Examining Older Houses to Improve the Characteristics of Buildings of the Present and Future

Last week, we visited the university's Gable House, a model for sustainable design. The Gable House is an example of a housing unit that follows the standards and principles of the Passive House Institute. With these standards, the Gable House is an innovative building that efficiently makes use of natural elements as well as compliments the processes of sustainability. Sadly, not all buildings are like the Gable House. That is, there are very few buildings that are as innovative as the Gable House. Despite this being the case, people can try to study existing buildings to better understand the dynamics within their framework. Maybe by studying the dynamics of these familiar buildings, we can improve their components (like how they manage natural lighting) to make them more environmentally friendly.

Over break, I decided to study the home of my grandparents. I chose to study this building because I thought most of my classmates would examine their own homes, so I decided to do something slightly different. My grandparents’ house is located a mile away from mine in the same neighborhood of Jefferson Park. Their house was built in the mid-1950’s, so it is not a new house and as a result it does not have innovative features that might be found in a home built today. The house is found on a North-South street and the building’s façade faces east. As a result of its site, the house is not able to take advantage of sunlight like a house on an East-West street. The façade of my grandparents’ house also has windows that are not very large. These windows also have awnings, so not a lot of natural light gets into the house. This issue with natural lighting could possibly be improved with the installment of larger windows or modifying the awnings so they don’t deter too much sunlight away from the home. Even though the front of house doesn't get a lot of light, the back of the house does. There is an enclosed porch on the other side of the house that faces west. This porch area has extremely large windows. The porch area also has white walls, so this place in the house is always extremely bright as well as warm. Whenever my family and I got to visit my grandparents, we usually sit around within this enclosed porch because it is a great place to relax, talk, and bask in the sunlight.

Like many houses in the city of Chicago, my grandparents’ house is heated by a natural gas furnace. In the winter, this furnace is used to make sure the house is heated comfortably for my grandparents. Even though most of the house is quite warm in the winter, there are some places where one can feel a draft. Small drafts can be felt near the windows of the house. A bigger draft can be felt near the door that connects the house to the enclosed porch. At times this is problematic because I know whenever I am in the kitchen of my grandparents’ home (the room that the enclosed porch is next to), I feel cold. This could probably be fixed by installing better windows within the porch, or maybe even fixing the door that connects the two sections together. 
           In the summer, there are some components within or near the house that help manage the temperature of the dwelling place. As I mentioned earlier, most of the windows have awnings. These awnings do limit the amount of sunlight that comes into the house, but they also provide shade. There is also a medium-sized tree in front of house. During the summer, the tree casts a shadow on the house, thus providing a natural form of shade. From the awnings to the tree to the house's porch, these components affect the building envelope of my grandparents' home in one way or another. 

            Through the descriptions I have provided, one is able to realize that the house of my grandparents is no Gable House. That is, this house does not possess state-of-the-art innovations, or take advantage of natural resources as efficiently as possible. My grandparents’ house is not perfect, but through studying such older houses one can better understand the foundational ills that such buildings posses. By examining these problems in depth, we can in turn learn how to better construct and/or fix up existing houses in our neighborhoods. With such knowledge and some effort, people can make sure their houses have better building envelopes as well as be able to make use of natural features as efficiently as possible.