Unless we get these systems donated for all needs, our plan is to demonstrate and test a variety each one of these features, and highlight them over time, sharing our findings in blogs, social media posts, and in our educational materials with local and worldwide education partners.
If you're a product manufacturer that wishes to donate your product for one or more unit or typology, and thus be highlighted in all future press and education about the project, you can contact us at the project email listed on the website. Likewise, if you'd like to sponsor one or the whole array of these innovations, feel free to contact us.

AUTOMATION
With the help of our accessibility automation and IOT advisor***** we will be tech-enabling as much of this as off-the-shelf AI assistants and IOT allows, but with manual operation overrides/alternatives whenever possible as well, for the sake user preferences and instances of system failure (power or connective loss).

[in garage] Many crops can be simply upgraded with some labor. Canning, pickling, etc. can extend the shelf life of food, and increase the price it can fetch if sold.

Starts, growth, upgrade, teach, eat

Greenhouse, raised beds, orchard, garage, vertical screens, indoor green roofs, outdoor green roofs, DECA, and beyond

As water changes phase from liquid to gas, when it reaches the right combination of temperature and relative humidity in the air around it, it absorbs a bit of additional energy from adjacent molecules. This causes a cooling effect, which is why we sweat too cool ourselves, and many other living beings do similar things. Its also why a forest always feels a bit cooler than less vegetated areas nearby; their canopies are actually usually hotter than a "natural" area without trees, but thanks to the shade and this evaporative cooling effect, the area under the canopy is often cooler, and generally vegetation has a cooling effect on an area. Swamp coolers also take advantage of this, spraying a mist into a space. They are among the simplest of active cooling systems, simply using a pump and a fan, and some water. Luckily most times of year we'll have more water than we need thanks to our large rainwater treatment and storage systems, and the projected increase in total annual water arriving in fewer, bigger rain events.

Recirculating shower saves 90% of energy and 85% of water compared to code. High-flow shower head for convenience and quality of life.

Many do not fully appreciate some of the luxuries and coping mechanisms we have in our society, nor realize that many don’t have safe or frequent access to them. For example, showers. In Ron’s current subsistence level living situation, it is unsafe to him or his caregivers for him to take a shower, so he relies mostly on sponge bathing, as do millions of others. Not only will Ron and other users have access to the full soaker tub with a door that allows his suspension system to carrying him easily in and out of it. The tub is positioned and mounted in such a way that caregivers can reach in from 3 of the 4 sides, a rare convenience. But he will also have a high-flow shower head next to the bathtub that he can enter in a wheelchair or the suspension system and enjoy a better shower experience than most of us have ever had. How does this comply with our other environmental goals? Well, the showering system we are installing is called a recirculating shower. Despite its high-flow rainforest showerhead, it saves almost 90% of both water and energy compared to a code compliant 2.5 gallon per minute showerhead. This is because unlike standard showers that lose all the water and heat within it after it passes over our bodies and down the drain only once, water in this system will recirculate about 7 times before being drained. This is possible because the shower has built-in treatment, filtration, and temperature regulators, which also ensure cleaner water than typical tap water and allow for a perfectly controlled water temperature, making them safer in terms of burns and cold shocks – a greater risk with users that have speech challenges.

ACCESSIBILITY PROGRESS
The passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was a watershed moment and has been critical to especially new buildings and infrastructure systems becoming more supportive to more levels and types of mobility. But the victory did seem to result in a waning of effort to keep making progress, especially with regard to considering other sorts of capability differences amongst our population. That said, in the last 10 or so years there have been many product innovations and a rekindling of the discussion about to move toward universal support of all humans, and even other living beings, in the design movement's discourse.

DONATION
Unless we get these systems donated for all needs, our plan is to demonstrate and test a variety each one of these features, and highlight them over time, sharing our findings in blogs, social media posts, and in our educational materials with local and worldwide education partners.
If you're a product manufacturer that wishes to donate your product for one or more unit or typology, and thus be highlighted in all future press and education about the project, you can contact us at the project email listed on the website. Likewise, if you'd like to sponsor one or the whole array of these innovations, feel free to contact us.

AUTOMATION
With the help of our accessibility automation and IOT advisor**** we will be tech-enabling as much of this as off-the-shelf AI assistants and IOT allows, but with manual operation overrides/alternatives whenever possible as well, for the sake user preferences and instances of system failure (power or connective loss).

