The comfortably scaled front yard features a large perennial rain garden which requires very little mowing and provides storm water run-off control. The entry utilizes recyclable and easily maintained steel support columns fitted with Cedar 4x4's to warm-up the metal. Both material’s natural resistance to decay will allow for years of maintenance free enjoyment.

a technical description

The Milwaukee Idea Home, began as a design project in an architecture class at the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee (UWM). Led by research fellow Stan Wrzeski, UWM students set out to design a prototype urban house that would combine energy efficiency and universal accessibility features with a sustainable design. The University has remained an active partner in supporting the home's construction, donating consultation services from its College of Health Sciences, College of Engineering and Applied Science and School of Architecture and Urban Planning, and contributing funding from The Milwaukee Idea office on campus. Architecture students are now engaged in refining a design for a prototype multi-family urban dwelling that is planned for the Riverwest neighborhood.  For more background information visit the UWM website at http://www.sarup.uwm.edu/OH!/.

Volunteers landscaping

Upon learning about this project and its potential impact on quality and affordable housing, Wells Fargo through the Wells Fargo Housing Foundation offered a challenge grant. This challenge was soon met by many other partners including We Energies, Milwaukee Metropolitan Sewerage District and Focus on Energy with funding for energy efficiency, stormwater designs and technical support. Other support came from Wisconsin Housing and Economic Development Authority (WHEDA), Wisconsin Partnership for Housing Development, Inc. (WPHD), and Milwaukee Department of City Development.  Atlas Development donated the land.

Mayor at Ribbon Cutting Ceremony. Patio blocks made from recycled fly ash content by a local area small business – SubstiWood, Inc.

When attempting a project of this type it needs an owner.  IndependenceFirst, a Milwaukee non-profit organization stepped forward to take the lead and provided technical assistance and consultation to make the home’s first floor accessible.  IndependenceFirst is Milwaukee’s primary nonprofit resource on access and independent living for people with disabilities.  IndependenceFirst took over project responsibility and will use the home as transitional housing for people with disabilities who are leaving a hospital or institution and seeking permanent accessible housing for themselves.

features of the milwaukee idea home

accessibility

kitchen:

The home was intentionally designed to maximize accessibility in a small living space.  Good design is a functional design for everyone. Wheelchair accessibility is celebrated in the kitchen with its wide paths of travel and low center island with cook top, oven, and breakfast bar.  The KOHLER accessible shallow kitchen sink which contains drains located to the rear of the basins, allows for complete roll-under and is located under the right window overlooking the garden.  To expand maneuverability, the space under the sink was made wider than the sink itself.  Because of the slab on grade, a centralized mechanical room located behind the wall to the right of the kitchen, allows for short hot water piping. Custom built cabinetry by SUP Design.  DuPont CORIAN countertops fabricated  by K.G. Stevens.

Rear Entry

    

Kitchen as viewed from the living room

 ·        Accessible kitchen with wheelchair clearance.

 ·        Accessible oven and cooking surface with universal controls.

 ·        Durable countertops with single color surfaces for high visual    

       contrast for identifying spills. 

bathroom:

The first floor bath was set up in a way to maximize floor space and wheelchair maneuverability.  A corner sink and roll-in shower ad to the ease of use.  One of the main challenges with this type of design is the location of grab bars.  The unit shown next to the toilet folds up neatly against the wall for open floor space. 

                    ·        Grab bars throughout.

·        Grab roll bar in shower.

·        Sink with rear drain for seated usability.

·        Universally designed lever handled faucets.  

First Floor Bathroom

          

Second Floor Bathroom

    

whole house heat exchanging ventilation unit

The heat exchanging ventilation unit for the introduction of fresh air into the home is located inside the hall closet.  There is a constant circulation of fresh air controlled by a variable speed switch which, at a low 24 hr setting allows for the proper consistent air changes per hour in this extremely tight house. When turned up however, the unit can vent the house quickly in the event of moisture build-up or something burnt in the kitchen.  The closet also holds the whole house back-up dehumidification unit which is activated when the house's relative humidity rises above a set point.  Moist air is directed over cold water coils to pull excess moisture from the air.  This in turn creates cooler feeling air similar to an air conditioner, but with much less energy consumption and cost.

Creating "living hallways" allows for efficient use of space and circulation thereby reducing unused floor space, materials, waste, and ultimately costs.  The use of pocket doors helps to keep wide paths for circulation.

The "Living Hallway"

  

View into the second floor mezzanine from the bathroom. The door on the left hides the whole house heat exchanging ventilation unit for the introduction of fresh air into the home.

