Everyone looks relax before a courtesy visit with Gov. Hirai

Everyone strain with the tension with Gov. Hirai

Mr.Kobayashi tell Gov. Hirai about this exchange program.

Ayaka explain this exchange program with sample pictures.

Group photo with Gov.Hirai.

Yukihiro accept an interview

Shinji Hirai
Shinji Hirai (平井 伸治, born 1961) is the governor of Tottori Prefecture in Japan, first elected in 2007. He graduated from the University of Tokyo in 1984 and joined the Ministry of Home Affairs upon graduation.
(From Wikipedia)

This is a picture which was taken at The Empire State Building in NYC

by the way I cannot use Facebook
sorry

17 Syllables

Naka ni midori yama to uchi kon'i me ga deru.

Among green mountains and green houses,

new friendships emerge

like the Spring buds. 

Departure

Exhibit & Farewell Dinner

Studio Hours

Field Day 3

Field Day 2

looks like fun!

konichiwa,

my name is yumiko virant and i am a japanese-american architect living in north carolina. i've very much enjoyed looking at everyone's posts and especially the pictures of the festivities that have been going on this week. my husband and i design and build sustainable homes. i'm sorry that i cannot participate in the vermont activities as we are in virginia working on a small (1000 sf !) and beautiful house. our website is www.virantdesign.com if anyone is interested and i would be happy to help with specific questions that might come up. my email address is yumiko@virantdesign.com. hope that everyone has a wonderful time and hope to hear from some of you.

matta ne,

yumiko

Field Day 1

Welcome Dinner: Mount Abraham Union High School

Hi from Vermont

Hi Everyone,
I'm an architect working for myself in Cornwall, VT, near Middlebury. I design green homes as well as additions and renovations like new kitchens and screen porches. I like the thought being put into these projects and will comment individually. If you would like to see some of the work I do you can look at my website: www.jeanterwilliger.com. I'm looking forward to meeting the Mt. Abe group next week!
Jean Terwilliger

Weather & Matsuri

Hello again,

Tonight I was looking back at the early messages. Ayumi asked about the weather. Kyou: hare, 13 degrees celsius. Raishuu: yuki. Bring clothes for all kinds of weather!

Yukihiro asked about festivals. Every two years there is a Matsuri (Japanese cultural festival) in Burlington. It is sponsored by the Japan-America Society of Vermont and is held at St Michael's College. If you like Japanese food, martial arts, bonsai, flower arranging, music, etc, you should go. There is also a Burlington Taiko group. You can find 2 videos of them performing at Matsuri on YouTube.

Paul H

My program statement

←This is a rough sketch of my dream house.









☆My ideas☆
1　Double window...
(we can keep the house warm in winter, and cool in summer)
Let us suppose we use heater 15 hours a day during winter (5months)
We can reduse kerosene consumption by 60 % if we adopt the double window.
This means, we are able to cut down heating and lighting expenses greatly.
Also, it prevents the dewfall which cause the house going moldy.

2 Exterior thermal insulation...
It keeps the house warm. / It prevents the dewfall.
It prevents the deterioration caused by strong sunlight, ao the house lasts long.

3 Double door...
It prevents the air come into the house directly. It is useful to keep the temperature inside the house comfortable.

4 No snow avalanche roof...
It prevents the the damage of snow avalanche.
We can collect the melted snow on the roof through the pipe inside the house and use it to flush toilet, wash clothes, and so on. (We can also use this water to melt the snow around the house. This is popular in Hokkaido lately.)
Hoever, we have to make the roof very strong in order to put up with weight of heavy snow.


・We can grow plants in the porch.
・We can trail kind of ivy by the window facing the west in order to prevent the strong 　sunlight comes into the house during summer.

My Design

Hi! This is my statement.

1.Building a small and black house. I've seen such as this,but it was very cute. The reason why I chose small is that it enables the family to warm the air in the house easily and black is that it absorbs a lot of solar heat.

2.Having a kitchen garden. It enables the family to bring food without going shopping.

3.Planting trees in the house. It's good to clean the air in the house. Also it plevent the house from drying up thanks to steam transpired from leaves. I want to plant trees next to the Living room,Dining room and kitchen because these place are easy to polute the air.

Solar Decathlon

Hello  Eco-tects,

I forget to say in my last posting that architecture students from several universities are now competing in the Solar Decathlon, where they design and build energy-efficient houses. The finished houses will be on display in Washington, DC. Here is the website address:               http://www.solardecathlon.gov/. You can find more information from Wikipedia. There are also some good videos on YouTube - just search for Solar Decathlon. Check it out!

Paul H

Greetings from Vermont

Hello Everyone,

     My name is Paul Hanke. I volunteered to be one of the architect/mentors for the project. I teach house design classes at Yestermorrow Design/Build School here in the Mad River Valley. I used to teach carpentry at YouthBuild in Burlington. I was assigned to work with Noa, Takoda, Madoka, Naoya and Ayaka, but since there is a shortage of mentors, I have volunteered to work with all the Harwood groups, so send me your designs and questions if you want feedback.

     My wife and I have one son who was home-schooled. He was in the Vermont Youth Orchestra and participated in many musical events at Harwood. He graduated from the Royal Conservatory of Music in Toronto. 

     For 15 years I have practiced the Japanese martial art of Aikido. If anyone is interested (and if there is time in the schedule) I would be glad to teach an introduction to Aikido class at Harwood after school or in the evening for you all (and host families). I love everything Japanese (except wasabi!), so I am happy to be part of this project. I understand that Tottori is famous for its dunes. My favorite Japanese movie is Suna no Onna (Woman in the Dunes). Maybe it was filmed in Tottori?

Konnichi wa,

     Watashi no namae wa Paul Hanke desu. Kenchikuka to Aikidoka to Zen Bukyouto wa desu. Nihon no bunka to tabemono to kenchiku-youshiki wa suki desu. Watashi no Nihongo wa sukoshi desu. Wakari masuka.

     I look forward to seeing your projects and to meeting you in Vermont soon.

Paul H yori

     

Japanese old house

This is my grand mather's house.
It is very old Japanese house.
The house is surrounded by a lot of nature.
It has tradetional japanese design"ENGAWA" and"TOKOMOMA".

my conceptual design

Hello!
This is my 1st draft design.(I'm improving this now...)
As you look, there are many windows face to South.
So we can get sun light and warm.

And top of roof, set up solar panels.
It can do photovoltaic generation, I think.

I heard that winter in Vermont is so cold as you feel some tired and insulation is a problem.

so I choose pair glasses for windows(of course, it doesn't means "Microsoft":).

I want to hear your ideas and answer your questions.
anything is Ok!

Best regard.

Rough Idea

-I've done a floor plan and a 3-veiw sketch, I tried to make this house small, as smaller houses use less materials to make, thus costing less money to build, and are generally more energy efficient than large houses.

-In the little inlet of the house, I apologize for it not being bigger, I have directed the rooftops to pool rain water which can be harvested through a drain, it's too small to be seen

clearly, I apologize again. I also have designed the roof to provide space for 23, maybe 24, 3-by-5 Feet solar panels.

-Also I am considering integrating a green switch into every room. It basically cuts off power to idling electronic devices, it can save alot of energy.

-Something that I know alot of Vermonters do is using compost to fertilize soil, so I will also incoperate that.

-In addition to passive solar heating methods, I intend to incorperate a pellet stove.

I'd really appreciate any comments or suggestions. See you all soon