VERSAE: A Method for Developing Sustainable, Affordable and Energy Efficient Net-Zero Housing Linking Back to Vernacular Architecture

Abstract

The intent of this study was to design produce a comprehensible but user-friendly method that would provide a step-by-step process and guide in originating sustainable, affordable and energy efficient net-zero residential housing. The right-step procedure of the VERSAE Method was linked to the traditional vernacular architecture of the Hopi, a Native American people who still reside on part of their aboriginal lands in northeastern Arizona. The process combined traditional strategies identified in local vernacular Hopi architecture with modern strategies to successfully design sustainable, affordable and energy efficient (net-zero) housing specifically for contemporary Hopi housing. The process was documented in the capstone project, "Housing for the Hopi Community: Designing Sustainable, Affordable and Energy Efficient Housing in the Hopi Community, Linking to Cultural Patterns of Sustainability". For this thesis, the VERSAE method and process was replicate to create a sustainable, affordable and net-zero housing prototype for the Omaha Nation located in Nebraska with significantly different climate, environment, local materials and cultural patterns. Both case studies validated the VERSAE method as conductive to sustainable, affordable and energy efficient (net-zero) housing design.