Sustainable Living

Visited my friend Crisi’s house in Ponderosa recently, and really decided that by hook or by crook I will have those vibrant Mexican colors infused into my supposedly modern contemporary home!

Look at these tiled staircases, so warm and homey:

Crisi suggested I just have concrete stairs made with wooden planks on top, then stencil and paint the vertical side with latex paint. Sounds like a plan 🙂

Other tile patterns:

(Image from istockphoto)

I found out by chance last Sunday that Green Architecture Advocacy Philippines holds office just here in Ortigas/Pasig– I was meeting a friend at Kopi Tiam in Green Valley Country Club along C-5 and saw that green logo right before the entrance to the bowling alley. 😛

The guard was kind enough to let me know that they\’re open Mondays to Saturdays from 10am-7pm.  Hope I can drop by for a visit soon.

Also checked the Green Architecture Advocacy Philippines facebook page. They hold monthly lectures on anything and everything green at Wilcon Builder\’s Centre, C-5, which is also right here in my backyard!  I really have no excuse not to be attending these!

Last month\’s lecture was on small-scale renewable energy sources in the Philippines… If I had been more diligent in my research, I would\’ve found out about it sooner…

The next one will tackle \”Green Buildings: Operations and Maintenance\” on November 24, 2010 from 5-9pm.  Too bad I\’ll be out of town, but do hope some of you can make it.  Am sure it will be interesting not just for the learning, but also for the new \”green\” friends you\’ll get to make. 🙂

Who wouldn\’t want something like this at home?

(Image from RemodelingLocal.com)

Lots of light coming in, just happiness all around… it\’s like having a permanent sunflower for a living space.

I\’ve been trying to come up with a tropical version of these glassed sun rooms for the back part of my Nuvali house, given two additional constraints:

• must let the air in without having to open windows
• must use a cheaper material than glass

Have explored various roofing and window options, but the best I\’ve come up with it this: opaque roofing (similar to garage/carport roofing, still undecided on the material) with screened grills at the tips that enclose the whole area and keep the bugs out.

Visited a friend\’s home in Paranaque last Saturday and was surprised to see that her patio uses this exact set-up!

She said they eventually put plywood on top of the trellis to keep the sun out.  The original clear roofing got lots of light in, but it also made the patio too warm on some days.

Interesting!  Definitely much cheaper than using wraparound glass windows and doors, and the screened ends will make sure I get the tropical breeze in.

What do you think? 🙂

Here\’s a very handy fact sheet made by the Australian government, that \”examines ways to design and modify homes to achieve summer comfort through passive cooling\”. It lists the following climate-specific design principles we should take note of in coming up with our Nuvali home designs:

(Image from YourHome.gov.au)

In high humid (tropical) climates:

• High humidity levels limit the body’s ability to lose heat by evaporation of perspiration.
• Sleeping comfort is a significant issue – especially during periods of high humidity.
• Design eaves and shading to permanently exclude solar access to rooms. [See: 4.4 Shading]
• Consider shading the whole building with a fly roof. [See: 4.4 Shading]
• Maximise shaded external wall areas and exposure to (and funneling of) cooling breezes through the building.
• Use single room depths where possible with maximum shaded openings to enhance cross ventilation and heat removal.
• Design unobstructed cross ventilation paths.
• Provide hot air ventilation at ceiling level for all rooms with spinnaways, shaded opening clerestorey windows or ridge vents.
• Shade outdoor areas around the house with planting and shade structures to lower ground temperatures.
• Use insulation solutions that minimise heat gain during the day and maximise heat loss at night. Advanced reflective insulation systems and reflective air spaces can be effective.
  [See: 4.8 Insulation Installation]
• Choose windows with maximum opening areas (louvres or casement) and avoid fixed glass panels.
• Include ceiling fans to create air movement during still periods.
• Consider using whole of house fans with smart switching to draw cooler outside air into the house at night when there is no breeze.
• Use low thermal mass construction generally. (Note: high mass construction can be beneficial in innovative, well considered design solutions).
• Use planting design to funnel cooling breezes and filter strong winds. (Appropriate in all cooling climates).

Read more on YourHome.gov.au.  Found on Sustainable Living Philippines (which is also a good page to bookmark).

My parents and I always talk fondly of my grandmother’s kitchen in Bicol, which was small but no less efficient! Its key feature was the banggerahan, an open-air shelf or balcony for hanging plates and glasses to dry.

Lola Chedeng made good use of her banggerahan, which I learned is also called pinggahan (it’s meant to house plates or pinggan after all!).  In her tiny U-shaped kitchen, floor space was minimal but it also made everything within reach.  One minute you’re facing the sink; turn to your left and voila, there’s the range.  Turn once more to your left and there’s the ever reliable banggerahan, which was also used for planters for growing herbs.

From that kitchen came out many meals that made my dad, aunt and uncle what they are today– strong, healthy and well-fed with love.

I hope to integrate a simple banggerahan into my Nuvali home, so I asked my dad to make an updated drawing (shown above).  I want it to house not just my plates, glasses, cutlery and potted herbs, but also all the fresh fruits and veggies I don’t want (nor need) to store in the refrigerator.  Underneath maybe I can put my compost pit.

Was also happy to read on PinoyDreamHouseToday.com about Architect Bobby Manosa also incorporating this traditional kitchen feature into his home projects.  Author Jun Sanchez was kind enough to indulge me and share a pic of Manosa’s very sleek banggerahan (look for the link in the comments section).

Oh yet again, so exciting!  So many design ideas, have to work harder to stay true to my design thrust of keeping it simple.   For now though, kudos to the banggerahan and all the other back-to-basics lessons we can learn from our grandparents!