Kaua‘i architect Skylar Brown has responded to the island’s high energy prices by creating an affordable home model that self-ventilates. His Natvent design, short for natural ventilation, utilizes the tradewinds to manage solar heat — eliminating the need for costly
Kaua‘i architect Skylar Brown has responded to the island’s high energy prices by creating an affordable home model that self-ventilates.
His Natvent design, short for natural ventilation, utilizes the tradewinds to manage solar heat — eliminating the need for costly air conditioning units or extra fans.
Aside from earning a living, it was the need to live more sustainably that prompted the architect’s effort to develop the concept.
“I asked myself, ‘How can we trap the heat before it gets into the house and release it before it conducts into the interior space where we would have to get rid of it artificially?’” Brown said.
A multi-function roof passively provides continuous airflow while working with an atrium to suck interior air up and out.
“Eighty percent of heat gain is solar heat conducted through the roof,” Brown said. “This design creates a turbulence that pulls air out of the building naturally.”
A square floor plan allows the homes to be sited to capitalize on prevailing winds without compromising room layouts. This model also makes construction easier and more affordable, he said.
“Since it’s square, I can rearrange it depending on one’s budget… pulling out a bedroom here or putting in a garden there,” he said.
Prices for the 1,500- to 2,300-square-foot homes will be determined by contractors, Brown said.
Natvent homes, he added, can be equipped with solar panels to provide electric energy.
Brown moved to Kaua‘i a year and a half ago, bringing 30 years architecture experience.
“The beauty drew me here,” he said. “Whenever I visited, I felt really creative.”
The Kilauea-based architect said Natvent is just one of the “practical solutions” necessary to change course.
“If we do things how we are now, the earth won’t sustain itself,” Brown said.
Kaua‘i Council member JoAnn Yukimura and North Shore resident Jason Donovan agreed.
“I totally support naturally ventilated homes. We need to conserve energy and I believe that best place to start, at all levels, is with the design of our homes, our stores and our community,” Yukimura said. “Natural ventilation is indigenous to Hawai‘i — it’s how the native Hawaiians did it from long ago… and those who followed, until recently.”
Donovan, who manages an environmental group called Sustain Kaua‘i, said he welcomes anything that cuts wasted energy and reduces electric costs on Kaua‘i — among the nation’s highest.
“It seems to me that this concept would work well here to keep things naturally cool, though we can’t be sure until someone is willing to pay for one to be built,” he said. “Sustain Kaua‘i applauds the efforts of this architect and encourages the County of Kaua‘i and the State of Hawai‘i to support these type of designers who are getting creative by thinking and promoting new alternative ‘Green’ building methods.”
How it works:
To remove undesirable solar air, continuous air intake channels are positioned around the roof perimeter above the eave. Within this cavity, the collected warm air rises naturally.
Passive air turbins near the roof apex induce natural air flow by pulling in and releasing the collected air into the atmosphere.
The result? Solar air stays out of the interior.
A square floor plan works in tandem with the roof’s Natvent design.
The center portion is raised to one and a half times the exterior wall height. Windows are placed on each side of this atrium so outside air can enter, mix with the interior air and flow out.
Since these openings are high and the incoming air is moving, Brown said, the air velocity difference between the ceiling and floor pulls the lower air up and out of the building.
• Nathan Eagle, staff writer, can be reached at 245-3681 (ext. 224) or neagle@kauaipubco.com
