Media advisory: RSVP for St. John ribbon-cutting of home by K-State architecture students
Friday, Aug. 6, 2021
Exterior of the net zero family home prototype in St. John designed and fabricated by Kansas State University students. | Download this photo.
MANHATTAN — A ribbon-cutting for an award-winning net zero family home prototype designed and fabricated by Kansas State University fifth-year architecture students will be at 2 p.m. Wednesday, Aug. 11, at the home, 806 N. Broadway St., St. John.
Media are invited to attend. Please RSVP by noon Tuesday, Aug. 10, via email to media@k-state.edu.
Partnering with Stafford Economic Development, the K-State Net Positive Studio developed the single-family home for the town of St. John. The studio prefabricated and assembled on-site with help from local contractors, Eco Devo interns and staff, and volunteers.
Featuring state-of-the-art appliances and advanced construction techniques, the home will use only one-fifth of the energy used by a conventional home — making it affordable for the average working family. Built as part of the U.S. Department of Energy's Solar Decathlon 2020 Build Challenge, this replicable, high-performance home was designed as a way to replace the community's shrinking housing stock with sustainable and resilient housing while encouraging households to invest in the future of their community.
The K-State home earned three honors in the Solar Decathlon Build Challenge: second place in the market potential category, third place in the architecture category and third place in the affordability and financial feasibility category.
Attending the event will be Carolyn Dunn, executive director of Stafford County Economic Development; representatives from the Kansas Housing Resources Corp, which partially funded the project on the development side; and representatives from K-State, including Michael Gibson, associate professor of architecture and director of the Net Positive Studio. Representatives of other supporting organizations, including the Sunderland Foundation and Federal Home Loan Bank, also have been invited to attend.
Tours of the home will be available to media.
