Our enviromental considerations

Environmental factors

• Sunlight
• Maybe the use of eaves to prevent sunlight from flooding into the space, to prevent the space from becoming to hot during warmer
• Maybe they could be adjustable to accommodate differing seasonal conditions
• Solar panels to take advantage of excessive light energy otherwise wasted

• Warmth
• Insulation will be needed to prevent the space from becoming an oven and a freezer at night
• Air conditioning the unit year round will be expensive

• Wind
• Possible use of wind farms to capture energy as well or instead of solar panels

• Vegetation
• Pretty sparse natural vegetation, any planting needs to be native and not require watering as drought issue is particularly important
• How can the dust issue in the desert be addressed? Screening?

• Precipitation
• How often does it rain and how much?
• Can a water tank be a feasible option as a source of water

• Materials
• The use of metals conduct heat effectively and don’t insulate well so may not be appropriate in this context
• Masonry such as brick or heavy stone is probably the best material when combined with insulation

Space Considerations

• Private Spaces
• Need to have separate bedrooms to prevent cabin fever

• Shared Spaces
• Kitchen/laundry
• Bathrooms, more than one with toilets separate to the bathroom
• Living space – pool table/table tennis?
• Work space with semi private spaces to prevent people from working on top of each other – function room?

Andrew Fehervari, Nicolas Fletcher and Chris Wright