Prefab Green Passive Solar House Kits: Green Modern Kits!
Prefab Passive Solar Modern House Kits- My own net zero energy off grid house kit construction blog. See affordable house kits at www.GreenModernKits.com / www.GreenCottageKits.com and www.GreenCabinKits.com.
About Me
Name: Copeland
Location: Richmond, Virginia, United States
I'm tired of seeing great design beyond my grasp. So I thought I'd go kidnap some architects and make them do my affordable housing bidding. ; )
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! ]
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!)
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!
Prefab Green Home: 1st Energy Audit Of The SIPs House Kit!
This is the FIRST of two energy audits.
Energy Audit #1, today's energy audit of the prefab modern house, is as we're at the "This is the modern house kit + cladding + the homeowner sealing around the windows stage", the second will be once we're "done, finished, kaput, as in done, done, done, done, don't ever want to think about anything construction related for at least another week DONE."
Our mission is to create tight, energy efficient, gorgeous passive solar house kits. I admire rated, certified, even more stringent approaches, like Passive House standards, maybe we'll do this in the future, but we achieve what we want in an energy efficient home while incorporating great modern design on an average, reasonable budget.
Some highly energy efficient homes incorporate two door chambers to prevent temperature loss.
I picture the way I live, and it is just too chaotic and messy to make such an entrance successful. Can you imagine a couple struggling with the stroller, dogs still on the leash, juggling a bag of groceries and a baby on one hip, getting the key in the door lock then screaming to the spouse...
"Quick honey, seal the chamber, we're losing LEED points!"
Obviously if you live in a severe climate, it makes sense. But we're in Normal Rest-o'-Tha-World here.
We're a muddy, raggedy bunch here... why do ya think we're bandits?
You can increase the thickness of the house kit panels, choose even more efficient doors and windows (our casa ti prefab green home is spec'd for Jeld-Wen and our, SIPs house kit with two stories, The R1 Residential, is spec'd for Marvin Integrity), seal it up even tighter... but my focus is on affordable energy efficiency in our prefab green homes, so we chose great solutions that fit within a moderate budget.
The average quote for the casa ti windows is currently about $9,000-$10,500. If you would like to spend more on windows to make 'em nano-crazy-efficient, go for it, we can adjust the shop drawings. But expect the added cost.
We hired energy rater Guy DuBois, of No Energy Loss, to come out and inspect the modern prefab house kit.
These are the notes I jotted down during his cell phone call to me en route from the land. Mr. DuBois will guest blog later this week with more real data, but here are his initial verbal impressions of the still-under-construction, still-not-completely-sealed house kit:
"Well, we certainly smoked up your house quite a bit, there was nowhere for it to go!"
(Copeland's note: Ummmm, I assume he means it was some kind of smoke air test thingy? I hope he didn't mean he smoked in mah house?!?)
Ok, on to Mr. DuBois:
"Those windows - they are worth the money, they were very well sealed."
Copeland's note: Handsome Husband also sealed around the frames... OK FINE I will just stop commenting and just TYPE what he said!
"Your husband did a good job of sealing around the windows... there are two areas he also could look at if he wanted to seal further- along the south eave and that back door threshold.
It is surprisingly tight. I don't know why I say surprising, but I guess I didn't expect it to be so tight, even though I should have."
[Copeland's note: Um, yeah, thanks Mr. DuBois... ; ) OK, OK I'll stop commenting!]
"I'll go back at completion and run more tests. This was a good time to go out there because if there were problems you could address them before everything was closed up.
As you know, it's so tight you really must have mechanical ventilation, which you will be installing (HRV), which is critical in these energy efficient homes. Most homes, most traditionally-built homes, leak willy-nilly so you don't ever have to worry about air quality, but in energy efficient homes like these they're so air-tight that air-exchange is imperative.
I saw very little air leakage... there is some thermal bridging you can address if you want but you certainly won't have a problem heating and maintaining good energy efficiency, that's for sure. How does it compare to a "normal" house? Superior!"
To continue to seal even further, concentrate on the areas where there is lumber vs. SIP (structural insulated panels)- the doorway header, add insulation around wooden framing, and if you're in really severe climates, you could add an exterior seal.
Mr. DuBois makes a good point:
"But you have to consider the climate- maybe if you're in Alaska or really south Florida you would want to consider that, but... we're in Virginia, how much gain will you really get by doing all that?!? You already know that with your off grid systems, comfort will never be an issue.
I will be punching in everything I did today and coming back with some data next week... you're not trying to get this house certified, so this is just more FYI info, but it will be cool to compare today with when you're done at the end of the project."
