Modern Prefab Update:

It is morning in the net zero prefab house kit.
I am blearily sipping coffee, and the 5 year old just walked up and said,
"Momma? This feels like home."

Last night both children woke up separately, and with them, individually, we finally watched the stars and listened to the coyotes howl together.

It has become habit here for the 5 year old to awake waaaaay after the animals have melted into dawn and sit with me, along the south windows overlooking the trail, loudly chattering while seeking wildlife.

So for her to finally join me before dawn, in the dark, and quietly listen to all the night sounds as I always do, alone, was... so nice to share it with them, for I have been listening for years by myself while the family slumbered... You should have seen her bright eyes and smile: she heard the coyotes, an occasional cow, and many birds of the night.

She even saw her first shooting star. : )



Sooooooooooo... Let's talk about the bedrooms.
We have neglected that middle bedroom while camping in the prefab.

We have two queen sized air mattresses on which we've been staying while camping in the house kit.
We put one in the west bedroom, and one in the east, which is supposed to be our room. Through this sleeping arrangement over the past months, I am now rethinking it- the west bedroom, intended to be the 6 year old's, might actually work better for the adults- we are tending to sit at the dining table at night, so I imagine that might be the "late night talking area" vs. the other side of the common room, and the east bedroom is closer to the bathroom so it might be better for the 6 year old when he has little friends stay the night.

So as we re-think the purpose of the east & west bedrooms, I suggested,
"Why don't y'all sleep in the five year old's middle room tonight, and we'll try out the west bedroom?"

It didn't work out that way.
Somehow a child fell asleep on EACH bed, so the boys were in the west room and the girls in the middle bedroom.

And let me tell you... that middle, overlooked bedroom is FABULOUS.
It is PERFECT for a little wildlife watcher!

When she awoke, instead of leaving the warm bed for the rocking chair along the south windows to seek animals, we just turned over under the covers and looked out that long, vertical window where we had a clear view of the field. I am certain she will see many things over the years from that lovely view.

Because the house kit is made of SIPs (structural insulated panels), the inside sounds tend to... stay inside.

The dogs were being loud- the mastiff-mix happily-with-tail-wagging-and-heavy-breathing his acknowledgment of our nighttime alertness, the other shaking his tail happily and jingling his tags as he greeted us, and Handsome Husband... well...
Handsome Husband was snoring.

So, from the comfort of our bed, I reached out and opened that vertical window, and suddenly the night sounds filtered in.

Similarly, those high windows in each bedroom ROCK. During the day, they allow light in while providing privacy. At night, I tell the children to lie down, heads on pillows, and look up: they are perfectly placed to view the stars!

Although progress has been maddeningly slow (no one's fault but our own), it has really given me time to evaluate how we are *really* using the space, vs. as I had envisioned we would.

Imagine if I wanted to switch rooms after decorating one room very mod and adult, the other decorated for a little boy! So by camping in and using the space thus, I can make sure everything is finished where it is appropriate for YEARS of use and enjoyment.

Now I am off to sweep (again, thank you, myself-in-another-dimension for NOT choosing bamboo and embracing the easy-to-clean concrete with fly ash! My other-self-NOT-in-another-dimension would have LOST IT when the 6yr old decided to give the dogs "dirt baths" whom, after I finished sweeping, came in to flop...and it was awhile before I noticed the piles of dirt here, piles of dirt there... "What the heck?!?" then he 'fessed up...) and organize as Ron will build bathroom walls this week, just in time, for... well, one of my best friends is supposed to visit next week from NEW YAWK CIT-AY and I am taking her camping in the prefab house kit.

Handsome Husband is busy recycling leftover wood from framing to make stairs, and the 6year old has proudly added a um, nice doormat he snatched from the waters of the Bay while sailing last weekend and thinks it's perfect to reuse here.
I support his enthusiasm to reuse! But... um, it's not quite mod.
But, hey, it's reuse, so I applaud.

(So if you come to the Prefab Open House September 26th and notice a faded doormat that's all frilly / West End housewife-y, that's the story behind it. Please tell the 6year old you think it's a *lovely* addition to the decor.)

 

Prefab Modern House Kit Covered By NBC 12 & Charlottesville's C-ville

Well... While we were off at the beach... the net zero prefab modern house kit was being talked about! NBC 12 covered the off grid prefab house on Tuesday:

See the prefab video here!

Then today, Charlottesville's C-ville wrote about the modern prefab house:

"Little houses that could

Green Modern Kits offers prefab, energy-efficient houses through its website.

