Many designers and architects have been creating small structures to meet futuristic ecological challenges. However, some designers are going above and beyond a miniature escape pod. The new Ecological Living Module (ELM) has been designed to demonstrate strategies for residential construction that meet the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) while providing high-quality, efficient, and flexible housing.
The Ecological Living Module (ELM) is solar powered and has an exterior living wall.
Designed by Gray Organschi Architects in New Haven, Conn. and developed in partnership with the Yale Center for Ecosystems in Architecture (CEA) and UN Environment, the ELM is a 236 square foot home that is adaptable for both domestic and commercial use. It is made of renewable, bio-based and locally sourced materials, and has both passive and active sustainable and environmental management systems.
The ELM has both passive and active environmental management systems.
The ELM is designed to be completely independent from the power grid. It can also be adapted to a variety of climates. The home’s built-in systems include solar energy, on-site water collection, micro agricultural infrastructure, natural lighting, plant-based air purification, passive cross-ventilation, radiant cooling, composting toilet, and a microfarming exterior wall. This live wall can produce both food and oxygen for the home.
The interior is lit with a daylight ceiling and cooled with cross ventilation.
The interior features a living space, tiny kitchen and bathroom and a sleeping loft.
The sleeping loft has a wall dedicated to plant-based air purification.
This particular model has a simple interior with a built-in living space and a tiny kitchen lit by the daylight ceiling. A ladder leads to a sleeping loft and the bathroom’s composting toilet feeds the living wall. The ELM takes about four weeks to be fabricated off-site and only two days to install. The first demonstration ELM was installed in on the United Nations Plaza in New York City.
Photos by Gray Organschi Architects and David Sundberg/Esto
By Christina Nellemann for the [Tiny House Blog]