Imagine for Building for the future using wisdom of the past

Solar and wind orientation, recycled wood products, solar panels, wind turbines and geothermal heat pumps.

This is the green movement, a combination of 18th century common sense and 21st century know-how. It is the future of home design and construction -- if or when the real estate market comes out of its current slide. With the help of architects, administrators at Bethlehem Area Vocational Technical School hope to have students ready to use green concepts when the market eventually heats back up.


As part of its building-trades courses, administrators hope to build at least five environmentally friendly houses over 10 years on land across from the school in Bethlehem Township. While students are learning the fundamentals of green design from architects in the classroom, the school is devising a site plan to be submitted to the township for approval. The sale profits from each house will be used to finance the construction of the next unit.

''At this point forward we are going into green design,'' said vo-tech Executive Director Brian Williams. ''I did research. Â… This is the way the industry says we have to go.''
Pat Ruggiero, a senior at Bethlehem Catholic High School, said working with professionals from the Bethlehem firm Spillman Farmer Architects is preparing him for Syracuse University where he plans to major in architecture.

''There's a lot of innovation happening in the field,'' said Ruggiero, 18, of Bethlehem. ''This is definitely going to be a selling point in the future because people will want to save a lot of money [on utility costs] and have less impact on the environment.''

The proposed two-story houses use 1700s design concepts and recycled material that are hallmarks of the nationally-accepted Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Green Building Rating System.

For example, both designs would save energy costs by putting the unheated garage on the northwest corner to take the brunt of the cold winter winds. By putting the patio on the east side of the house, residents could enjoy the outdoors without sweating under the summer sun.

''The first challenge we had as a class is we have to sell it,'' architect Sal Verrastro. ''The second challenge is we have to balance cost and the third challenge is students have to build it.''

Carpentry teacher Chuck Hoey, who serves as the school's house project coordinator, said professional home builders in the Lehigh Valley have told him green design will become the industry staple. But he said, teachers will have to learn the new materials and ideas first so they can teach them to students.

''I don't know a whole lot about LEEDS,'' said Hoey, who is retiring next month and is supervising house construction using traditional methods. Students are now working on a house at 3207 Dublin Court in Bethlehem Township using those methods. ''It grew up while I've been here for so long.''

For several months, Spillman Farmer architects have been serving as instructors for the teachers and students. They have been conducting classes with students in the vo-tech's construction trades, computer-assisted design courses. Last week, the architects unveiled two home design concepts. The computer assisted-design students will meld the proposals into a prototype that can be built and then sold.

''We have to do something viable to sell it,'' architect Russ Pacala said to the class. ''We are not designing a mansion and we are not putting in a swimming pool.''

The wind and solar orientation are some of the low-cost design concepts students will have to consider in coming up with the final design. Other green concepts -- solar panels, 60-year metal roofs, grass-covered roofs, wind turbines and geothermal heat pumps -- typically cost more because of labor. But student labor is free, making the green houses attractive to home buyers who consider Earth Day a year-round celebration.

''We'd like to do at least one green roof,'' Verrastro said. ''Because this is going to be the norm. It will not go away.''

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