A Sustainable House For The SoutheasternUnited States

Under the auspices of the US Forest Service and the Coalition for Advanced Housing and Forest Product Research, a multidisciplinary team of wood scientists, architects, landscape architects, mechanical and civil engineers are designing a sustainable house for the Southeastern United States on the campus of Mississippi State University. The objectives for this demonstration house are to solve climate-related housing construction problems endemic to hot-humid climates: high heat, humidity, decay fungi, mold, high wind, low velocity ventilation, and various insects, including the devastating infestation of the Formosan termite. The goals of the projects are to develop practical definitions for sustainability and durability for wood-constructed residences for hot-humid climates and to educate the public of how to design and construct a sustainable house and landscape that employs 75 percent less energy than the typical house presently built in the southeastern US, yet maintain a conventional aesthetic. The paper presents a research in progress. It does not present results rather causes and influences as well as strategies and agendas to address the equally significant concerns of durability and energy conservation in wood residential design and construction. The paper is comprised of two primary sections. Firstly, we discuss building decay associated with fungi and insects, which are the predominant causes for natural structural failure in wood structures and for whom countermeasures must be developed to produce durable buildings in the southeast US. Regarding fungi, the focus is on the most economically damaging of wooden structure, the brown-rot decay fungi group. Concerning insects, we address the devastating affect of the Formosan termite. In the second section, we address the social and climatic influences on energy conservation for the southeastern US and present the research agendas and strategies for the sustainable house.