The kitchen will be a demonstration both of the best accessibility products and creative ways of arranging them to maximize their usability for as many users as possible; products like pull-down upper cabinets, height adjustable counters, sink, and appliances, and a wheelchair pull-in space between all of them, as well as space to add an upper refrigeration unit should Ron or other visitors or residents wish it to be available to those that can reach those higher levels. The induction cooktop will be embedded in the height adjustable island, with prep space between the two pairs of burners to improve usability by those preparing foods from a wheelchair, minimizing the need maneuver the chair repeatedly while moving food and cookware onto and off of the safe induction heat surfaces.

ACCESSIBILITY PROGRESS
The passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was a watershed moment and has been critical to especially new buildings and infrastructure systems becoming more supportive to more levels and types of mobility. But the victory did seem to result in a waning of effort to keep making progress, especially with regard to considering other sorts of capability differences amongst our population. That said, in the last 10 or so years there have been many product innovations and a rekindling of the discussion about to move toward universal support of all humans, and even other living beings, in the design movement's discourse.

DONATION
Unless we get these systems donated for all needs, our plan is to demonstrate and test a variety each one of these features, and highlight them over time, sharing our findings in blogs, social media posts, and in our educational materials with local and worldwide education partners.
If you're a product manufacturer that wishes to donate your product for one or more unit or typology, and thus be highlighted in all future press and education about the project, you can contact us at the project email listed on the website. Likewise, if you'd like to sponsor one or the whole array of these innovations, feel free to contact us.

AUTOMATION
With the help of our accessibility automation and IOT advisor*** we will be tech-enabling as much of this as off-the-shelf AI assistants and IOT allows, but with manual operation overrides/alternatives whenever possible as well, for the sake user preferences and instances of system failure (power or connective loss).

Triple Pane Windows minimize energy losses through the envelope, compared to code minimum windows. Our Tilt-turn windows also seal better than more traditional double-hung windows, and allow us to open windows facing downward to pull in prevailing windows from the south in shoulder seasons, and release it upward through windows that open up on the north wall, as warming air passes through space during cross-ventilation.

Windows on south side allow high levels of solar heat gain because window sills, headers, and roof overhang relative geometries ensure the sun only reaches these windows in cold months, when we want the heat gain. In those months the sun angles are lower, and can get under the roof overhang to pass into the house and assist with heating it, reducing the burden on the mechanical heating systems. These windows still have a very low U-value to insulate well, however. Conversely, windows on the other 3 sides have both low U-values (insulate well) and low SCGC (Solar Heat Gain Coefficient), so they reject solar heat gain in the warmer months when we can't prevent the sun from reaching them. However the house has also be shaped and origented such that we have far more southern exposure than east or west, because again, the southern exposure doesn't recieve heat gain the warm months, and does in the cold months. Conversely the minimized east and west wall sizes do the opposite of what you want them to; they gain heat in the Summer and don't in the winter, because the Sun rises farther northeast of the house and has more time to bombard the eastern side of the house in the Summer, and likewise spends more time bombarding the western side of the house as it sets, which is also generally when the ambient temperatures are highest (afternoon).

Air quality in western modernity has been a bit of a rollercoaster. Before the industrial revolution humanity had seldom (though certainly not never) produced a concentrated pollutant source consistently enough to create lasting outdoor or even indoor air quality threats or problems. Cities became incredibly polluted in the early and mid stages of industrialization, so much so that those that could live outside of them did so. Regulation and other factors that moved industry out of urban centers from urban poor, to rural poor areas, essentially diluted the contamination enough that it became somewhat less severe issues for broader areas. The Clean Air Act and its sibling Clean Water Act substantially reduced the negative impacts of industry, which had been radically disproportionately impacting poor and non-human living beings. Regulation and enforcement have continued to struggle to keep up with the propagation of new sorts of industries and their new contaminates, and other factors like corporate lobbying and politicians susceptible to it have hindered their effectiveness. But generally the arc of outdoor air quality over nearly the last century and half has been mostly a trend in the healthier direction, with ozone loss for a time, and throughout the century greenhouse gas emissions as indirect health impacts of air contamination steadily rising.