Hankering for an energy-efficient, maybe even off-the-grid house that won’t carry an upper-middle-class price tag? Check out Green Modern Kits, a Virginia-based company that offers affordable prefab kit homes through its website, greenmodernkits.com.

Founder Copeland Casati tapped Charlottesville architect David Day as part of the design team for the houses, which are built of SIPs (structural insulated panels) and designed to work as passive solar homes if oriented correctly. That adds up to savings on the front and back ends. And if your aesthetic is more traditional, try Casati’s other site, greencottagekits.com.—E.H."

 

Prefab Homes Mentioned in Design * Sponge!

We were thrilled to hear our affordable prefab homes were mentioned in Design *Sponge's Richmond city guide! Several of our prefab architecture firms are here, including Grace Street, who designed The R1 Residential prefab, and Tektonics, who designed the Green Cabin Kits prefab homes. (Grace Street's R1 Residential architect, Morgan Pierce, is in their San Francisco office enjoying the Pacific breeze.)



From their site:

"Design*Sponge is a daily website dedicated to home and product design run by Brooklyn-based writer, Grace Bonney. Launched in August of 2004, Design*Sponge was declared a “Martha Stewart Living for the Millennials” (NY Times, 2008) and features store and product reviews, city, product, and gift guides, diy projects, before & after furniture and home makeovers, home tours, recipes, videos and podcasts, and trend forecasting."

In the meantime...
We hope you all have been enjoying your summer.
Here, hedges are filled with blackberries, the children are barefoot chasing chickens, dogs lounge hotly against cooler floors, and we are hard at work to offer you affordable, prefab house kits.

Ron is busy framing the interior, and we will check on his progress this weekend. It has been a frustrating week for him- his generator (don't forget he's building the house kit off grid) died last week, was a few days in the shop for repairs, then, after dragging it out to the land, broke again Monday. We ended up going ahead and buying our own generator at that point, as we will need it anyway for our off grid systems back up.

I am looking forward to visiting this weekend and seeing the changes in the prefab house!

 

Last Look At Prefab Zero Energy House Kit Before Framing

I headed for the hills mid-week to take a last look at the prefab house kit before interior framing begins. I admit I fear I might miss the look of the structural insulated panels (SIP)! You might have seen in the previous post my aunt left the particle board "as is" in her own gorgeous home (3rd video down in the post), and I find it appealing.

If we hadn't already found the gorgeous, recycled VMI floorboards to reuse in our interior, along with other recycled finds, I would be seriously considering just painting the SIPs on the inside and calling it a day.



Here's a video of a last walk through the wide open / no interior SIPs prefab house kit:
(I'm sure it will take awhile to download, I tend to go on and on a bit...



Once interior walls are built, the off grid energy efficient systems will be installed: solar energy and heat, rainwater collection and filtration, and more. I guess I will no longer say I'll be "camping" in the house kit... : )
Instead, we'll simply be off grid, zero energy, prefab-ulously done.

 

Wha? Oh, Back To The Prefab Zero Energy Off Grid House Kit Built With SIPs!

Well, it has been a crazy few weeks. We got my sister married off (and her husband's family is from Seattle so they came in early to spend time with their Virginia family here so it was not just a weekend but a nice time over awhile of the families coming together)... then I went to New York on business for about a week... (really, it was no fun *at all* ; ) ) Memorial Day Weekend appeared out o' nowhere, but finally, we were able to meet with Ron, our wonderful contractor, this weekend to plan the next phase of the prefab house kit: The Inside.

• To finish the house, we need financing. The financing we did earlier was to refinance our current home loan because interest rates dropped so much. Now we need to consolidate the *land* loan and finish construction. We're increasing the *land* loan by the amount we need to finish construction since a traditional construction loan in Virginia does not understand or value green building or off grid construction / systems. Once construction is complete and we have a certificate of occupancy, we have been told by mortgage lender of our first house that they will consider refinancing the land *and* house. Because co-op interest rates are higher, Handsome Husband projects that once we have a traditional first mortgage, the monthly expenses will remain the same after the construction is financed. So we will be paying about the same, to do more, after having finished the project!
  
• To get financing, we need to have a quote from our Fabulous Contractor, Ron Bernaldo of Giant Oaks Construction.
• To get a quote from Ron, our Fabulous Contractor, my Handsome Husband needs to give Ron details, a list of systems (down to the model number) so that the electrician / plumber can give us an accurate estimate.
• To get an estimate, we need to have the interior framing done.
• To have the interior framing done, we have to give Ron the customized floor plan. (Yes, people, these house kits are made so you can work with your contractor to make 'em as you want! We didn't change much, just added more room for systems and a nook & cranny for a bookcase...)
  

