The Coyote House represents a deep design collaboration between architecture and landscape to create an elegant living environment in harmony with nature. Interacting and contributing positively to site nutrient, energy, material and water cycles was set as a baseline with Platinum-level LEED Certification used as an additional indicator of integrated design. While high-tech technologies are a part of the home, many important regenerative and sustainable features of the project are smart but decidedly simple.
Usually photovoltaic panels are placed on the roof and operate from then on in obscurity. Integrating the PV’s into the design to reap additional benefits can expand their role and even help educate about their importance in improving energy performance and lessening reliance on fossil fuels.The result is a PV panel that is clearly identifiable from the underside, and uses both sides of the panel to collect up to 30% additional sunlight/electricity per square foot than conventional single-sided systems.
On the LEED Platinum Coyote House the design incorporated these type of PV’s into a rooftop mirador trellis, where it provides dappled light and shade to make a comfortable place to take in the ocean view. From trellises to carports to facade systems, these types of new technologies can be integrated into design to help make functional and dynamic places to be.
The home fosters a serene lifestyle with an architectural identity that is both environmentally and aesthetically forward thinking, serving as a demonstration of “what’s possible” in design.
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Photos: Tyson Ellis