In mid to late stages of industrialization our industries were producing new chemicals for household and other products at a rate well beyond what testing, medical and health analysis could keep pace with. Fashion trends in architecture and interior design at times exacerbated this, while health and green building rating systems at least pointed the way to often cost-effective avoidance of indoor health threats from products and materials, albeit without really moving the bell-curve of building industry practice all that much. It would be fair to say that have substantially impacted product and material manufacturing, leveraging the PR and marketing motives of building product manufacturers, though greenwashing still runs rampant. Much of these efforts fall short of proper prioritization and accurate technical considerations however, and the air chemistry being brought to bear on Ramboland is rarified air, both literally and figuratively (sorry, couldn't resist).

By 1. maintaining a simple material palette, 2. maximizing material reuse, 3. being highly critical of chemical content in all products and materials selected, 4. resorting to new materials only when necessary and via local and scientifically validated and/or certified content, as well as 5. introducing filtration and other treatment within rooms and sometimes within HVAC systems (whichever is more effective in terms of air quality, and often also hard costs, and addressing other air quality issues like temperature and humidity as well) Ramboland will have amongst the most pristine air of any building. This 'optimization sequence' ensures maximum performance and minimal cost. Ongoing air quality testing will add insight and prompt responses to air quality impacts materials and products introduced by occupants (clothes, accessories, food, and other belongings) as well as activities like cooking, bathing, cleaning, and respirating, further strides will be made in controlling for and maintaining super healthy air quality beyond design and construction stages, in a way that can be accessed by education systems and the public at large.

Look and feel - spa-like, simple materials palette, light, clean,



Finally, we will place grab bars throughout the space, more than are required, because again, caregivers often rely on them also, and not everyone will always necessarily have access to the suspension system will be providing.


ACCESSIBILITY PROGRESS
The passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was a watershed moment and has been critical to especially new buildings and infrastructure systems becoming more supportive to more levels and types of mobility. But the victory did seem to result in a waning of effort to keep making progress, especially with regard to considering other sorts of capability differences amongst our population. That said, in the last 10 or so years there have been many product innovations and a rekindling of the discussion about to move toward universal support of all humans, and even other living beings, in the design movement's discourse.

DONATION
Unless we get these systems donated for all needs, our plan is to demonstrate and test a variety each one of these features, and highlight them over time, sharing our findings in blogs, social media posts, and in our educational materials with local and worldwide education partners.
If you're a product manufacturer that wishes to donate your product for one or more unit or typology, and thus be highlighted in all future press and education about the project, you can contact us at the project email listed on the website. Likewise, if you'd like to sponsor one or the whole array of these innovations, feel free to contact us.

AUTOMATION
With the help of our accessibility automation and IOT advisor**** we will be tech-enabling as much of this as off-the-shelf AI assistants and IOT allows, but with manual operation overrides/alternatives whenever possible as well, for the sake user preferences and instances of system failure (power or connective loss).

Storage can be a serious challenge in spaces with high levels of mobility accessibility. Limitations on what can be reached by various folks is not only limited, but often mutually exclusive. I.e. some folks can't reach things down low easily, others can't reach things up high, both for various reasons. Universal Design is an aspiration, a north start that perhaps can never truly be reached, but it can get us a lot of progress in checking ourselves against it, and repeatedly asking "how can we make this better for more people?"

The kitchen at Ramboland is packed with examples of this, one of our favorites being the pull-down cabinets. There are several versions of this on the market; some allow you to pull the "guts" of the cabinet straight down out of the bottom of the cabinet carcass (that's what they call the outer enclosure of cabinets), so that the bottommost shelf in an upper cabinet can be the whole down at counter height, or perhaps even lower if the counter itself can also drop. Others allow those guts to both come down and forward. Still others bring the entire carcass and it's guts the whole way down and to the front edge of the counter.

ACCESSIBILITY PROGRESS
The passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was a watershed moment and has been critical to especially new buildings and infrastructure systems becoming more supportive to more levels and types of mobility. But the victory did seem to result in a waning of effort to keep making progress, especially with regard to considering other sorts of capability differences amongst our population. That said, in the last 10 or so years there have been many product innovations and a rekindling of the discussion about to move toward universal support of all humans, and even other living beings, in the design movement's discourse.