If ONLY the rest of the personal decisions we make as a family were as easy as it was erecting the actual house kit! So yesterday Ron was given the floor plan, a list of systems is on its way, and he starts the interior framing next Tuesday.

In the meantime, I hope you enjoy pictures from this weekend's off grid prefab-ulous adventure at the end of this long and boring post.

We had some dear friends out, and it was amazing how *comfortable* the house kit was in the heat. Before, we rarely camped this time of year because the sun beating down on our little 1960's Scotty camper in the field was unbearable. In the house kit, it was breezy, comfortable, filled with natural light yet soothing and cool inside. In the winter, the dogs snuck into our beds; now they flopped, lazily collapsed on the concrete.

When I awoke last night to an unexpected thunderstorm, snuggled in my bed as it rolled, rumbling, in, I reflected how our visit in previous years would have ended first thing in the morning, packing up miserable muddy wet dogs and children in the rain. Instead, we contentedly listened to the rainfall as the children played together indoors while the adults slowly woke with steaming strong coffee.

In the house kit, the light was diffused and off the cement, not the sharp slants of light directly on the concrete as it is in winter. That was the first thing I noticed- that yes, the sun was not warming the floor but had moved higher in the sky, and thus prevented by the overhangs to heat. We opened the windows and let in a wonderful crossbreeze. The difference between lounging comfortably in the house kit to walking into the open field under the unsympathetic sun was palpatable- we all remarked on it.

Another thing I noticed was... how grateful I am I chose polished concrete. SO easy to sweep and keep clean. We also have recycled pallets at the doors which have been extremely useful to curtail the dirt- it looks coolio industrial, is recycled, and provides a great function.

We installed the screens, so we don't have to worry about uninvited animals/insects during the night entering from the open windows, and Handsome Husband and Mr. H stopped by the recycling center and plucked a nice tire to create a tire swing for the kids! We hung it off the old oak that shelters the picnic bench. Which, by the way, I picked up a *second* picnic bench for $5 at a yard sale so we can connect them end-to-end and have a fabulous banquet table for lots of guests.

And speaking of guests... we will have an open house in September!

More on this later, but if you would like to tour our prefab off grid zero energy house kit, there is a wonderful bike tour going on in the area on the weekend of September 26th. Bike Heartland is a fun bike tour that goes all weekend long through a gorgeous, historic area of Virginia. I am working with some local farms to have other activities like tours of natural, community supported farms, a winery that will be open for you to enjoy, and more, so pack yer tent and come on down! For more on accommodations, see here (camping at the Heartland Bike Tour), here (Charlotte Courthouse), here (Appomattox), and here (Farmville); and also be sure to visit Miss Emily's, where Necia and her husband will show you great English hospitality. (And boy does she know how to cook.)

So, next, we begin the interior framing. We install systems. We survive children out of school for the summer. ; ) AND some big family reunions scheduled... so June coverage might be a little spotty.

Even after the house is done, we continue crop tree release and increasing function-yet-preservation of the land, so that in a few short years we can be there sustainably full time.

P.s. This north middle window that will eventually be my daughter's room? The children discovered how to open it and then jumped from the sand pile into the house kit, in and out, in and out, in and out... hence my thankfulness on choosing the polished concrete, *again.* There must have been twenty times a day I was grateful for the concrete. Ah the spills. Oh the mud. Gee the sand. And the polished concrete took it, and looked gorgeous.

 

Green Building Virginia Architect, David Day, Shares His Thoughts On The Zero Energy House.

It will be in the mid-90s this weekend and, as there is no new construction to see in the zero energy house kit, we will be instead heading to the river. (That's what we call the Chesapeake Bay in Virginia. It's weird, I know. At least I'm not calling it "The Rivah" as some do...)

Just when I thought I had nothing new to say about our modern house kit, here comes the amazing, green building Virginia architect, David Day, to share his thoughts on the off grid house!

So I now present, the LEED certified, sustainably-conscious, amazing modern designer / architect, David Day!

