Prefab Modern SIPs House Kit : Gimme My Off Grid Systems!

If you really want to plan a super fall weekend in Virginia, plan it thus:
The second weekend in October, take Friday and Saturday off to enjoy the Richmond Folk Festival.

Then hop over on Sunday to Appomattox, for the Appomattox Railroad Festival.

Both include great live music, lots of culture, people watching, endless local food, and history.

Both are free.
Both are fun for young and old.
I know this, because I did both, and had an AMAAAAAAAZING time.


But back to the prefab SIPs modern house kit:
We expect the electric quote tomorrow from the electrician. Next, we get the plumbing quote. Then, we get a loan to finish the interior and snap on systems.
Then we're done.

Because it's that easy, right?

Riiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiight.

So, a prefab modern house kit recap:
We finalize quotes, then purchase and install rainwater collection and filtration, and solar systems.

Then we move to interior, reused, recycled design.
And from there, we start our sustainable landscaping plans.  (You may recall our initial post on Topos LLC's landscape architecture plan- there will be much more on that soon!)

We will spend years on projects such as crop tree release, crafty functionality, interior design, creating a sustainable farm... and I'm certain stuff I haven't even thought of yet.

But this is what I DO know:
I may have all these other decisions to make as a prefab mod consumer, but...
The passive solar SIPs house kit ROCKS.
Again I spent a cool fall weekend without any heat, and again I was comfortable thanks to the passive solar house kit design and the fact that the house kit is comprised of energy efficient structural insulated panels.

From Prefab Weekend In The House Kit: Appomattox Railroad Fest and More!

AGAIN I felt the chill of outside, then retreated to the steady comfort of the SIPs and passive solar design.  Again I experienced an entirely gray day today, yet the temperature indoors was 70.

Do you know what it's like to wash dishes outside in the rain when it's 50 degrees?
I do.

And that is when I yearned to be inside my cozy prefab house kit.
And that is when I fixed my aim on GETTING THOSE SYSTEMS IN so I don't have to wash dishes outside in the rain in January.

Much less take a shower as so.
Oh, let me rephrase that: Now I have been taking a shower, don't you call me dirty.
But I would like to go from this:

From Prefab Weekend In The House Kit: Appomattox Railroad Fest and More!

To...a shower.
A real shower.
A hot shower.
In January.
Please! : )

 

VMI Basketball Floorboards Are Invading!

For those of you interested in reuse of local materials, my husband is SO obsessed with the VMI basketball floorboards we purchased to line the interior of our modern off grid zero energy house kit that he actually took a day off of work to go out there and play with his giant crossword puzzle, trying to put the VMI logo pieces back together, because he can't stand the thought that there is a logo in that pile o' floorboards.

Yes he did.
And yes I'm rolling my eyes.
Enjoy.

 

Green Modern House Kit Construction Continues, Day 7

Well, the elation of seeing our gorgeous off grid house construction progress was tempered with the anger that sometime yesterday, on Thanksgiving, people felt they could saunter onto private property and enjoy our house kit, eating and discarding snack food bags and soda cans in our environmentally friendly home.

I know it was none of our neighbors, all whom have farms and homesteads and respect and care for each other.

I suspect it was the deer hunters in the hunt club that are leasing property behind us, who travel over 2 hours to this pristine area then loose their dogs and run amok regardless of people's legal boundaries. Our neighbor across the street has already had confrontations with these men, one of them berating their teenage daughter when she boldly started writing down trespassers' license plates...

Obviously whomever littered and lingered in our future home had no regard for family or private property, no matter how many "no hunting" signs you post.

It is something we, as a community and neighbors, will have to aggressively address to protect our privacy and ensure there are no unknown bands of rifle-toting trespassers about thinking any movement might be deer. (Yes we wear blaze orange. But stupid people who feel they can loiter on land that's not theirs certainly don't have the brain to distinguish between a fleeing buck or a playing child.)

Anyway, while I stew on this, here's a new 360 picture of the interior...
(FYI you can arrow up and down and all around... have fun!)










[Still thinking about the fact that trespassers littered and loitered in our future home. Stupid landless poacher deer hunters...]

Ok, fine, on to gorgeous house kit environmentally friendly passive solar design!
(Heh heh... believe me... I will be much better equipped to deal with trespassers by next week... love my scouting cameras and er, some other tricks up my sleeve!)


(For some reason the slideshow is not working so in the meantime here it is embedded another way:)

Modern Green Passive Solar House Kit Construction Day 7

Honestly, aside from the initial shock (but really, not a big surprise especially as our neighbors had just been telling us what a problem non-neighbors were during deer season), it was a lovely day. I asked Ron for his guest blogger comments, but he smiled and said there were no surprises.

