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Primitive Stones to Cool an Upscale LA Home

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This remodel in downtown Los Angeles by architect Jeremy Levine of his own home makes a very interesting use of rather primitive stones used in a passive heating and cooling design. The sort of low tech green building that you might more likely expect to see in Mumbai.

One wonders how the building inspection with the Los Angeles Building Department went.

Apart from the stones, all is architecturally correct LA style. Hand shaped adobe wall, check.

Sliding louvered screens outside, check.

Contrasting the delicate warm hues of exterior wood louvers with gorgeous concrete form, check.

But this house is actually a serious attempt to plot a path to a naturally cooled interior without resorting to fossil fuels for air conditioning for its hot Southern California climate.

The rocks are so that a breeze passes through to this outdoor room, while deflecting the hot afternoon sun. At night the warmth is gradually released from the stones in the evening as the night air cools it.

The home includes a solar energy system, recycled wood ceilings, rain water collection, and Grey water recycling in addition to the passive thermal rock wall.

All of the counter tops and sinks and tubs are poured in place concrete using 50% recycled fly ash, binding them safely into the structure.

Rainwater is harvested in some serious trenching in the yard to water trees. Just using reclaimed water, it delivers water directly to the roots of the plants, avoiding the evaporation that makes surface irrigation wasteful in Southern California’s  arid climate.

A series of linked descending concrete planters use plants that oxygenate the soil naturally purify the household greywater . Recycled redwood was screwed into the form work and then left embedded in the surface of the concrete creating a ‘marimba’ pattern.

This house is green and gorgeous.

Susan Kraemer@Twitter