He writes:

"seeing the casa ti in person for the first time, all the original concepts came back full circle. our goal was to design a shell that could be inhabited and personalized into a home. a blank slate in a way. part of this involved designing without specific site features being known, other than solar orientation and prevailing winds. normally, specific views would suggest window placements etc.

simplicity was desirable on many levels, and has come through in the built home. first, the efficiency of SIP modules, straightforward slab on grade construction gave an economy of installation costs and very little construction waste. it also complements the complex, wild site - farmland partially returned to forest - as a simply structured visual rest space in the landscape.

the efficient shell has only a single load bearing line separating the upper and lower roofs, so interior layout/design can be totally flexible. speaking with copeland and christoph, we could even remove all the interior walls except surrounding the bath space and some storage/utility spaces (christoph even suggested no built in closets, only movable storage pieces as room dividers, and i totally agree). what struck me most about the interior so far is it's comfortable volume and balancing of light, along with the framed views out to the site.

lastly, the way the house sits in this particular landscape suggests its integration: a small natural amphitheater occurs on the east end, with the east walls available as a screen/backdrop. the large oaks 50' or so off the south side form a natural end to an outdoor room of plantings - a slightly tamed version of the meadow landscape on the other sides. some walls as a backdrop for a specimen tree, a place for a snow camouflage summer shade terrace, and so on.

we've been discussing finding a large beer or wine fermentation tank for rainwater collection off the south roof. now is when the house becomes a home, as it fills in with plantings, furniture, color, a reclaimed gym floor as wall finish - the family. exciting times."

We too are looking, excitedly, at the next steps, and look forward to having the Day family back very soon so we can not just focus on the architecture and design, but the friendship between our families and the rest of our life spent there, living.

 

Passive Solar House Kit - In it, we camped!

Still no interior walls (Ron is off building his pastor's house who needs to move in by Easter), but that did not deter us from camping in the house kit.

After four years of camping in the tiny-but-fantastic 1960s aluminum Scotty camper, I have to admit it was nice to lug a bunch o' the camping equipment from the Scotty to reuse in the open, spacious off grid modern house. As I pulled the practical, necessary camping equipment we had relied on for years from our beloved camper, I looked at it anew and realized that a lot of camping equipment is not eco-friendly! When we bought the necessary equipment years ago, it was because the folding chairs, storage tubs, cutting boards, machete knife cases, blaze orange hunting hats/gear were IMPERATIVE to have in an isolated place when camping through all seasons.

Now, in the comfort of the house kit, I'm looking at all this and thinking, "Man. If someone made environmentally friendly affordable camping gear they would make a FORTUNE!"

(Hmmmm. HMMMMM...
...
Nah, I already have too many jobs. But YOU do it!)

I was gone all Saturday at a social media conference nearby, so when I returned the mattresses had been blown up, the sheets and blankets were on, the "solar soldiers" (as we call the solar exterior lights) charged from a day in the sun, and two happy pipsqueaks were jumping and playing in their new passive solar living space.

Just seeing the queen-sized air mattresses in the still-not-framed-in bedrooms gave me a better idea of the room dimensions. Setting out the beds, the card table, chairs along the east side, really gives us a sense of the future finished space. It's perfect. It's open, filled with natural light, yet warm, cozy, interactive without being cramped. I can't wait to see it more furnished. It's getting very hard not to jump ahead and move in.

It had snowed over ten inches earlier this week...
The ground was wet and there was mud.
Oh, was there MUD.
A LOTTA mud.

I swept muddy dog tracks, children tracks, my tracks, his tracks.
(This is starting to read like a Dr. Seuss book, no? Say it ten times quickly.)
Aaaaaand was grateful we had chosen the smooth take-it-all concrete instead of frou-frou bamboo.
(I would have spent the rest of my life trying to protect that floor. It would have been awful. I would have been miserable.)

Yet, just days after a major snowfall, it was so warm this weekend we opened wide the doors wide and WOW could you feel the cross breeze- I can not wait to spend time here in spring! The dogs naturally gravitate to the passive solar sunbeams in the concrete thermal mass- and love surveying their kingdom from the open doorways while listing against the frame, half awake, in the sun.

I went for a nice long (muddy) walk with the 4 year old, watching while she measured creeks with her stick, surveyed the breached pond, and climbed hills with the dogs. A lot of trees had been downed from the heavy snow, so we had to cut some. Don't worry, the ones that fell were scrappy young ones that weren't part of the crop tree release strategy we have. We will never timber; but are trying to help prune and encourage healthy growth of the woods through selection so they can grow strong vs. competing for resources with weed trees.