DONATION
Unless we get these systems donated for all needs, our plan is to demonstrate and test a variety each one of these features, and highlight them over time, sharing our findings in blogs, social media posts, and in our educational materials with local and worldwide education partners.
If you're a product manufacturer that wishes to donate your product for one or more unit or typology, and thus be highlighted in all future press and education about the project, you can contact us at the project email listed on the website. Likewise, if you'd like to sponsor one or the whole array of these innovations, feel free to contact us.

AUTOMATION
With the help of our accessibility automation and IOT advisor*** we will be tech-enabling as much of this as off-the-shelf AI assistants and IOT allows, but with manual operation overrides/alternatives whenever possible as well, for the sake user preferences and instances of system failure (power or connective loss).

The house is oriented to optimize sun angles penetrating or not depending on time of year and day*. But the house is also designed to account for prevailing winds.

"Prevailing winds" is a term for the direction wind tends to come from, and in this climate they have tended to come from the Northwest in the Winter (when we don't generally want to be hit by cold air), and the Southwest in the Summer (when we often can benefit from some cross-ventilation and cooling).

So the house is designed with blocking the northwesterly cold winter prevailing winds in mind, with additional layers of vegetation, insulation, walls, trees, and pockets of air**.

Likewise, the house is designed to scoop up the southwesterly winds in warmer months, so when the temperature is within certain ranges the windows can be opened, and the movement of the air can create whats called "expanded thermal comfort." This is a term for the effect of more air molecules hitting your skin and absorbing some heat from it thanks to the air moving. This increases the rate the body can release heat energy, and thus requires the air to be less cool than when it's not moving as much. Ceiling fans also offer this benefit but use up some electricity to do so (though less than air conditioning).

When early on in our design process the addition of a greenhouse was being considered, we were concerned this might jeopardize our cross ventilation because the greenhouse would block some of that southwesterly winds in some of the warmer months of the year. So we did a type of analysis called Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD). This technology has been used for a longer period in automobile and aeronautical engineering and design so that cars and planes could be made more aerodynamic. The old fashioned way to do it is to place a model of the geometry of the object being designed in a wind tunnel (literally a room with fans at both ends to create high air speed in one direction), and then smoke being blown blowing in the fan so that the airflow is visible to the observers. CFD software allows us to assess our design in a virtual model without building a physical one yet.

Somewhat to our surprise, the introduction of the greenhouse created whats called a Venturi Effect. This is the phenomenon in which sending a fluid (usually air) through a compressed space causes it to speed up, like a nozzle on a hose, or the tapered or fluted cooling towers and smoke stacks on factories and combustion-based power plants. The breezeway between the house and the greenhouse is angled enough towards the prevailing southwesterly winds, that it captures enough wind and compresses, that that wind is actually accelerated into the house a little bit more than if the greenhouse weren't there.

Using CFD created a lot more confidence that we could not only add the additional complexity of a diverse and high tech food system to the project without sacrificing other performance goals, but in fact enhanced our achievement of those goals. The house will actually be able to use active, electricity consuming air conditioning a little bit less, because our breezeway pushes the air a little bit faster into the south-facing windows in house. As the air inside heats up a bit from contact with warm human bodies and other heat sources inside the house, this will actually help it rise a bit and then more effectively be sucked out of the high-up windows on the north wall of the house. The CFD allowed us to do a lot better than the typical "wishful thinking arrows" designers so often use to represent how they hope the air will flow!

Split, height adjustable mobile island maximizes use of space, surface activity utilization and accessibility. In order to maximize human mobility in the space we have used up a lot of extra square footage for clearance for wheelchairs, etc. This is a bit at odds with our intentions around material and energy use efficiency, because the greater space requires a larger envelope, and that also yields a greater volume of air. Together these increase both the embodied energy and energy use during its occupancy and useful life, to run mechanical systems to supplement our passive designs, to keep the air comfortable and healthy. So, we had some making up to do by optimizing space. We sought to make both of the main rooms in the house as multi-purposeful as possible.

This one piece of furniture will allow the room to function as a large kitchen, a generous dining room, a spacious living room, a social space, and often any desired combination of these. Not only is this much more convenient and "universal." but it also helps offset the extra square footage and clearances included for mobility improvements.

Nothing super innovative here, honestly. Tried and true, energy star certified under-counter freezer (left) and refrigerator (right) and dishwasher (further right, beside sink because it uses water) with a wheelchair pull-in between/beside all of them. The prep space between the two refrigeration units is set at desk height, though may be adjustable. We're leaving the space above the counter on top of the refrigerator open in case an additional refrigerator is desired, or for coffee/espresso machines, toasters, air fryer, or other small appliances are desired.

