Corning House Intro

It’s a wonder design students walk into the Design Building and are never heard of again.

Do you ever ponder on what actually happens behind those concrete walls? One of the many projects hatched out was the “Iowa House” built in Corning Iowa by Iowa State’s very own design students.

This 1,080 square-foot house was completed in August of 2011 and priced at $132,000 to demonstrate efficiency and affordability.

According to the news release on the Iowa State’s news service, “The airtight construction, high insulations levels, the smallest furnace on the market, and orientation and windows that maximize the sun’s energy” is all included in this house.

Corning received a grant from the federal Neighborhood Stabilization Program and use the $120 thousand to fund the construction. After the house is sold the money will go back to the city and can be reinvested.

In an energy audit conducted by the Des Moines firm Cynergy, the Iowa House passed without breaking a sweat with an air-filtration test result of 171 cubic feet per minute (1,500 is typical; below 1,00 is considered good). Overall, 92 percent of the Iowa House was energy efficient.

In nearly every area of the Iowa House’s construction, students were there to pave the way. Iowa State graduate and Iowa House co-designer Leah Karns, said that students were split into two groups when the project began: one group responsible for research and the other for the design of the house.

As progress was made, students were then assigned more specific tasks, including creating construction documents, landscape design, working on plumbing and electrical systems in the home and writing the home specifications. “It was not the typical set of specs,” said Karns. “It needed to have enough technical information that the builders would find it useful, but it also had to be understandable to the future owner.”

When someone is searching for a home they tend to look for affordability and attractiveness, neither of which are typically associated with sustainability.

The students who helped construct the Iowa House savored the opportunity to bust this myth. “The Iowa House is a showcase of locally produced affordable sustainable design,” says Mandy McCulley, 2010 graduate of the Architecture program. “This home proves to the community that a home can be energy efficient, affordable and attractive all at once.”

Although the Iowa House is a rarity in construction, co-designer Andrew Bell, currently studying architecture at the Masters level, believes that this home sets a good example for future construction projects.

He said “with increased awareness and a little more effort, private homes can become part of the solution to environmental issues rather than the problem.”

If you decide to you want to know more about how to contribute to a sustainable lifestyle, Iowa State offers 350 “green” courses in over 40 departments in all eight colleges at Iowa State that focus on sustainability. Iowa State will prepare you in leadership for this dynamic and rapidly developing field of environmental studies.

Whether you are an undergrad or a graduate there are opportunities for sustainability related programs as well, in sustainable agriculture.

There is also an initiative to incorporate a few more minors, majors and masters degree in the future. Be sure to look for them on Iowa State’s website as they are constructed.

With each of our “green” footprints left on the planet, we will walk our way right into a sustainable future.

Student designer Damion Spilman, Master of Architecture graduate, urges “don’t wait for a course offering to open up before you start learning about sustainability, get after it today.”