With the trend of green building sweeping today’s approach to architecture, we frequently lose sight of the meaning behind all this commotion. It becomes too easy to talk the talk, without ever really walking the talk. BrightBuilt Barn provides an appealing alternative, and this Net-Zero studio takes pre-fab to a new level, offering a livable, flexible, sustainable option. And of course, for perks, it flies the green flag.
Here’s one for the Legomaniacs of us who have graduated to building real houses: Bungalow in a Box. Based out of Woolwich, ME, wife and husband team Vicki and Raoul Hennin founded the Montsweag Brook Corporation in 1998 to design, manufacture and deliver their Bungalow-in-a-Box prefab kits that include modular stick framed walls (or SIP panel walls), timber frame ceiling elements, and interlocking natural, sealed wood sheathing in combination with air barrier house wrap.
Rocio Romero LVM Guesthouse
The cut of architect Rocio Romero jib is well worth mentioning here at Small House Style. Young, creative, educated and all about small homes with style. I first saw Romero’s work on Allison Arief’s New York Times op-blog in same company with none other than R. Buckminster Fuller, who brought us this gem of a quote way back in the first half of the twentieth century:
“Our beds are empty two-thirds of the time. Our living rooms are empty seven-eighths of the time. Our office buildings are empty one-half of the time. It’s time we gave this some thought.”
Good company for Romero to keep when her company’s explanation of purpose seems to hinge around another gem on her website:
“Great design should be timeless and comfortable. It’s about thoughtful quality not quantity.”
Calling all small house and home designers and builders. The EPA is urging professional and student architects, builders and product developers to submit designs for the third annual Lifecycle Building Challenge.
To shape the future of green building and facilitate local building materials reuse they are accepting entries for buildings, products and materials that minimize waste, reuse materials, cut greenhouse gas emissions and support cost-effective disassembly by anticipating the future reuse of materials.
Read the rest of this entry »