ACCESSIBILITY PROGRESS
The passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was a watershed moment and has been critical to especially new buildings and infrastructure systems becoming more supportive to more levels and types of mobility. But the victory did seem to result in a waning of effort to keep making progress, especially with regard to considering other sorts of capability differences amongst our population. That said, in the last 10 or so years there have been many product innovations and a rekindling of the discussion about to move toward universal support of all humans, and even other living beings, in the design movement's discourse.

DONATION
Unless we get these systems donated for all needs, our plan is to demonstrate and test a variety each one of these features, and highlight them over time, sharing our findings in blogs, social media posts, and in our educational materials with local and worldwide education partners.
If you're a product manufacturer that wishes to donate your product for one or more unit or typology, and thus be highlighted in all future press and education about the project, you can contact us at the project email listed on the website. Likewise, if you'd like to sponsor one or the whole array of these innovations, feel free to contact us.

AUTOMATION
With the help of our accessibility automation and IOT advisor*** we will be tech-enabling as much of this as off-the-shelf AI assistants and IOT allows, but with manual operation overrides/alternatives whenever possible as well, for the sake user preferences and instances of system failure (power or connective loss).

Since air conditioning (cooling) caught on in U.S. designers of our buildings have largely ignored the effects of sunlight and wind on them, and as an industry and culture we've mostly lost touch with ways of not only reducing unwanted heat gains in Summer and losses in Winter, but conversely also don't typically consider or know how to maximize the benefical inverse of these factors.

The shape of buildings, relative to the variances in the path of the Sun throughout each day of the year have a huge impact on the extent to subsequent design decisions can further optimize thermal levels. In other words, these earliest of dcisions in building design will either make subsequent decisions highly impactful or not, with respect to energy efficiency. Even prevailing winds' impact on the surface and ability to pass through the interiors of buildings is driven by the shape and cardinal orientation of the building, which can also help or hurt how much energy needs to be spent to heat and cool the building, especially in what are called "shoulder seasons" or "shoulder months," when if well designed heating and cooling systems can more frequently be turned off altogether. Finally,

In most modern built-environment practice it is assumed that a human-built edifice must displace living systems - plants, insects, fungi, other animals, etc. And this is one of our self-fulfilling prophecies. Not many have taken the time to question this like Ken Yeang has, and propose not only that the total loss of biomass not be the case, but that perhaps there could be an increase in biomass, diversity, vitality, and overall living system health AFTER we have built our 'ecosystem prosthetics.' After all a prosthetic is a human-made tool, instrument, or system designed to restore or expand function and/or independence. What are buildings doing if not expanding an ecosystems ability to meet our human needs. This framing liberates creativity, but it also exposes the ways in which our buildings aren't so great at fulfilling their own purpose. Indeed, a prosthetic that makes its user sicker, and/or kills life around its user like our buildings do, would not be considered a very good one.

Bird Houses - probably the most common form of human provided shelter or habit for other species that isn't for pets or "live" "stock." Bird houses can be built to accommodate somewhat specific species for the sake of overall ecological health, as well as insect and other species population management, also know as "pest control," we sort of feel like thats putting two curse words together.
birdhouses, also known as nest boxes, are beneficial for many reasons, including:
Nesting
Birdhouses provide a safe and private place for birds to nest and raise their young.
Wildlife habitat
Birdhouses can help qualify your outdoor area as a National Wildlife Federation Certified Wildlife Habitat.
Winter refuge
Birdhouses can provide a safe place for birds to roost and sleep during the winter, especially when protective foliage is scarce.
Pest control
Birdhouses can be used to attract swallows, which can help manage flies on farms.
Birdwatching
Birdhouses can provide a great opportunity for birdwatchers to observe the breeding process.
However, poorly designed birdhouses can be detrimental to birds. Some things to consider when placing a birdhouse include:
Location: Place the birdhouse out of the wind, rain, and strong sunlight.
Height: Place small-hole boxes 1–3 meters above the ground on tree trunks.
Materials: Use rough-cut wood slabs, tree sections, or 3/4-inch plywood. Avoid creosote-treated wood, which can kill eggs and chicks.
Paint: Paint the outside of the birdhouse with a dull color that blends in with the surroundings. Never paint the inside of the birdhouse.


