Save The Date! The Prefab Net Zero Energy Passive Solar House Kit Will Be Open For Tours April 10th!

[Well, it is SNOWING UP A STORM, at least 8" deep at this point.
What else was I supposed to do on such an impassible day?
Dream of spring in the prefab house kit, and therefore, the upcoming Prefab Open House! ]

We will have our second Prefab Green Home Open House in the Virginia Passive Solar Net Zero Energy House Kit on Saturday, April 10th, from 1-3 p.m.   

Like last time, we scheduled the house kit open house to coincide with historic and fun events showcasing this rural, beautiful, historic area of Virginia. So mark your calenders! Here's what's going on during that weekend that we know of so far:

•  April 08, 2010 – April 12, 2010145th Anniversary of the Surrender
  
  
  Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
  Appomattox, VA 24522
  434-352-8987
  www.nps.gov/apco
  Special programs related to the surrender, including 1st person living history offered each day from April 8 to April 12. 
   
• April 09, 2010 – April 11, 2010
  Appomattox History Weekend
  Clover Hill Village
  Appomattox, VA 24522
  

  145th Anniversary of Lee's surrender to Grant to be held at Clover Hill Village. 1 mile from actual surrender site. Living historians will be portraying Generals Lee & Grant and their lieutenants will recreate historic moments of the final days leading up to and including the surrender. Activities include: Lee's last war counsel, General Gordon's attempted break-out, Lee-Grant meeting, stacking of arms and reduction of colors. Reenactors limited. Military host: Lee's Lieutenants, contact Al Stone at astoneasrelee@suddenlink.net or (304) 466-2030. Civilian host: contact Ms. Carolyn Davis at casonclee@aol.com Cost: $10 for adults, $5 for children under 12. 
   
•  April 12, 2010 – April 12, 2010
  
  
  Holiday Open House
  Appomattox Court House National Historical Park
  Appomattox, VA 24522
  434-352-8987
  www.nps.gov/apco
  Join the park staff for an festive afternoon of music, refreshments and holiday activiies with a historic flare!

We hope you use the opportunity to travel to the prefab house kit to explore and see more of historic Virginia.  ...Make a weekend of it!
(And hopefully it wont rain in torrents like last time!)

For accommodations and more history, see here:
(Because if you're a design geek, you're also a history geek.
Welcome to the crowd!)

• Appomattox: http://www.tourappomattox.com/lodging.php
  
  (learn more about Appomattox here...)
  
  
• Charlotte Court House: http://www.charlotteva.com/accommodation.htm
  
  (learn more about Charlotte Court House here - make sure to click on the links at the bottom, there's Patrick Henry's Red Hill & more to visit!)
  
  
• Farmville: Historic Longwood Bed & Breakfast... and others listed here:
  
  (learn more about Farmville here... and more on Farmville history here.)

See more details about the previous Virginia prefab house kit open house here.


Currently, we are all, humans, dogs, feral cat, and especially our chickens, officially snowed in.  And the snow is still coming down strong!

The Colorado prefab green home begins this spring after their snow melts, sometime in mid-March... we will keep you posted on that house kit construction! 

Recent Press:

• As previously noted, Green Modern Kits will be in The Wall Street Journal's Smart Money Magazine, to be published this spring.
• If you live in Richmond, Virginia, make sure to pick up the next Richmond Magazine... : )
• Tree Hugger's Lloyd Alter mentions us as we think about living a smaller footprint lifestyle which Oprah seemed not to quite appreciate on a visit to one Swedish home...
  

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact me at copeland@greenmodernkits.com.

Sincerely yours,
Copeland Casati

copeland casati
president
www.GreenModernKits.com
6902 park ave / rva 23226

 

Prefab Green Home Takes On The Wind Chill. And The Passive Solar Net Zero Prefab Fabulously Triumphs.

Wind chill of 14? Actually, I was corrected: The wind chill was FOUR. 
It's a windy day at the prefab green home.

As long term readers might notice, during extreme weather our favorite game in the net zero modern prefab (still with no heating / power systems installed) is to compare the outdoor temperature with the indoor temperature.

We have no heat. We have no electricity.
But we certainly have fun measuring the effectiveness of the structural insulated panels + passive solar design in the prefab house kit on a dinky (one arrow missing that's supposed to indicate humidity) thermometer.

A Lovely Lady From Leeds : )  asked,

Mel, I don't know. We certainly can (and should) have someone measure it, but because it is our private home despite my being the founder, well, I previously thought, "Eh. It's more fun doing the dial-y thermometer thang."

Your interest has prompted me to take it more seriously and add it to the "to do's."