It was good to hear the frogs.
They, and the bees, have had a rough few years. So to hear them peeping so exhuberantly in March was glorious. (Listen to video, below...)
I remember a few years ago on my family farm noticing that the pond was quiet, the 35' deep pond where I grew up fishing and canoeing and swimming and... listening to peepers. It was so strange to hear the blowing of the wind, the water, and, on that day, no frogs.

Frogs are loud. My entire life had, until then, been filled with the cacophony of peepers and bullfrogs. So to hear the frogs so loudly happy on "the land" gives me hope.

On Sunday, I spent a good bit of time curled up in a chair, reading fifteen year old issues of Countryside Magazine given to us by Ron & Judy while the children and dogs played.

Now HandsomeHusband, I will remind you, is from a large European city. He delighted in the scouting camera he had erected on a nearby tree and what it revealed: two deer stopping by to check out the off grid house kit! I'm including some of that here too.
: )



Here are more pictures, below, than you would EVER want to see of our fun weekend camping in the off grid zero energy modern house kit!
Just click on 'em to get the large version and captions!
(And some videos o' frogs and passive solar musings, below.
Hey, it was a fun, muddy weekend. : )
)

 

Passive Solar Modern House - Energy Efficient House Kit Update

It was in the low- to mid- forties when we arrived on the land and incredibly windy... but inside the modern passive house kit it was a cozy mid-sixty-ish.

Now don't forget that while we may have the exterior weather-tight, we have not yet hooked up systems. So that nice warmth was generated purely by the passive solar design.

This was the first day I have been able to take pictures of the finished structural insulated panels house kit exterior, so I went a little overboard- any of you whom have wondered what the completed outside looks like, well, you have more pictures than you could ever want to satisfy your curiosity. : )

I hope you enjoy 'em as much as I do!

I also apologize for some of the blurred photos- I will take better pictures and buy another 'cheap land camera I can get muddy and not cry about when the 6 year old drops it *again*'- it is clear it has been dropped one too many times.

As I mentioned, it was a very windy, brisk, February day; but inside the modern house it was calm, peaceful. Natural sunlight filtered in and filled the space in a wonderful way.

Really, there's no need for lighting except in the evening in my opinion.

Even without interior walls, the family naturally groups itself in areas of that main common space- we have thrown a fold up table and chairs on the west side where our dining area will eventually be, and some chairs and blankets for sleepy children on the east side where they naturally snuggle down and cuddle with the light falling on them, keeping them warm and secure feeling, as they rest.

I loved how I could (finally!) sit down at the card table and skim a homesteading magazine *while* having a nice view of the children and dogs playing in the dirt, see them, hear them, yet while they ran wild, everything was so calm and cozy where I sat...

Next we paint the west door black, and finish insulating around the foundation by putting foam all around the foundation that is currently exposed in these pictures.

Once that is done, the massive hill of dirt that my children have much enjoyed (yes I rue the day I tell them this) will be pushed back to infill around the house kit.

We also move on to framing the interior, then installing off grid solar and rainwater systems.

But more on that later, in the meantime, enjoy the beautiful day!

Below you will see a slideshow (click to get the bigger version that also has more detailed captions) plus some fun videos I made...

Oh, and yes, my Handsome Husband *did* run out and get us another camera after all these blurred pictures... : )

Ironically because the light was streaming in so brightly from the windows, the camera overcompensated these interior videos so they show darker than what it was in real life. In fact, I think all the pictures are darker as well. I'll take better videos / pictures next weekend...


My dogs were trying to tell me to let them inside as I made this video of the inside...
Look at that last frame, Khan rounding the corner while Pacha is telling me to Let. Them. In!


Here I talk about our vintage camper that, for four years now, has been our sole shelter here. We camp pretty much from early March until late November/mid December in that unheated camper... but cramming four people in there was getting pretty crazy and it is going to make a world of difference to now be able to be here year round in a house. (This video was made *last* weekend hence my reference to the unseasonably warm day- this weekend, it was your typical February temperatures!)

 

Passive Solar Modern House - It was warm with zero energy in today's mod house visit!

It was a crisp but gorgeous winter day and we headed out to the land.
I can't tell you how we all collectively relax but also become so alert / get SO excited as the car crunches slowly down the drive... it's calm in your heart paired with exuberance.
Car stopped by the camper, we tumbled out, and I ran to the modern passive house kit.

It was a cold day. We have no systems hooked up. Ya can't get more, er, zero energy house than that! ; )
Yet when I opened the door to the passive solar house kit, the air inside was noticeably warmer. Not hot-n-toasty, mind you, but the passive solar design alone was enough to keep us from being too chilled. I hustled the cold children inside, and the next time I turned around the four year old was warm enough to have kicked off her shoes. In February.

