Archetype Sustainable Housing

Today, we had a marvelous day!Mom, Michael, Stephanie, and I went to the Kortright Centre to see a model of a sustainable house. It was a semi-detached, and throughout the tour, our tour guide explained to us what special features were within the house. We went into house "A", for house "B" was not yet completed, and learned how these houses reduced our carbon footprint. We learned that because these houses were higher than wider, the heat that is produced in the basement can warm up the house quickly, traveling only up. This house produces energy by solar power, and uses rain water for toilet water. This made sense, after all, why would we use clean drinking water to flush toilets? After using parts of trees for support beams, the rest of the tree would be mixed with other recycled fibres for insulation. We were surprised to learn that the surface of the island in the kitchen was made out of pulp. It looked like slate, and apparently it is called paperstone. As a result 100% of the tree parts would be used up without waste. Also there happened to be a very interesting material used in the house called Roxul. The reason why Roxul is interesting is that it can actually withstand the heat of fire, protecting the house from burning down. I was impressed with how much this house could sustain without the use of an air conditioner or a heater. Both Michael and I wished that we could live in a house like this. Someday.
By Jessica