        

  

Removeable wall

     

removeable walls:

To create an adjustable floor plan, a removable wall was created by D.A. Nielsen Designs.  The wall can be disassembled completely, in sections or removed for its use as a partial partition creating a larger space such as a front gathering room or a library.  With adjustable shelving the design is simple and maintainable.  The use of hollow core door panels as the main wall segments make this an inexpensive option and using end caps make for the finished appearance of a permanent wooden wall.

Mezzanine

mezzanine:

Future expansion was built into this house design.  In this case, the mezzanine could be walled in to make a room.  The main stairway atrium, balcony, and skylight  would remain open still allowing for plenty of daylight and loft-like feel.  A four bedroom house two full bathrooms is possible with only 1400 square feet of floor area! 

 granite widow sills

The careful attention to detail while creating the concrete panel openings and installing the windows allowed the absence of casing, therefore saving time and material consumption.  To dress-up the windows and make them architectural features, while in turn using some potential waste stream materials, the designers worked out a deal with a local granite fabrication company to use countertop backsplash granite cut-offs for the window sills.  Since quantities are typically limited, different granites were used per room.  A beautiful granite "color museum" was the result. 

A view from the balcony. Natural daylight floods the lower and upper levels

                

Skylight transom allows the natural light to illuminate, creating a warmth not associated with artificial lighting. It is especially refreshing in the morning and evening...what a way to start and end the day.

Mechanical closet showing mechanical system. Now that construction is done, closet is covered.

mechanical system

It was felt early on in the project by Stan Wrzeski that by having a centralized "core" mechanical room with all energy consuming rooms (i.e. bathrooms, kitchen, etc.) adjacent and above, energy and material could be saved by making hot water piping as short and as efficient as possible - and this room should be as small as possible for space and energy maximization.  One room about the size of a standard coat closet located off the kitchen houses almost all of the heat producing components.  The large gray box is the geothermal ground source heat pump on top of which sits the waste heat domestic hot water tank.  Using waste heat from the heat pump and hydronic floor heating system as well as some from the temporary fuel cell, this hot water tank stores and provides hot water for the house.  If hot water demand is high and the tank is running low, it is supplemented by the on-demand water heater seen as the thin white box located in the upper left of the closet, maintaining a high level of efficiency. Waste heat provided by the mechanicals will help keep any hot water hotter longer as well as help to heat cooler incoming water some degrees before having to rely on a fuel source to do so.  The fresh air heat exchanger and whole house dehumidifier sit directly on top of this room on the second floor creating a very efficient mechanical stack.

SUP designed built in shelving now covers the hydronic floor zone valves

One of the most important decisions a builder can make in a design like this is to get all of the mechanical room's component contractors (i.e. HVAC, Electrical, Insulation, etc.) to begin planning a team strategy since the space is extremely limited. Behind and above the plumbing wall is the first floor and second floor baths respectively allowing for short pipe runs.  The hydronic floor zone valves in the hallway are now hidden behind some custom shelving by SUP Design.

garage

The Milwaukee Area Technical College Carpentry Program students and instructional staff volunteered their labor and expertise for construction of the oversized height garage.  The garage has a higher then normal entrance and bay for a high roof line van that would accommodate wheel chair accessibility entry and exit.

general:

                  ·        36” wide doors creating clear paths of travel.

·        Casement windows for easier opening.

·        Outlets and light receptacles at reachable heights.

·        No-step rear entry at grade and accessible front porch to enjoy the view and the neighborhood.

·        Upstairs bedroom and bathroom for live in attendant and lift option if desired.

·        Easy use sliding doors.

·        Front loading washer and dryer units.

·        Movable wall on first floor for floor planning alternatives.

·        The home is designed for long term durability and lower maintenance.

·        Rear Patio blocks made from recycled fly ash content by a local area small business – SubstiWood, Inc.

·        Window sills from scrap marble.