After getting everyone settled, I headed over to Ron and Judy's to pick up some reused chicken lamps, feeders/waterers for my, ahem, imaginary chickens.

As we visited, Ron updated me on the latest costs so I have updated the construction cost post accordingly here. This currently covers foundation, house kit, erection of off grid SIP house kit, installation of cladding / roofing membrane (we decided to have the north roof be membrane), radiant tubing in foundation... erhm, am I missing anything, readers?

That final danged piece o' cladding has arrived from the vendor, and the Amish will finish installing it (and all remaining cladding, they were waiting for that final piece) this week. So expect great finished pictures next weekend.

NOW, for the interior.
You may have recalled we are in the process of refinancing.
We'd be crazy not to- we have the opportunity to drop over 2 points! But... it seems everyone else in the world has the same idea... so we're just waiting...
And waiting...
And... waiting...


In the meantime, we are still sorting out the VMI basketball court wood with which we will line the interior of that main room in the off grid casa ti. It's a basketball court. Of wood.
So, it's takin' some time.

Like you, we have spent time and thought into what our home will look like so have searched and frugally planned over the past few years so that we won't have to decorate from a big box store.

We have acquired quite a few thrift store recycled / reused furniture finds that look, frankly... amazing. I am excited to put it all together!

But first we need to finish the interior...
And modest systems... (because who needs big systems when you're energy efficient?)

 

Modern House Kit Update!

Doggone it, Vintage Hat Friday has gone to the DOGS! ; )
Our ENTIRE OFFICE has strep and we're all Quarantined!
LET US OUT!!! WE FEEL LIKE CAGED DOGS!!!
Good news?
It's supposed to be in the 60s this weekend, a beautiful opportunity to take more house kit pictures and video!
Bad news?
Oh... that little Quarantine thing...
We should be ok, the quarantine is in effect for 48 hours but who's gonna see us on the land?
However, *I* am the only one who hasn't gotten it, so... you know what THAT means- tomorrow I'll come down with it!
(Knocking fervently on any available piece of wood...)

I would like to tell you why I've been so silent about progress lately...
Remember the Cladding Rant? (Where I railed against manufacturers who didn't get that they could have a business opportunity to offer YOU a 'cladding package' outside of our energy efficient house kits, just like I tell you good rainwater collection / filtration, solar energy and non-electric appliance vendors.)

Afterwards, it was determined they were missing a piece around the north clerestory window area. Well, that final piece doesn't arrive until next Friday. So everything is buttoned up, but the final shiny finishes won't be worked on until the cladding arrives.

But what about the interior? ; )

We will probably be stalled a bit on the interior because...
Well, we're refinancing.
With these interest rates, we'd be *CRAZY* to *not* refinance.
We stand to *easily* lose at *least* 2 points!
But the paperwork will certainly take awhile as everyone else in the nation in our position is having the exact same thought.

In fact, I called to follow up on our application this week and the representative told me our paperwork was 60 applicants behind her current case and that she could not give me a time frame for when it could expect to be worked on.

Am I upset?
No.
I am so happy to be doing this in affordable, frugal stages versus throwing caution to the wind: Don't forget, my mission IS affordable, passive solar energy-efficient housing!

The passive solar house kit itself turned out seamlessly, easily.
That's the important part.
So, once the refinancing happens, we finish the interior walls, and hook up most systems.
Depending on where we are at that point will determine if we purchase rainwater collection / filtration this year, or wait.
The rest? It's all our own, and we will work on it for the rest of our lives, just like the farm and pond we will slowly create.

I am excited to tell you that through my thrifty eye we have easily most of the interior on (at least) its second use. I will have a lot of fun showing the world how stylish that can be. : )

In the meantime... Pacha (hairless dog) and Khan (junkyard dog) are...
BEGGING (ha) for a vote!

 

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling...Passive Philosophy: Invest in Smaller, Better Systems

Rolling, Rolling, Rolling...
RAWHIDE!

Passive home solar design not only enables your home to "work", it allows you to use less to do more.

My green building architect friend Scott Kyle shared an article last week which embodies this philosophy, and is in line with our own thinking:

You don't need a bunch of systems stuff- if carefully chosen, less is more.