He also said that the amount of leakage currently (we're still not done sealing) in the prefab SIPs passive solar home is equivalent to about 6 x 6 inches, smaller than a basketball. Handsome Husband is chasing that number, with sealant in hand.
Later, Handsome Husband arrived home, and I had all these pictures and video to look at... and share with you now.
HOUSE KIT ENERGY AUDIT VIDEOS:
Mr. DuBois sets up...
They start do to the smoke test and pressurize the modern house kit. SUDDENLY, a clerestory window pops wide open! It had looked closed, but hadn't been closed totally, which certainly that had also contributed to our loss of temperature this winter at night! It is securely locked now... : )
And then....they freakin' fill mah house up with SMOKE!
Note the comment about the south edge- later they discovered that when the door was installed they didn't put any sealant under that south door. You as a home owner can seal that more if you live in a severe climate area. I knew the windows worked really well for our budget, but am pleased with how impressed he is! : )
Check out what it looks like when they crack the door (and how hard it was to open because of the pressurization - because the house kit was so tight!).
"This wraps up the initial test of the house kit. We now know what simple steps we have left to optimize the envelope of the SIPs house, and we look forward to the final testing after construction is (finally) completed. The general goal and idea of the casa ti has passed Mr. DuBois's testing with flying colors, as we already suspected in the prefab house kit's performance over the last few weekends where the design and structure were able to give us relative comfort in a hostile climate.
The great thing about the delays in this project is that we're able to thoroughly test the house kit without further improvements, this allows us to confirm the performance a passive solar house kit built with SIPs."
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.
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!]
The Wife Interjects: Heat. Addendum To Hi-Falutin' Handsome Husband's Systems Posts.
Honeychile, let's talk about heat. I'm frickin' freezing and I want to go enjoy my prefab net zero modern green home NOW regardless of being without systems in this frigid, gorgeous, wintry weather.
Originally, despite my *completely* falling in love with the Amish Baker's Choice cook stove, (old practicality and function yet with simple, even modernist edges) we decided to eschew a wood stove because
we would need it *so* little, if ever, a year, because our modern SIPs home is so air tight and insulated that we need less systems, and we already would have radiant heat so it just didn't seem worth it
and relying purely on solar energy / radiant heat is more environmentally friendly, even if we might be a bit cold a few days a year when it was direly bitter.
Before we came to that conclusion, I asked my parents if we could have the working-perfectly-in-great-condition wood stove we used growing up that has now been sitting in their basement about twenty years.
And they gave it to us! Oh the nostalgia! Oh the frugal-ness and reuse!
Then we hit upon our more cutting edge, solar / radiant off grid systems plan and Handsome Husband decreed the wood stove was overkill in such an efficient, prefab house kit.
Well, that was before we decided to be even more pay-as-you-go in building the net zero off-grid house this year. Despite our great credit, we're trying to not acquire a loan to finish it because now is a great time to put our (literally) money where our mouth is and see how adverse-to-accruing-debt and frugal we can go.
Another winter is passing, another turn of the seasons where, despite the prefab SIPs house's ability to maintain steady temperatures due to the high insulation and passive solar design, I realize that after a few weeks of frosty, consistent cold without any systems / heat at all... it will be chilly in the house kit.
I don't want to be cold, I want to be cozy.
The reality is that it makes good economic sense to add the wood stove. It's free, and we can affordably add it and enjoy winters *immediately* even without solar heat. Let's face it: we are clearing fallen trees regularly, stacking them in piles for wildlife habitat. We certainly might as well use some of it to keep our family warm, for free! Vive la practical, re-usable, *always* in style frugality! : )
...
Well.
I just got off the phone with my parents.
Unfortunately, I just discovered that since we settled on Better Technology Plan B, my brother asked for the stove. They gave it to him. He lives in Wilmington, North Carolina and certainly desperately needs it for that frigid environment!
: )
[ I discovered this now because I am staying back with sick children while Handsome Husband goes to the land, having more room in the car than usual, therefore a perfect opportunity to pick up the stove from my parents, cart it out to the prefab, and enable us to enjoy the prefab house kit in these icy conditions. ]
So, NO nostalgic, this-was-passed-on-in-our-family-happy-memories-of-childhood 1980s wood stove to heat us now in the winter cold.
Square One... Again!
[It's ok. I'm used to it. After they gave away the family farm, what's a wood stove?]
So, I'm now doing research.
