100 Mile House

Last week the Architectural Foundation of British Columbia announced the winners of the 100 Mile House competition. The participants were to design a house within certain size constraints, made entirely from materials grown, manufactured, or recycled within 100 miles of Vancouver, where the contest is based. Student entries were also allowed and encouraged, and a separate category was made for just for them.
While none of the winning designs will likely be built, the contest has raised awareness about sustainable building methods and caused the contestants to develop an entirely different design process. Even further than change in process of design is the resulting product. Just as the 100 Mile Diet has caused people rethink their eating habits and understand where their food comes from, the 100 Mile House has caused the concept of a living space to be reevaluated and redesigned to fit a new range of needs.
One downside to building a "locatat" is the higher cost of local materials. The fact is that 100lbs of lumber is more expensive when it's reclaimed from existing structures than when they're clear cut from massive forests. However, raising general awareness about alternative building practices and materials is the first step to making an affordable zero impact house a reality.
So what's the next step? Involving students in this contest was a great way to tap into unused resources and get some ideas that stray away from the conventional, and should be encouraged in more design competitions. Even sticking to standard building methods, one of the house simply used steel, concrete, and glass, all produced near Vancouver. Just from buying locally, hundreds of miles are eliminated from the journey of materials.
Overall, the final designs were beautiful and innovative, and the amount of thought that went into the project was astounding. I appreciate contests like this, an look forward to seeing more, and hopefully seeing a gradual change in the way we view the cities and homes we live in.
Here is the link to the 100 Mile House page if you'd like to check it out: http://100mh.architecturefoundationbc.ca/