Project: Midori Uchi
Architects: Naikoon Contracting & Kerschbaumer Design
Location: North Vancouver, Canada
Photographs by: Ema Peter
Midori Uchi by Naikoon Contracting and Kerschbaumer Design
Have you ever thought of your home as a power plant which produces more energy that it consumes? Well, some people have and they have created one of Canada’s most eco-friendly houses with three different levels of green certification to prove it.
This home is called Midori Uchi and it was a joint effort between Naikoon Contracting and Kerschbaumer Design. The name of this home wasn’t chosen randomly as well, “Midori Uchi” is Japanese for “Green Home” which is exactly what this home is.
From the architects: “Award-winning, ultra green Naikoon Contracting Ltd. is thrilled to open its reclaimed wooden doors to its latest residential project, Midori Uchi. The home is among the first in the Lower Mainland to be completely net-zero, meaning it produces more energy than it consumes in a year.
Meaning “green home” in Japanese, Midori Uchi features net-zero designs and net-zero capabilities, state-of-the-art energy production and conservation abilities, grey water filtration system, subtle, natural Japanese inspired influences, and the only residential rammed earth wall in urban Metro Vancouver.
“With Midori Uchi we took current residential standards to the next level, using some of the most advanced sustainable systems and innovative, eco-friendly building materials available,” said Joe Geluch, President of Naikoon Contracting Ltd. “Not only did we use reclaimed lumber and fill from a warehouse two blocks away, but we sourced almost everything locally.”
In Midori Uchi, Naikoon Contracting Ltd. has created beautiful, innovative urban density in a typically single, detached home area, drawing praise from Mayor of North Vancouver, Darrell Mussatto.
“The City of North Vancouver is pleased to have this unique sustainable home in our community,” says City of North Vancouver Mayor Darrell Mussatto. “The environmentally sensitive features of Midori Uchi’s design contribute to the City’s efforts to reduce our ecological impact.””