[I have a similar attitude towards LEED accreditation. Don't kill me! (The firms are all LEED accredited; I just don't see the benefit for the consumer to certify a house they don't intend to sell, and am approaching this house as an "average" consumer of my own house kit. ]


This is all stuff we as professionals know, documented by passive haus, passive houses, SIPs manufacturers, etc., but when I (even though we intelligently know it) put it into practice by turning a thermometer into a family game... oh, it's so much more fun. : )

In summer, we marveled at 100° harsh heat in the fields, yet inside the off grid prefab green home, it was a comfortable 85°, and the cross breezes from the open windows made it even more pleasant.  Now we test the prefab house kit in icy, bitter temps with a few intermittent days of overcast skies.


Handsome Husband reports: "Windchill is 4°.  Last night it went down to 18°, today's highs will be 27°.  Yet the prefab green house kit is 45° on arrival."

Yes, that's cold.
But it has been overcast for days in temperatures in the teens and twenties. This proves that despite daily temperatures being such, the interior of the prefab green home will not freeze.  This is great news.


After spending a day researching modern supercoolio wood stoves after discovering the promised family wood stove was mine no longer, I admit defeat: Why would I spend $1,500-$3,500 on a modern, cool  wood stove we will use so little in the energy efficient, passive solar SIPs house?

Yet the wood stove is comforting as back up once our solar systems are installed, there to dry wet mittens and sopping snow clothes and to cook on if need be.

It's 11:00. Handsome Husband calls to say the prefab house is already 49-50° from him just moving around. Imagine how fast a big wood stove would heat that efficient, insulated space...and then overheat. If it's easily 50s inside when the temperature outside will not rise above freezing today, our original concern is correct - we would easily overheat the house with a big stove.

I researched battery-powered heaters, but they were either too small or not exactly safe for indoor use. [Understaaaaaatement!]


So... we bought a wood stove.
It's ugly. It's not a nostalgic family hand-me-down.

It's definitely not modern. 
Handsome Husband is consoling me with, "Well, you could kinda cook on it..."
*sob*

After spending the past 24 hours frantically researching what new products have come on the market since I last looked (a lot of nice modern wood stoves now), in the end I said, "Fine, solve the issue NOW, let's pay someone to install this NOW, so we can freaking enjoy our prefab modern house kit NOW."

Each dollar we spend on something unexpected (like the unexpected cost of a $1,000+ wood stove) is a dollar that should be going to off grid solar systems and hiring local labor to install them.

We will now bemusedly note how many years the original, "free" wood stove given to me will sit in my parent's basement until Mr. Wil "I Will Sue You For Everything You Own" Sakowski claims it... IF he ever does.


[Readers: Please bear with me in these last two posts as bitterness tinged these references... My life, and my dear, lifelong friends are an entirely happy different story. It's all good. : ) Besides, being a bandit is much more rewarding and adventurous. ]

Handsome Husband calls:
"I'm leaving! And in the prefab house kit it's 54 degrees." (3:40 p.m.)
Me: "What'd you do?"
[Understaaaaatement!]

He...

• Met with the roofers
  
• Unloaded the modern bed and put it together
• Installed the Danish mid-century daybed
  
• Drove to Appomattox and bought a wood stove
• Examined the scouting camera (Awwww, Bambi!)
• Sorted some of the VMI basketball wood
  

Y'know. That's all... ; )
Stay tuned...
The next post is where I rearrange all the furniture.

 

Prefab Green Home Net Zero Off Grid Systems Post #3

An astute reader took me to task yesterday regarding our prefab net zero green home, the casa ti. : )

Correctly, they observed,

“Just read the #2 on systems. It brings up what I was saying - where the heck are you going to put two 80 gallon water tanks? The plans shown on-line do not have space for 1 much less 2 water tanks. Are you putting them outside? Where are the PEX tubes for the floor terminated (meaning where do they come out of the concrete? In a closet somewhere or outside the house)? You'll need a pump for each loop and they take up a fair amount of space also (about the size of a coffee machine mounted on the wall).

Thanks,
B”

Handsome Husband (who is responsible for our prefab’s off grid / net zero systems) responds:

“The green building architect David Day's prefab floor plan shows what I am using as a system cabinet as kitchen storage.

Here is a detailed view of the cabinet that houses our net zero, off grid systems.

We are keeping the footprint the same but are converting storage to system space to accommodate the prefab house’s added solar tanks and radiant heat needs.

Space needs vary between different heating and DHW solutions and in our case where we are off grid we are dedicating more space to the system needs than others might. 

But then again, we are going off grid all the way and are willing to create that lost storage in furniture instead.

I will post the corresponding system specs over the next few days once I have transferred them to digital media.”

So, like many other consumers, we took the prefab architect’s suggested floor plan for the prefab house kit and modified it for our own needs with our contractor.

Not only did we move the kitchen from the west to the center of the south room, but we also adjusted the green building architect’s suggested dimensions for closet space to accommodate our net zero off grid needs.

Here are some pictures so you can see how easy this is to do with your contractor as the bedroom dimensions are currently just laid out / framed:

 

Here is a link to the green building architect’s suggested floor plan of the prefab so you can see what the architect envisions, which you can compare with what we’ve done as our own prefab house kit consumers…
Enjoy!