·        Porch supports and stairway rails and banister are made from metal for its durability and potential for recycling.

stormwater and landscaping features                                                                        

ground-level gutters: Rather than gutters fixed to the roof, ground-level gutters collect and convey stormwater and snowmelt away from the home foundation and into the yard. This reduces the amount of maintenance required on the gutters and will minimize roof ice dams, and makes any maintenance far easier to perform.

drainage toward ground-source heat transfer coils: Ground-level gutters direct water across the eastern and northwest portions of the lawn toward the home's ground-source heat transfer coils, buried about six feet underground. The heat pumps operate more efficiently in moist soil conditions, so this drainage pattern adds to the environmental compatibility of the site.

rainbarrel: Gutters along the roof of the garage direct rainwater into a rainbarrel that is made from a recycled pickle barrel. The rainbarrel temporarily stores water for later use on landscaping, and can overflow during large storms into landscaping and a raingarden. Rainbarrels such as these are available for purchase from MMSD at cost.

raingarden: A raingarden at the northwestern and southeastern corners of the site are located at the lowest locations on the property. The rain gardens are designed to capture rainwater before it leaves the site, thus reducing stormwater runoff that would otherwise enter into the combined sewer system. Deep-rooted plants in the raingarden help to infiltrate water into the ground and provide plant evapotranspiration, and a water quality benefit as well.

porous pavement: Porous pavement was used to construct the back walkway and parking pad. This will allow stormwater to infiltrate into the ground rather than running off, providing a further reduction in stormwater runoff from the site.

energy efficiency features

            construction and design features -

• Masonry walls with urethane insulation sandwich in the center; this insulating block will create a quiet indoor and air tight environment.
• Shallow, frost-protected foundation that requires no footings and reduces excavation costs.
• Well insulated roof to R-42. 
• In-floor hydronic heating in an open-space plan that yields greater thermal comfort with a smaller mechanical system. 
• Louvered skylights that afford solar heating in the winter and an open space design for natural year round daylighting. 
• Vaulted interior spaces that create a feeling of spaciousness, while promoting natural air circulation to cool the home in summer.   
• High Quality Windows and Doors

geothermal heating and cooling - The home is heated and cooled with a ground source heat pump.  A slinky arrangement of tubing filled with glycol is installed over 6 feet deep where soil temperatures approximate the annual weather of about 48 degrees Fahrenheit.  The landscaped rain gardens above the geothermal slinky field help stormwater permeate the soil making the soil wet and more efficient at heat transfer to the glycol liquid within the buried coils.  The heat pump is hooked up to the built-in-floor hydronic heating and cooling coils.

air to air heat exchanger – These units are about 80% efficient at exchanging room air for fresh outside air and keeping the climate controlled air inside the home.  The home is Energy Star rated and requires this air exchange to eliminate carbon dioxide buildup from respiration by the human occupants.  

fuel cell – The fuel cell is a two year feature of the home that was installed for research purposes.  One of We Energies goals is to investigate and demonstrate new products and services, such as fuel cells, in order to learn what the advantages, opportunities and limitation are.  The demonstration of new technologies at select customer sites will help us gain knowledge and experience in distributed generation, and allow us to anticipate our customers' needs in the future.  The fuel cell provides electricity and winter heating to the home.  The home can operate independently of the fuel cell. 

A data acquisition system for the fuel cell will be added in the near future.  The equipment will monitor the home’s temperature and humidity levels of the upper and lower levels.  This data collection will aide in evaluating the performance of the geothermal heating and cooling system.  Occupants will be surveyed over time for documenting their feeling of comfort level while living in the home.

The fuel cell is a “proton exchange membrane” (PEM) type.  It generates up to 5 kilowatts of electricity, more than enough for the needs of the home.  It operates on natural gas.  The fuel cell contains a reformer which converts the natural gas into a hydrogen rich fuel.  The power generation component of the fuel cell is called the stack.  The stack consists of 88 sets of catalyst containing plates each with a PEM membrane where the hydrogen fuel is reacted with the oxygen in air to produce electricity and water.  Platinum is used as a catalyst in both the reformer and the stack.

The only emissions from the fuel cell are carbon dioxide and water vapor.  The carbon dioxide emissions are significantly less than those from combustion driven electricity generating sources.  The fuel cell also has a heat recovery loop between it and the home which will provide almost all of the heat energy required to heat the home when the fuel cell is in operation.

funding energy efficient innovative projects

Wells Fargo Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgage, through the Wells Fargo Foundation are proud to partner with the many organizations involved in the Milwaukee Idea House to help improve the qualify of life for residents in our communities. Working together we can create safe, comfortable, affordable housing and further the dream of home ownership for all Americans.

project partners

http://www.we-energies.com/

http://www.sarup.uwm.edu/OH!/

http://www.independencefirst.org/home/index.asp

http://www.mmsd.com/home/index.cfm

http://www.wellsfargo.com

http://www.wifocusonenergy.com

http://www.wheda.com/ 

Spring 1999: Original Design Team - UWM S.A.R.U.P. starting from scratch        

Stan Wrzeski - Faculty/ Project Coordinator                

Utkarsh Ghildyal           

David Nielsen      

Mark Smith              

James Stearns   

Tricia Strash