sierraclub.org - sierra magazine - may/june 2012 - nano-houses - silo house

DOWNSIZE ME | Giga-Living in Nano Houses

Text by M.P. Klier

Chris Goodney

Silo House (506 square feet)
Cornell University

The corrugated steel cylinders of Silo House are both a nod to the grain elevators of upstate New York and a key component of its solar thermal system. Its three silos/rooms (living room, bedroom, kitchen) flank a square courtyard, and a photovoltaic canopy hovers above the whole. More than 150 Cornell students worked on Silo House for the 2009 Solar Decathlon, and it is now a private residence on Martha's Vineyard.