We took an old friend out with us, and I am looking forward (hint, hint Tony!) to hearing his thoughts and sharing them. He loved the house kit, loved the placement of the house on the site, the window/lighting... and had some great ideas of what to do in landscaping along the north side that borders the field...

To actually walk around the interior... these photos do not do it justice. Natural light, high ceilings, the flow, the views while maintaining privacy... it all seems so much *more* than a small footprint home would seem to feel.

I would have taken some videos but the Amish were working and I didn't want to worry them about a camera (we took all these pictures after they had left for the day, hence the dusk feel of the light). Speaking of the Amish, it was really nice to meet the crew- and one of them I knew! We both smiled when we saw each other:

For years, we stop right outside the town at "The Amish Children's Stand."
There, various siblings man a booth where they sell jams, relishes, bread, cookies, and vegetables in season...
Anyway, there's always a older child or two, maybe 2 middle children, and one young child there. It turns out that one of the eldest is now old enough to start doing some more kinds of work... like being on the crew of building a modern off grid house kit!

It was a funny moment.
By the time we would pull up to that Amish childrens' stand we would have been traveling with 2 (very young back then) whiny children, two wild dogs (one who was usually on my lap)... and we'd tumble out to get our bread, etc. for the weekend and this same child would gape at us... I'd explain we had traveled far to be there, that we were camping, had no shelter, but hoped to one day have a home, how much we loved the area and community...

And here he was, now all grown up, building my home. : )
"Well," I said to him, "Now you know where the Crazy Family lives!"
And he laughed. : )

 

InLight: A Celebration of 1708 Art Gallery's 30 Years in Richmond Art

Psssst! Hey, y'all...
Come see some art!
C'mon! It's Richmond's InLight!

And for once I'm not going to gab (er, too much) but instead just letcha see it all. (And please, please click on the videos! They're dark but there's music! A New Orleans band doing Marvin Gaye's Sexual Healin'! Oh yessss, brother!)

What a celebration of art, community, and spirit in honor of 1708 Art Gallery's 30th Anniversary and the resurgence of art and vibrancy in Richmond through First Fridays!!!!

I'd like to point out that 1708 Art Gallery is a non-profit space that emphasizes art for art's sake and is not reliant on selling XYZ artist at XYZ commission.

How fortunate we are to have galleries where they have art... just for art. I appreciated *every* wonderful gallery I visited tonight. If you follow the links above you can read all about the participating artists.



As a green business who appreciates green art, I would like to specially mention Scott Kyle, whom I help (poorly) with Richmond Green Drinks. Scott is a green building architect (Full Scale Architecture), very talented, and gives back to our community in SO many ways. (His wife is equally talented & educated in sculpture, hence the ribbing in the above video.)

Scott created a beautiful, ethereal solar installation that... when I saw it...
It just made me happy, it made me think... "Ahhhh. Hope and light." Like twinkling fireflies.
Completely different than what I expected: I had expected whole panels alight.

Scott Kyle went for happy special moments, beaming dancing light as pedestrians passed, rays reaching out to touch all of us... that is some beautiful, solar powered, green ART!
This beautiful solar powered piece bequeaths the city a soulful improvement: Permanent art, that literally and spiritually shines.
(That's high praise comin' from a cranky woman.)

Beautiful work, Scott.

So, below, are some photographs *and* videos (from a cheap ole "you can take this in the rain" camera)- just for fun. Hope you enjoy. I know it's all takin' awhile to load, it's a post full o' ART! : ) It's worth it.

There was high-fashion Wearable Art, music, performance art (yay, Starr Foster Dance Company!) and just... great art everywhere, people smiling, children marveling, students striding... All despite Hurricane Hanna's approach and ensuing rain.

Hope y'all can stop by in person next time.
CONGRATULATIONS to all the participating galleries, artists, and through whom, through your hard work, you all make our community better and more vibrant.





By the way, I also picked up my painting, a painting I *had* to buy when, last time we attended First Friday, I had seen The Secret of Roan Inish the week prior. When I saw this painting... well, in my mind, these words spoke and I immediately bought it. The artist was there- and we talked about his art, and I mentioned how the painting reminded me so much of The Secret of Roan Inish. The irony was that the artist had never seen nor heard of the movie.
This painting means so, so much to me, my love of misfits, the awkward, wild hidden silkie inside all of us, living between the seal and human skins.

 

The Amish and the Crazy Lady

How cool is it that our veddy modern house kit we’re building with cutting edge technology / SIPs / award-winning architects is being erected and built by... the Amish?