In Vivian Loftness's article Free-Rolling Buildings on GreenSource.com,

"More efficient technologies can help us to achieve a 30-percent reduction, but they will never get us to carbon neutrality. For that we need nature’s renewables—daylight, passive solar heating, natural ventilation, natural cooling. We need mechanical systems that are turned off as long as possible, buildings that “free-roll” through hours, days, months, and seasons."

I push down manufacturer prices to give you volume pricing for the passive solar house kits (homes designed by amazing custom architecture firms!), but everything is a huge investment and when having to make a choice between better but more expensive vs. cheap and poorly-made, your best bet is quality, every time.

This is especially true in systems choices.
As our modern off grid house will depend upon energy efficiency, I have been researching the market for appliances that use little or no electricity.

Sometimes the choices I make will not be the most inexpensive, but I believe they will last years longer, even generations, certainly making them the longterm affordable choice.
As I consider decisions I think
1. Invest in efficiency and durability
but also
2. Do we really *need* all "this" (whatever "this" may be)?

One way we financially achieve systems purchases is by doing it in stages- each year we invest in one more thing, paid for in cash.

For Christmas last year I gave Handsome Hubby a...
(drumroll)
composting toilet.
Now that composting toilet is much more expensive than just purchasing "a toilet." (And what a wonderful gift, no? I got even with him for the year he gave me car parts.)
But when you consider our freedom from having to dig pipes to hook up to a sewer, much less the fact that we won't be contributing to sewage... it's a good, long term, affordable solution.

This year, I will be purchasing the refrigerator and freezer.
I have been looking at models that run on propane, and extremely energy efficient electric models that would tie in to solar power. Regardless which choice I make, I am purchasing the smallest model refrigerator for two reasons:
1. less expensive and
2. our philosophy that really, since we will be buying from our neighbors farms / growing much ourselves seasonally, you really don't need the huge storage- much will be canned, preserved, then the refrigerator supplements/keeps what is used that week.

The freezer will certainly be larger, to hold meat seasonally acquired through friends' free range farms or hunting, but I may hold off on that purchase awhile as technology improves (although there IS a nice solar powered freezer I've had my eye on which could be stored in the shed).

In that same sense of evaluating what we "need" in systems, do we *really need* extreme heating and cooling?
Thanks to the passive solar design of our house kit, thanks to the energy efficiency of the structural insulated panels (SIPs), our home will not have extreme fluctuations in temperature, or fast temperature loss/gain.

For heat, we installed radiant heat in the concrete thermal mass.

What about summer?
I discussed this with Ron, our contractor... who, like I, wasn't concerned.
I have never been a fan of air conditioning- heck, our air conditioning has been set to 80 for years, I just like to "take the edge off" of summer. I've always felt that when it's summer, you should be wearing summer clothes- light dresses, sandals... and often wondered about the health effects of working in companies where you must bring a wool sweater with you in August to work because the dial is set to "frigid."

By using a sun shade on the south side, overhangs in the architecture, and letting the cool air in at night while the hot air escapes through the clerestory windows... we expect to be plenty comfortable.

When evaluating systems, my constant question is "how low can we go?"

It will be interesting look back five years from now and whether our systems choices were indeed, too much or little. (I'm expecting them to be appropriate, as I've done much research, but I'm just saying...)

When I initially envisioned our own house kit, I had dreams of cooking over a wood-fueled kitchen stove which would also heat the house... I dreamed of masonry heaters and evenings spent huddled about its warmth with our children...

Instead, I realized I could be zero energy / more carbon neutral by giving up that nostalgic flickering flame, and achieving better, more evenly-distributed heat with solar powered radiant heat. Our solar cooker will help us supplement many tasks that would otherwise be done via baking / cooking.
(You can see some of my early solar cooking experiments here. : ) )

How low WILL we go?
Here are some of the choices I've made:
I have decided I really am not passionate about laundry. ; )
Why consume energy in a clothes dryer when you can air dry your clothes outside? (Heck, in winter I'll just hang them in the bathroom, actually, I could hang them anywhere as the floor is concrete! ; ) )

For washing clothes, I have decided to go waaaaaaaaaaaaay low tech, and low water (don't forget, we have no hook up to water, and the rainwater collection and filtration system has not yet been purchased):

Initially we will use (and then maybe not replace?) the Pressure Handwasher, because the Home Queen Wringer Washer is something I can purchase down the road but don't want to pay cash for now. It will encourage us all to not let laundry pile up, thus needing less clothes.

Handsome Husband makes a great point: In the army, they had to "clean" their clothes with a brush, without water. Now, I'm not going to get that rustic, but it certainly inspires me to make sure the "muck" is off the dirty clothes before washing them, therefore needing less water, cleaning better!