There's something about the whole concept of pellet stoves that doesn't sit right with me. I get it, but... burning corn? And even when wood... it's like rabbit food when you could feed yer pets the garden vegetables about you. Pellet stoves are also expensive, the pellets, inconvenient.
I know you're thinking, "Well what about the federal tax credits?"
To qualify for tax credits, it must be 1. an existing home and 2. your principal residence. We need to live here until our children finish 5th grade. AND regardless, new construction and rentals do not qualify.
Honeychiles, we'z gotz no handouts. None from mah fambly, none from tha' guvament heah. ; ) Good thang we're into self-sufficiency!
I found an old cook stove on Craigslist and my heart fluttered.
Me: "Oh please oh please oh please?"
Handsome Husband: "No."
Then, I found a new, barely used (ok, that's what I usually mean by "new" when I call something "new"... ) wood stove in a nearby town. It's the right price, right functionality... but... well, if we're not nostalgically getting the wood stove from my family then do we need to stay with the traditional wood stove? However, on the inquiry, fate intervened- by the time I was able to speak with the owner, it had been promised to another.
Let's face it: from a design perspective, these stoves are not exactly sleek and coolio kickin' modern design. Technology has improved since then.
And this is our "forever" sustainable, off grid house we're (slowly) building. Design matters.
Simple, sleek, effective, efficient, modern, whimsy-less, practical, edgy, warm, happy, cozy, sophisticated, stylish... perfect for a net zero prefab home.
Prefab Green Home Systems Post #1 For A Net Zero Off Grid Modern House Kit!
In Virginia it is 22 degrees. Handsome Husband is off cavorting in Florida (Ok, fine, it's work, but *I'm* stuck with the chilluns, dawgs, chickens, fish, and feral cat!), so I will not be visiting the net zero off gridprefab green home this weekend as the logistics to do so alone are overwhelming.
So here come the net zero off grid prefab systems posts, guest written by Handsome Husband:Part One: Rain Water Systems.
**NOTE*: *OUR* systems choices are so minimal and bare bones, you will almost certainly want to consider the more robust packages our partners offer. But our focus as a family is to do as much as possible with as little as possible.**
"I will post our system choices for the casa ti prefab over the next few days. Every post will focus on a subject, beginning with how we plan on supplying the casa ti with water.
We will use rain water collection as the water source. In our area in central Virginia we receive sufficient annual precipitation to easily provide water for a 4 person house hold without having to dig a well. Rainwater collection begins with the choice of roofing materials. Asphalt shingles are not the material of choice as new shingles could leach petroleum products and contaminate the rain water - we chose a metal roof on the southern side of the house for this reason. The northern half of the roof is wrapped in a rubber membrane as a basis for the green roof (vegetation that is as everything seems to carry the term "green" these days). Rainwater from the vegetated roof area should not be used for potable uses but can be used for irrigation and other non potable needs.
We will use a WISY WFF 100 as the primary rainwater filter. This filter receives the rainwater from the downspouts, and separates debris from the water routed to the cistern. We will need to design the downspouts so that they all merge into this single filter. http://www.rainwatermanagement.com/product.php
Next comes the cistern. The first choice is between an above-ground cistern and one that is buried. We are considering going in between in that we would place the cistern in the root cellar. Root cellars are semi-buried structures that enjoy some of the same benefits as geothermal heating: In the winter the stay above freezing and in the summer they don't heat up as much as the ambient temperature. The same will be true for our water!
Now that we have collected, filtered and stored the water we need to pump it into the house. We will extract the best quality of water from the tank which is just below the surface using a floating inlet filter. This type of filter is connected to a floating ball and collects water 4 " below the water surface and comes with 8' of hose to connect to the pump http://www.rainwatermanagement.com/product.php.
Next we will install whole house sediment filter. Given the design of the inlet filter I don't expect this filter to collect much of anything but hey, these filters are relatively cheap and collect objects down to 1 micron. (http://www.purewaterforless.com/site/675488/product/PE-SPF-34)
There is some debate about the need for UV light as an additional purification method. We will have the water quality tested once the system is installed and will see, whether this will be necessary in our application. Until then we will bring bottled water and just cook/shower with water collected from the sky. As with any water system, it is important to have the water tested for water quality. Additional filtration may be necessary once the system is installed and tested. Any water system including wells should be tested at least annually to ensure the water quality remains at the highest level for human consumption.
There you have it, straight from the Handsome Husband's mouth.
Now if only he'd only hurry home so I can take a break!
We will be visiting the prefab next weekend as we have a meeting with our Fabulous Contractor regarding our next steps for the net zero prefab green home.
