David R Hoover, Architect, NCARB

Here is a home designed for Universal Design in Washington D.C that was sponsored by AARP: http://www.aia.org/aiarchitect/thisweek08/0627/0627p_aarp.cfm I know that it is tempting to design homes with doors that are less than 3'-0" or bathrooms that are not wheelchair accessible, but after taking care of my grandmother in my 1970s home, I will make sure that my firm will at least follow fair housing guidelines and at most go with the ANSI 117.1 standards or a Universal Design. Most of the design elements that are in Fair Housing Guidelines are not cost prohibitive and actually make good design sense, so for any type of residential construction this should be required. For the Fair Housing Design Manual, please go to this HUD link: http://www.huduser.org/Publications/pdf/fairhousing/fairintro.pdf Here is a link for Universal Design: http://www.design.ncsu.edu/cud/pubs_p/docs/UDinHousing.pdf

Geoff Gjertson, who is an Associate Professor at University of Louisiana at Lafayette and a formal employee of Holly & Smith, presented the BeauSoleil project during a lunch on Wednesday. The BeauSoleil is a solar home that is based on regional architecture and will be submitted to the Solar Decathlon in Washington, DC from 09/17 to 10/06 of 2009. For more information on the project, please go the following link: http://www.beausoleilhome.org/

This is a interesting and unique idea for a house: http://www.usatoday.com/money/economy/housing/2008-07-14-shippingcontainers_N.htm Of course, if you could ship your house to other areas of the world, then it would be fairly useful.

Here is a very cool miniHouse that can be connected to the back of your truck and set on site without a foundation: http://sustain.ca/ Plus, it is not a trailer, but it still qualifies as a Recreational Vehicle.