Handsome Husband: "I think frugality is fun in this life exercise. I don't see it as a limitation but as an adventure. It's about being conscious, and realizing you really don't 'need' much."

It's also reflected in our interior design.

Unlike a lotta "prototype" homes you see, we are reusing (mostly) thangs we already have and not asking for design handouts in exchange for "publicity." Like you, we have accumulated carefully over time our favorite things, that make a house a "home," that really reflects our family.

Because, like everything, we have carefully considered the future, over years of thrifting and reuse... we dream, we plan, we scavenge. : ) And make it fabulous.

 

Modern Passive Solar House Kit with Cladding

Here are the latest pictures of our modern passive solar house kit!

Handsome Husband returned from the land with these pictures of the cladding as it is going up. I couldn't resist just letting this post be pictures / video of the modern house and not the post I had planned- a business analysis on why finding affordable, national distributors of cladding for residential use has been so difficult.

Hope you enjoy our Supa Mod House Kit Update!
As you go through the modern passive solar house pictures, remind yourself that all of this: putting together the structural insulated panels (SIPs), the shiny super mod cladding, the passive solar design... all of this is being done by... the Amish!

Pretty crazy, huh?


Here's a slideshow, click on it if you want to get all up close and personal.


And here he walks us through the affordable green house interior...


And the modern house exterior...

 

Zero Energy House Kit Update! Modern Design Kit Construction Day 6

Please welcome our guest blogger, Ron Bernaldo of Giant Oaks Construction!
Here he recounts Day 6 of our Modern Passive Solar House Kit construction.

"Yes, it was cold this morning... It never made it to 49 today like they predicted...

The lumber we had to buy on this project was more than I thought, if I were going to buy a kit I would expect to get everything provided.

We had a good day today. I want this weather tight Monday, so we will need a great day Friday (tomorrow is Thanksgiving) to make that happen.

I'll start installing windows Friday morning, so it should look spiffy by the time you get here.

We're still waiting to meet with the new cladding vendor Monday.

I spoke to the rubber roofing contractor who says he tentatively can do that low roof membrane next Saturday."

Copeland's note: I will make sure I reiterate very clearly not only with the client but their contractor that yes, this is a *bare bones* kit, for a good reason: Each person will have their own systems choices, cladding decisions (although I am hooking you up with a volume pricing for the metal cladding, etc.) that will customize the kit. At the end of the day, you guys want a kit that's energy efficient and gorgeous, but that you can make look like your *self*!

If, as the factory had mentioned in a previous response, we had included all that framing lumber with the kit, the cost for shipping etc., would have been substantial vs. buying locally. I think what I'll do is really go over that aspect with every new contractor as each project starts so they are very clear on their estimates.

We will go and check out the house Friday... In the meantime, I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

 

Raise The Roof! Our Modern Passive House Kit Has A Roof!

WE HAVE A ROOF!!!!!
: )
I can not *begin* to tell you what this feels like.
It was so amazing to walk around this weekend, with the wall panels up, taking our silly amateur videos, experiencing the walls of our *dream* finally there, solid... reality.

So imagine how I feel seeing pictures of our modern house structure with a roof.

THANK YOU Ron Bernaldo and Daniel Esh and their crew (um, guess Daniel won't be seeing this since Amish don't have email... :) )- and I look forward to thanking them all in person.

[Much less throw a big party!]

Please welcome again Ron Bernaldo, fabulous contractor.
His voice, I just type. : )
(BTW Ron, er, nice Arnold Schwarzenegger impression there!
Hahahaha!)

"The good news is... if the structure isn't high out of the ground, at least the 16/18 out of the ground, the roof panels are being set with a 4 man crew, because they're light enough they can be set by hand without a forklift or crane. IF it's close to the ground.

The assembly is easier on the roof panels than the walls.

Wednesday we won't get all the panels set because that side of the house (framing structure of the south side with all the clerestory windows, although the windows are on the north side) is more complicated than today's low north side.

I think we can wrap this up by Monday.
IF I'm right, and we wrap up (tomorrow is an Amish wedding and Bear Hunting Day. One Amish is going to a wedding, the others are bear hunting) on Monday, then we will be a day UNDER what I was hoping for.

The Amish driver and I are going to load up and install windows and doors on Friday while the other others are working on the roof panels on the south side."

Copeland's note: "Sigh... our dream is becoming reality!" : )