I’m going to be very interested to hear the feedback from them after this project, and look forward to getting to know and befriending more of our neighbors.

What I love is that in small communities (Our Town, population 299! Woo!), even if you’re a newcomer, when you build a house, it’s a community project.

You see why my heart is there...

 

Visible Fences, Hidden Meanings

We all know the saying... Good fences make good neighbors...

On the Bay, fences are rarely used.

Yesterday I took you for a lil' tour of mid-century modern. Unfortunately, these architectural gems are not as appreciated today as new homeowners raze and build three story monstrosities.

I just sit back, admire the original squat mod architecture (where it still exists) and tell myself that those tall glass houses will overheat the occupants or shatter with the first real storm.

Oh, and are there storms.
So doesn't it make sense to build for it? Low to the land, taking advantage of the breeze... but you've already read that post, now, haven't you?

Today I'll review newer architecture on XYZ Point, and show you the changing landscape...

For example,
I see this...


Change to this... now twenty feet to the right of the above picture...



Ah yes, vinyl houses rise out of farm fields... can someone please tell these guys about Smart Growth?



At least some people are incorporating their "new" structures into the original architecture, look closely:

This homeowner did NOT tear down the original cottage, and instead expanded and incorporated the original into the larger total structure.

Sure does fit a lot o' grandchildren...



Any-hoo, on my documentation of mid-century modern, it also compelled me to more closely inspect the overall architecture... and fences.

As a landowner I understand the value of a fence. It keeps livestock in, coyotes out, provides clear delineations between what is "yours" and "mine" so that there doesn't have to be the wondering and feuding that occur when there is that question.

However, as someone who adores Snufkin, the fence statement is all in how ya do it.

This fence says,
"Step through the exuberant garden and come in for a cup o' tea!"


This fence says, "Come in! Gather round, it's time for lunch after a long morning of sailing! Momma's just come in from pruning hydrengas for the table and made you grilled cheese and a glass o' cold milk!"



And this fence?
This fence, below, says...

"You're not invited and we sooooooooo don't want to know you. You thah, yes, you there on the road, keep along, hop now, move on!"



Well, guess what, Mr. Snotty Fence:
Here, as we tumble out and run wild like pirates on the Bay... we might not want to know you, either.

Let the good times roll!

 

Going Local

I read an interesting article in Metropolis last night, "Going Local" by James Howard Kunstler.

I encourage you to read it.

It sent me off on a slightly different tangent of reflection. We are inundated by "green" and we all try to stay on track as encouraging gentle lifestyles in a positive way without sinking into greenwashing’s shiny consumerism or the hoarse blaring of a death-toll message shouted in spittle mouthed fear.

But there was just something there, in this article, that made me think about what my own identity of "green" is, and how it has changed.

Many here were green before there was "green"- I mean, you’re talkin’ to a girl who grew up with a family farm, who always had a vegetable garden and composting, and whose family had solar panels in the ’70s.

What changed?

For myself, my vegetables became not just a pleasure and addition to our table, but where, in an urban environment, I carefully plan and rely on fresh produce from our garden.

It was the perplexing realization that I do not have the *right* in my city to have minigoats for milk or hens for fresh eggs in my large, fenced-in back yard- that just bothers me! I strongly feel that every human should have the right to rely on themselves for sustenance, and as someone committed to helping those less fortunate, it frustrates me that these families with meager incomes don’t have the right to provide their families with fresh eggs and milk.

Having children, it was the knowledge I gleaned from information on GMOs, hormones in meat and milk, pesticides, and the horrible factory farm conditions and the great respect for life I have that led me to only purchase meat from people I know whose animals are free-range and naturally fed, to raise heirloom vegetables, save seed, and patronize our neighbors’ farms.

It was the shock of reading about how our seed companies are purposely creating vegetables and grains that will not produce viable seed so that you (and farmers) will have to purchase their seeds each season!

It was the fun of a science experiment:
I giggle over solar cooking, yet it has changed my life. With two young children whining to stay outside instead of forcing them indoors so momma can make dinner, I now just throw food in the solar oven and… go off and play!

The cold frames I use enable me to defy cold weather, giving the seeds just enough more heat to resist freezing and get an early start on production.

And as someone in the green building industry, it was the disgust I felt as I saw endless tracts of vinyl, huge, ugly, inefficient houses being the major choice a home buyer has, and even then they are out of financial reach for most first time home buyers.

So, there you have it, my latest musings as I stand up on the cafeteria room chair to rant…

So, who is gonna kick me off today?
; )