MEDIA ADVISORY: Dedication of ecoMOD4 and Kick-off of ecoREMOD

December 10, 2009 — The ecoMOD project at the University of Virginia, in collaboration with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville, will dedicate its fourth house, at 104 Elliott Ave. in Charlottesville, on Saturday from 3 to 4 p.m.

Immediately following the dedication, the city of Charlottesville and U.Va.'s ecoMOD project will kick off "ecoREMOD," a sustainable historic preservation demonstration project. That event – located next door at 608 Ridge St. – will begin at 4 p.m.

Parking is limited. Those attending are asked to car pool and park on Old Ridge Street, First Street, or in one of the parking lots at Tonsler Park or the IX Building.

The house to be dedicated is called the "THRU House." The house, which will be owned and occupied by the Andesha family, draws its name from a design strategy that aligns window and door openings across from each other to emphasize the direct connection in all directions to a view outside. Despite the tight square footage, the strategy helps make the home feel larger than it appears.

More information about the two projects is available here.

ecoMOD is a research and design, construction and evaluation project at the U.Va. School of Architecture and School of Engineering and Applied Science that aims to create a series of sustainable, prefab housing prototypes for affordable housing organizations. The goal is to demonstrate the environmental and economic potential of prefabrication, and to challenge the modular and manufactured housing industry in the U.S. to explore this potential. In the context of this multi-year project, an interdisciplinary group of architecture, engineering, landscape architecture, historic preservation, business, environmental science, planning and economics students participate in all phases of the project.

ecoMOD director John Quale, Habitat for Humanity of Greater Charlottesville executive director Dan Rosensweig, U.Va. Executive Vice President and Provost Tim Garson, Architecture School Dean Kim Tanzer, School of Engineering and Applied Science Dean James Aylor, ecoMOD engineering director Paxton Marshall, Charlottesville Mayor Dave Norris, 2009 Architecture School graduate and ecoMOD4 project manager James Perakis and homeowners Nasima and Fazel Andesha will provide remarks and be available for interviews following the ribbon cutting.

— By Jane Ford

Media Contact