Bat Boxes - Most people are skeptical about including support for bats in their in their local ecology. But then they learn what bats eat. Particularly since the Zika virus, Malaria mostly in other countries, and other mosquito born pathogens made their debut,
Google AI Overview
Bat boxes can be good for a variety of reasons, including:
Protecting your yard
Bats eat many types of insects, including mosquitoes, moths, and beetles, which can help keep your yard pest-free.
Providing a safe place for bats
Bat houses offer a safe place for bats to roost, especially when they're raising their young.
Helping bats survive
Bat populations are declining due to habitat loss, and bat houses can help provide a place for bats to roost that they might not otherwise find.
Helping the environment
Bats are important pollinators and seed dispersers, which can help plants grow in new areas.
Being fun to watch
Bats are fascinating to watch, especially during their nightly acrobatics.


Pollinator hotel

Vertical vegetation wall

Green roofs

Vertical vegetation wall

Green roofs

Attitudes towards rain as a nuisance ("stormwater" is a pejorative term) or instead as a life-giving precious blessing (rain/water) are both self-fulfilling prophecies. We pick the second attitude. Our goal is that the hydrology of the site be nearly indistinguishable from that of the temperate forest that previously occupied this site and its surroundings. To that end rainfall is collected to be stored & used to support living processes, often several of them, before leaving the site.

Smog, bird droppings, and pollen are easily removed to create pristine water without chemical hormones, pharmaceuticals, fluoride, chlorine or Cr6), while maintain some nutrients living bodies can benefit from. Tap water with added chlorine to kill pathogens does not make great irrigation water either, because it is a biocide.

For those that have never had to worry about lateral mobility once they learned to walk, it may not be obvious why you would split a cooking range in half to put a prep space in the middle of it. Sliding back and forth laterally in a typical wheelchair is hard enough, let alone while handling sharp knives and hot pots, pans, and foods. If chefs and home cooks alike who rely on wheelchairs and can use their hands effectively can do all their prep in one position and move pots, pans, and foods on and off of induction burners without having to reach down and grab their wheels or electric chair controls to reposition over and over again, it could take a lot of the difficulty out of cooking.

Induction technology makes this easier than ever before, not to mention they are safer because the surface is not heated directly, and usually safe to the touch even immediately after or even during cooking. Most units also allow you to set an exact temperature. This is a big part of why, although some debate wages on, many of the world's most respected chefs and cooks feel that induction cooktops are the best way to go, even better than natural gas burners that introduce contaminants to the breathing zone along with the methane, which we're* finding leaks not only in our homes whether the appliances are in use or not, but throughout our cities from the gas lines. This introduces significant explosion and air quality risks, in addition to the negative environmental impacts on par or beyond any other fossil fuel**.

ACCESSIBILITY PROGRESS
The passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was a watershed moment and has been critical to especially new buildings and infrastructure systems becoming more supportive to more levels and types of mobility. But the victory did seem to result in a waning of effort to keep making progress, especially with regard to considering other sorts of capability differences amongst our population. That said, in the last 10 or so years there have been many product innovations and a rekindling of the discussion about to move toward universal support of all humans, and even other living beings, in the design movement's discourse.

DONATION
Unless we get these systems donated for all needs, our plan is to demonstrate and test a variety each one of these features, and highlight them over time, sharing our findings in blogs, social media posts, and in our educational materials with local and worldwide education partners.
If you're a product manufacturer that wishes to donate your product for one or more unit or typology, and thus be highlighted in all future press and education about the project, you can contact us at the project email listed on the website. Likewise, if you'd like to sponsor one or the whole array of these innovations, feel free to contact us.

AUTOMATION
With the help of our accessibility automation and IOT advisor*** we will be tech-enabling as much of this as off-the-shelf AI assistants and IOT allows, but with manual operation overrides/alternatives whenever possible as well, for the sake user preferences and instances of system failure (power or connective loss).

What better place to put a WIND veil than a BREEZEway?! Wind veils are beautiful, biophilic building screens that indicate the flow of air, creating liquid-like waves (which have been found to have a calming effect on humans) across the surface of the building. Not only will this be a way to create an educational element, but a way to add some beauty to a wall that was solid because of the need for energy efficiency in the greenhouse. This will help us to actually observe how accurate our CFD (computational fluid dynamics) analysis was, when we were concerned about the greenhouse inhibiting our carefully designed cross ventilation through the house.

