![Impressively standing out in a crowd of over 400 green exhibitors, canühome was definitely one of the visual and conceptual highlights for me at the Green Living Show in Toronto. Designed by a progressive Toronto think tank called the Institute without Boundaries, canühome is essentially a kit-based system that lets you affordably create a sustainable, universally designed, smart and healthy home for yourself.
In 2006, the folks at IwB adapted housing designs that had been created by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation for non-profit and affordable housing groups. The partnership between the two continued as IwB incorporated CMHC’s research into their World House Project in Costa Rica. Before long, the IwB brought together an eco-passionate team to create canühome, which they describe as an “exemplary home environment that re-imagines how we may live in the future.”
canühome is constructed using Forest Stewardship Council [FSC] certified wood products and meets LEED standards. The 850 square foot home contains a kitchen, bathroom, living room, dining room and bedroom and is intended for young couples, seniors, singles and/or small families as either a “starter” or “finisher” house. It has cleverly been designed to fit into the rear gardens of homes in the city or suburbs, on the rooftops of buildings or even out in the countryside, where amenities may not be readily available. Looking for something larger? canühome is modular, so you can add a whole other unit to one end of it to double its length [see pix below].
I really enjoyed walking through this popular exhibit and taking in all of the intelligent design choices and features. I was quite impressed to see that their responsible design had included an uninterrupted floorplan, thus providing universal access. Also included were transformable furnishings that could adapt to meet the changing needs of the home’s occupants over time. In addition to the FSC-certified wood used throughout, canühome’s creators utilized non-toxic materials to promote good health.
The use of solar, wind and vibration energy collection elevates canühome’s eco.status even more by further reducing its environmental impact. To top it all off, they’ve equipped this eye-catching space with “an intelligent network of sensors, tuned to give the homeowner a better understanding of the relationship between their lifestyle and their carbon imprint.” So it educates you while you live in it? Is there anything this smart home can’t do?
I was seriously impressed. The removable tattoos they were giving out with green symbols that read “Using Less, Enjoying More” were a fun touch, too.
If you missed canühome at The Green Living Show, you can catch this cool mobile exhibit in Toronto again at Yorkdale in June and at IIDEX/NeoCon Canada in September. If you’re a floorplan junkie, you’ll love the detailed tech drawings of the space here here. A full colour brochure can be accessed here. Toronto Architect Lloyd Alter was also at the show and reviewed canühome in his Treehugger article, with a focus on the engineering and CNC technology used to build the structure.
:kitchen design + products used:
[More pix of canühome below > click on “GDG Home Page” + scroll down]](http://media.tumblr.com/JEVcJTTe68ytubsg4ISQBTR3_500.jpg)
Impressively standing out in a crowd of over 400 green exhibitors, canühome was definitely one of the visual and conceptual highlights for me at the Green Living Show in Toronto. Designed by a progressive Toronto think tank called the Institute without Boundaries, canühome is essentially a kit-based system that lets you affordably create a sustainable, universally designed, smart and healthy home for yourself.
In 2006, the folks at IwB adapted housing designs that had been created by the Canada Mortgage and Housing Corporation for non-profit and affordable housing groups. The partnership between the two continued as IwB incorporated CMHC’s research into their World House Project in Costa Rica. Before long, the IwB brought together an eco-passionate team to create canühome, which they describe as an “exemplary home environment that re-imagines how we may live in the future.”
canühome is constructed using Forest Stewardship Council [FSC] certified wood products and meets LEED standards. The 850 square foot home contains a kitchen, bathroom, living room, dining room and bedroom and is intended for young couples, seniors, singles and/or small families as either a “starter” or “finisher” house. It has cleverly been designed to fit into the rear gardens of homes in the city or suburbs, on the rooftops of buildings or even out in the countryside, where amenities may not be readily available. Looking for something larger? canühome is modular, so you can add a whole other unit to one end of it to double its length [see pix below].
I really enjoyed walking through this popular exhibit and taking in all of the intelligent design choices and features. I was quite impressed to see that their responsible design had included an uninterrupted floorplan, thus providing universal access. Also included were transformable furnishings that could adapt to meet the changing needs of the home’s occupants over time. In addition to the FSC-certified wood used throughout, canühome’s creators utilized non-toxic materials to promote good health.
The use of solar, wind and vibration energy collection elevates canühome’s eco.status even more by further reducing its environmental impact. To top it all off, they’ve equipped this eye-catching space with “an intelligent network of sensors, tuned to give the homeowner a better understanding of the relationship between their lifestyle and their carbon imprint.” So it educates you while you live in it? Is there anything this smart home can’t do?
I was seriously impressed. The removable tattoos they were giving out with green symbols that read “Using Less, Enjoying More” were a fun touch, too.
If you missed canühome at The Green Living Show, you can catch this cool mobile exhibit in Toronto again at Yorkdale in June and at IIDEX/NeoCon Canada in September. If you’re a floorplan junkie, you’ll love the detailed tech drawings of the space here here. A full colour brochure can be accessed here. Toronto Architect Lloyd Alter was also at the show and reviewed canühome in his Treehugger article, with a focus on the engineering and CNC technology used to build the structure.
:kitchen design + products used:
[More pix of canühome below > click on “GDG Home Page” + scroll down]
2 months ago