Today I jumped into Second Life to see who won the "green build-off" contest sponsored by the Virtual Museum of Architecture. Turns out two of my favorites took first prizes. The winning entries were:
Novice Class:
- Jamiee Daines
- Rottin Dean
- Mikie Swords
Professional Class:
- xJessicax Harvy
- Niamh Burnstein
- Morgan India
People's Choice Awards: Novice Rottin Dean and professional Niamh Burnstein
In the "professional" division, xJessicax Harvy won for her "Cromwell House," a virtual example of an "earthship." She describes it as a house made of rammed earth and tires where the tires are staggered like bricks. The walls are load bearing, store heat, and keeps indoor temperatures constant. Typically the tires are plastered over so that it looks more like an adobe structure.
More about xJessicax and her build after the jump...
I ran into xJessicax near her build and asked her how it felt to win. She texted me:
I built this with a passion in my heart. It's something I wanted to do in rl [real life] but never had a chance to do.... For me this is a complete example of a sustainable home - like a ship in space but in the earth grid. I am happy that in a little way people will come to know - it exists and can be done. That I believe is the essence of virtual architecture: what may be impossible to do in rl for some - can be done in sl and we can further educate people in rl.
Great to see how inspired she was by the contest.
In the novice category, Jamiee Daines took first prize for his eco-friendly home. He describes it as a house "is designed and constructed for living in the North Eastern US therefore emphasis has been placed not only on building materials used but to make the dwelling less dependent on as fossil fuels for heating and cooling." It features :
wood timbers with 12-inch thick exterior walls made of adobe material with a fiberglass insulation core- An earthen embankment placed against the ground floor to help maintain more consistent temperatures in the interior
- A lower roof with an earthen top covering which is used as a vegetable and herb garden
- gutters on the upper roof that feed into catch tanks that can be used to water the garden on the roof
- An upper roof with solar energy cells with a wind generator in the back yard
- a geothermal heat pump in the backyard that uses the nearby sea water as well as an underground grid as a heat exchanger to both heat and cool the house
That's a lot of eco-tech in one house. Not bad for a "novice."
Check out both builds and the rest of the entrants at this teleport link.
