The Whole HOG: May 2012

Water-centric Green Design News

“It’s all about how much room a school can give up on the playground. It was the design details of the HOGS that made a water catchment system possible for this school.”
-Kat Sawyer, San Francisco Green Schoolyard Alliance’s Tap the Sky

Kat Sawyer, Tap the Sky’s project manager, was instrumental in coordinating the 2010 installation at McKinley Elementary School. Seven HOG tanks, collecting rainwater to irrigate the school’s native garden, are virtually invisible underneath a boardwalk that has become a new play space for students.

Architecture for Humanity features HOG and the McKinley School install in their new book Design Like You Give a Damn [2]. We’re honored to be included in their compilation of people-friendly designs that create social change and make a positive impact around the world! Read more about the book in our B.U.G. Design section.

Read on to find out more about how HOGs maximize space and continue to nurture young sprouts, plants and children alike, in schools like the John J. Daly Elementary School in New York.

And closer to home, a LEED Platinum spec home designed by architect Geoffrey Butler demonstrates how seamlessly the HOG modular system integrates into a modern, environmentally-friendly California home design. Preview The Trickle-Up Effect in San Francisco Magazine.

HOG designer Sally Dominguez is adding to her laurels with a nomination from Advance 50 From the Future as an influential Australian innovator. Check it out here.

May 2012: San Francisco Magazine – The Trickle-Up Effect

Architect Geoffrey Butler’s LEED Platinum home design features state-of-the-art water reuse

Sausalito-based architect Geoffrey Butler’s $2.9 million Marin spec home brings up-to-the-moment architectural design to a water-wise home.

©Philip Harvey

Profiled in the June 2012 design issue of San Francisco Magazine, the Geoffrey Butler home, located in Mill Valley, saves up to 61,000 gallons of water per year.

A 4-HOG installation (hidden under the deck) converts showers into lawn water, and an additional 15 HOG tanks are used to flush the toilet in the 5-person home for up to 8 months out of the year.
How does the HOG modular rainwater catchment system work in this Mill Valley home?

©Philip Harvey

Toilet Flush                                                 Gray Water System
rainwater                                                   shower and bathtub water
[goes to]                                                                [goes to]
15 HOGS behind garage                              4 HOGS under deck
[goes to]                                                                [goes to]
toilets                                                                      garden

Check out the magazine in print if you’re in the San Francisco area or see it online here (we’re on page 72-73).