Oh how prefab-ulous: We are ALL sick.
It is raining.
Coughing, sneezing, low grade fevers... we will not visit the net zero off grid prefab this weekend.
Yet inside, we're bustling about in our pj's and woolen socks, ill but happily busy, and I am researching: Kitchen Appliances For The Net Zero Off Grid Prefab Modern House!
I have been toying over thoughts on the kitchen island and appliances for months. General thoughts:
Kitchen island should face the chaos, so that I can happily participate as I cook
Upper part: contains juice and wine glasses so I can throw them at thirsty clamoring mutinous guests
Smaller trash can because we compost our food waste, feed scraps to chickens, avoid packaging
and a recycling bin, of course
But something in the functionality I drew out earlier didn't sit right... I was still working on it...
The big barrier to energy efficient off grid appliances is that, frankly, they often cost a heckuva lot more.
Freezers and fridges that open from the top make sense. Think about it: hot air rises, cold air falls. When you open a traditional fridge or freezer, the air literally falls out of the compartment as you consider, "Hmmmmm... what shall I have for lunch today?"
With the door on the top, you can keep the cold air contained within much more efficiently.
I again researched energy efficient appliances... then stumbled across what seems like a good solution:
A freezer with TWO access drawers and temperature zones! So the top could be for food kept cool... and the bottom, remain a freezer! (IF we even need to use a small freezer. More on those thoughts for you on that in another post...)
The Haier freezer I selected was rectangular, not square, because it makes sense that when you open it, with a more rectangular shape you can quickly scan the inventory vs. dig through layers trying to find something in a square space. I researched and researched, and found one for $329, not the least expensive, but with free shipping (shipping averaged $100 so in the end, it was a good deal).
Now I am going to play with crayons to show you my kitchen area idea:
(The reality will be much more sleek and modern, longer in width, much more stylish; I'm trying to explain the functionality. Dudes, I'm drawing with CRAYONS.)
Countertop:
Range
Cutting board area also doubles as where to put the dish rack when drying dishes, water can run off to be recycled with a surrounding groove into a container right in front of the compost top?
Drawer top to hold compost bin to the right of work area (doesn't need to be too big as we discard scraps at least twice a day - you can see the bin top to the left of the stove, it would be built in- metal container, flush with the countertop) - if I were left-handed it would go on the left...
Sink: shallow but wide enough for rinsing, washing dishes
Glass storage: facing me, sliding glass provides access to glasses
This reflects the natural progression in how I cook:
By putting the workstation between the range and sink, I can rinse & cut, add scraps to compost, then add the cut items to the pan all without moving the cutting board.
Underneath:
Pull out shelf (not drawer) reveals freezer-converted-into-fridge, yet allows access to bottom drawer of fridge (after I drew this I realized it should be under the sink, as I'm right handed and thus making it more accessible as I prepared / cooked)
Two drawers under sink for pots and pans
Side where the stools will be:
Sliding glass: provides access to glasses (the nonbreakable pewter cups of which we Virginians seem to acquire so many...)
Legroom under the glasses area for swinging, restless children's legs
Access to pipes if you need it by making that side face a latched door, able to swing open
Handsome Husband pointed out we could take that latched door just mentioned (that opens to the pipes, systems where the stools are) and instead have it lift up, not open sideways, and could then create a "insta-table" for extra guests.
Behind me, flush and built into the wall:
Two shelves that open for more storage of plates, glasses, utencils, cloth napkins
Underneath: a pull out drawer separated into
trash (as in, non food anything): which we have *very little* of...
recycling (um... we have more of that. Hello, beer cans...)
Here is another crayon rough version of what it might look like...
Picture this room with the grey polished concrete floor, a built in bookshelf, smooth plywood finishes mixed with the recycled VMI basketball court on the walls and in the kitchen island.
Now I need to keep an eye out for cool, modern (hopefully reused, as I try to recycle, even better: vintage) bar stools, and juice and wine glasses. I'm also looking for a marine stove...
After a split-second of thought, I decided I do not need an oven. I use our solar cooker for fun, why not make it integral for our bread baking, etc. *every* time? Granted, that rules out a Thanksgiving turkey, but there are other, more creative ways to approach that dilemma. The reality is that I only use our oven a few times a year, and many of those times can certainly be replaced with the slow cooker, solar cooker, and other methods.
So there ya have my prefab house kit thoughts on the kitchen area!
All certainly to be refined, revised before you see photographs of the finished area...
But what else was I supposed to do on a sick, rainy day? : )
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.
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.
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:
Holiday Open House