For much of the design process we have planned to provide an overhead track system to support a hanging mechanism that allows Ron, visitors, and/or future residents to be comfortably suspended, and moved easily around the house to key fixtures, appliances, furniture, etc., by a caregiver or their own control interface. Accommodating this structurally and architecturally was challenging and increasing complicatedness and cost. Getting it through doors, and to all those locations was particularly challenging. We recently expanded the track idea to go throughout the entire house however, rationalizing that the track itself was not the costly part, and it even being a somewhat fun "ride" for some fit well with the theme park implications of the project name. And yet it was still not universal in the access it granted and getting more over-the-top than might be reasonable even for this swing-for-the-fences project. And then it occurred to us that maybe we could hang the components that actually suspend our bodies from a floor-based mobile unit, something like an engine block lift. We thought this was very clever. In what couldn't even be considered an "ah ha" moment, but more like a "yeah duh" moment, we realized these make those already. Of course they do. They can fit through doors, turn and move along on casters, change height and orientation for different fixtures, furnishings, and appliances, and more. They can be operated by motor, or caregiver elbow grease.

That said, if we're not able to get the one we want, we may still modify an engine block lift! Which might actually be cooler and cheaper, and perhaps our partners who work and learn in fabrication and robotics labs might help us make that!

Look and feel - spa-like, simple materials palette, light, clean,



Finally, we will place grab bars throughout the space, more than are required, because again, caregivers often rely on them also, and not everyone will always necessarily have access to the suspension system will be providing.


ACCESSIBILITY PROGRESS
The passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was a watershed moment and has been critical to especially new buildings and infrastructure systems becoming more supportive to more levels and types of mobility. But the victory did seem to result in a waning of effort to keep making progress, especially with regard to considering other sorts of capability differences amongst our population. That said, in the last 10 or so years there have been many product innovations and a rekindling of the discussion about to move toward universal support of all humans, and even other living beings, in the design movement's discourse.

DONATION
Unless we get these systems donated for all needs, our plan is to demonstrate and test a variety each one of these features, and highlight them over time, sharing our findings in blogs, social media posts, and in our educational materials with local and worldwide education partners.
If you're a product manufacturer that wishes to donate your product for one or more unit or typology, and thus be highlighted in all future press and education about the project, you can contact us at the project email listed on the website. Likewise, if you'd like to sponsor one or the whole array of these innovations, feel free to contact us.

AUTOMATION
With the help of our accessibility automation and IOT advisor**** we will be tech-enabling as much of this as off-the-shelf AI assistants and IOT allows, but with manual operation overrides/alternatives whenever possible as well, for the sake user preferences and instances of system failure (power or connective loss).

Since air conditioning (cooling) caught on in U.S. designers of our buildings have largely ignored the effects of sunlight and wind on them, and as an industry and culture we've mostly lost touch with ways of not only reducing unwanted heat gains in Summer and losses in Winter, but conversely also don't typically consider or know how to maximize the benefical inverse of these factors.

The shape of buildings, relative to the variances in the path of the Sun throughout each day of the year have a huge impact on the extent to subsequent design decisions can further optimize thermal levels. In other words, these earliest of dcisions in building design will either make subsequent decisions highly impactful or not, with respect to energy efficiency. Even prevailing winds' impact on the surface and ability to pass through the interiors of buildings is driven by the shape and cardinal orientation of the building, which can also help or hurt how much energy needs to be spent to heat and cool the building, especially in what are called "shoulder seasons" or "shoulder months," when if well designed heating and cooling systems can more frequently be turned off altogether. Finally,

Bat Boxes - Most people are skeptical about including support for bats in their in their local ecology. But then they learn what bats eat. Particularly since the Zika virus, Malaria mostly in other countries, and other mosquito born pathogens made their debut,
Google AI Overview
Bat boxes can be good for a variety of reasons, including:
Protecting your yard
Bats eat many types of insects, including mosquitoes, moths, and beetles, which can help keep your yard pest-free.
Providing a safe place for bats
Bat houses offer a safe place for bats to roost, especially when they're raising their young.
Helping bats survive
Bat populations are declining due to habitat loss, and bat houses can help provide a place for bats to roost that they might not otherwise find.
Helping the environment
Bats are important pollinators and seed dispersers, which can help plants grow in new areas.
Being fun to watch
Bats are fascinating to watch, especially during their nightly acrobatics.


