[Andrew Sidford ’82]
By Gretel H. Schueller
If you want to talk about sustainable building with Andrew Sidford ’82, be warned. A smile grows on his face, his green eyes seem to double in size, his super-animated discourse will make you wonder whether someone injected a few shots of espresso into his system…and he might not stop. “I can talk for weeks,” he laughs. Yet his energy is well-placed.
“Buildings have a tremendous impact on the environment,” says Sidford, who has been incorporating green design in his projects since he started practicing architecture in 1985. According to the EPA, buildings in the United States account for 36 percent of total energy use, 65 percent of electricity consumption, and 30 percent of greenhouse gas emissions.
Sidford is standing outside one of his recent jobs, a two-story home with wood siding that overlooks a salt marsh near Plum Island, Massachusetts. It has a slightly nautical feel to it, but nothing looks obviously “green.” A lot of its greenness, however, accounts for what isn’t there. At less than 2,000 square feet, it’s a relatively small home—especially compared to the McMansions sprouting across the country. “Green materials are important, but that’s not the main element,” he says. “The first thing is size. A green home that’s 15,000 square feet isn’t green.”
For Sidford, the first step often involves educating the client. “I try to get them to build as small as possible—to think about the experience rather than the square footage.” Standing in the kitchen, he points, “That’s going to be the dining room, that’s going to be the living room. If you took any of these spaces by themselves, they would be too small.” Instead, the place feels large and airy. An open floor plan, high ceilings, and walls of windows allow these rooms to flow into each other.
The generous use of windows also blurs the distinction between inside and out. Sitting downstairs, you feel as if you are outside surrounded by marsh. That too, is a conscious effort by Sidford, who believes that a building should respect its environment. Even the colors—earthy browns and greens—reflect that spirit. “I wanted it to feel like it was part of the marsh.”
Green design, notes Sidford, is nothing new and at its core is lots of insulation and passive solar design. He points out a few examples: clerestory windows to maximize natural light, interior windows to share sunlight between rooms, and a south-facing glass porch to collect heat in winter.
Of course, he believes you shouldn’t have to wait for the fuel bill to feel the benefits of your green home. “It should be a daily experience.” Perhaps the best example is his “natural air conditioner,” a three-story tower that runs through the heart of the house. Hot air rises into tower, where awning windows exhaust hot air and bring in cool. Sitting at the top, you feel as if you are in your private tree house. Sidford takes in the view and reflects. “If you spend less money on materials and you spend less money on energy and you have a house that is rewarding to live in, you end up with a win-win situation.”
Gretel Schueller profiled Terry Kellogg ’94 in the fall issue of the magazine.