Pollinator hotel

Vertical vegetation wall

Green roofs

The bathtub itself is a wheelchair-transfer walk-In tub with a fast fill Faucet, and massage jets. The orthopedic and quality of life benefits of this are clear. And like the pot-filler* in the kitchen space, flow-rate is irrelevant because you'll put the same amount of water into it regardless of how fast it gets there. Getting it there faster will also save a small amount of energy because less heat will be lost before use.

The bathtub is set up like a peninsula extending into the bathroom instead of with its long side against a wall as would be the typical way to place it in the room. This is so that care-givers can access the tub from any of 3 sides, including the one where the sink is. The opposite side is the one with the door for transfer. Not only will this be much easier to get in and out for someone reliant on a wheelchair, but it will also be a very easy transfer using the suspension system dolly**. There is also a floor drain on that side as well tied to the recirculating shower***.

Enabling this level of self care and care-giver ease is very rare, worth the additional financial cost. Most of us that are more mobile-able take for granted the luxury of being able to shower or take a bath, not only for convenience but the significant mental health benefits.

The fact that the water in this house will be unparalleled in terms of its purity also means that the steam generated in the bathroom will have far fewer contaminants, keeping the indoor air at a higher quality.

This is all both much safer, and being offered to folks that have largely been withheld from many folks with mobility challenges, because its just too dangerous for them and their care-givers to attempt a bath or shower, because they really only have consistent access to the non-accessible bathrooms that come with the apartments folks with mobility impairments reliant on state subsistent benefits can afford, like this image of Ron's current bathroom. Although there are programs for even rented property modifications, landlords often don't want this to happen, and/or the square footage and other architectural issues simply make a renovation cost-prohibitive.

ACCESSIBILITY PROGRESS
The passing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) was a watershed moment and has been critical to especially new buildings and infrastructure systems becoming more supportive to more levels and types of mobility. But the victory did seem to result in a waning of effort to keep making progress, especially with regard to considering other sorts of capability differences amongst our population. That said, in the last 10 or so years there have been many product innovations and a rekindling of the discussion about to move toward universal support of all humans, and even other living beings, in the design movement's discourse.

DONATION
Unless we get these systems donated for all needs, our plan is to demonstrate and test a variety each one of these features, and highlight them over time, sharing our findings in blogs, social media posts, and in our educational materials with local and worldwide education partners.
If you're a product manufacturer that wishes to donate your product for one or more unit or typology, and thus be highlighted in all future press and education about the project, you can contact us at the project email listed on the website. Likewise, if you'd like to sponsor one or the whole array of these innovations, feel free to contact us.

AUTOMATION
With the help of our accessibility automation and IOT advisor**** we will be tech-enabling as much of this as off-the-shelf AI assistants and IOT allows, but with manual operation overrides/alternatives whenever possible as well, for the sake user preferences and instances of system failure (power or connective loss).

In most modern built-environment practice it is assumed that a human-built edifice must displace living systems - plants, insects, fungi, other animals, etc. And this is one of our self-fulfilling prophecies. Not many have taken the time to question this like Ken Yeang has, and propose not only that the total loss of biomass not be the case, but that perhaps there could be an increase in biomass, diversity, vitality, and overall living system health AFTER we have built our 'ecosystem prosthetics.' After all a prosthetic is a human-made tool, instrument, or system designed to restore or expand function and/or independence. What are buildings doing if not expanding an ecosystems ability to meet our human needs. This framing liberates creativity, but it also exposes the ways in which our buildings aren't so great at fulfilling their own purpose. Indeed, a prosthetic that makes its user sicker, and/or kills life around its user like our buildings do, would not be considered a very good one.

What better place to put a WIND veil than a BREEZEway?! Wind veils are beautiful, biophilic building screens that indicate the flow of air, creating liquid-like waves (which have been found to have a calming effect on humans) across the surface of the building. Not only will this be a way to create an educational element, but a way to add some beauty to a wall that was solid because of the need for energy efficiency in the greenhouse. This will help us to actually observe how accurate our CFD (computational fluid dynamics) analysis was, when we were concerned about the greenhouse inhibiting our carefully designed cross ventilation through the house.