RSS FeedMay 04 2009
The BrightBuilt Barn – A Home Without A Furnace…In Maine!
The Brightbuilt Barn is an eco-friendly 700 square feet tiny house in Rockport, Maine that was built for around $200,000. The BrightBuilt Barn is the end result of a team of green professionals and builders that set out to see if they could build an impressive green home. They wanted their design to be livable and affordable while having an eye towards sustainability.
There is something very unique and very special about the BrightBuilt Barn home. This home requires no furnace even for Maine’s notoriously chilly winters. How is this possible? The BrightBuild Barn uses “super insulation and extreme air-tightness.” This milestone is accomplished by creating a continuous R-40 insulated envelope, which includes the entire house, floors, walls and ceiling. The end result is a house so well insulated that it doesn’t need a furnace. The BrightBarn is currently on track to earn the a LEED Platinum rating.
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You might be wondering how the BrightBuilt Barn can keep homeowners warm with no furnace. It’s so well insulated that the occupants and normal use of appliances will usually be enough to warm the home. For days that are extremely cold, a solar water heating system will kick in.
Saving energy has been factored into the design in a variety of other ways as well. LED lighting is used extensively, and occupants are encouraged to monitor their energy usage through a real-time feedback system. The house has a built in indicator system that tells owners as to whether or not they are on track towards being a Net-Zero home. A Net-Zero home means that the home is generating more energy that it uses.
In terms of energy consumption, the BrightBuilt Barn has numerous solar panels to provide needed energy. This factor combined with the very high level of insulation provides for a home that can stay warm enough in the winter that it needs no furnace. Almost sounds like magic, doesn’t it? Combine this fact with the BrightBuilt Barn’s potential lifespan of 200 years and you have a true winner.
Additional information on the BrightBuilt Barn can be found on their website and their Wiki.
The Brightbuilt Barn is an eco-friendly 700 square feet tiny house in Rockport, Maine that was built for around $200,000. The BrightBuilt Barn is the end result of a team of green professionals and builders that set out to see if they could build an impressive green home. They wanted their design to be livable and affordable while having an eye towards sustainability.
There is something very unique and very special about the BrightBuilt Barn home. This home requires no furnace even for Maine’s notoriously chilly winters. How is this possible? The BrightBuild Barn uses “super insulation and extreme air-tightness.” This milestone is accomplished by creating a continuous R-40 insulated envelope, which includes the entire house, floors, walls and ceiling. The end result is a house so well insulated that it doesn’t need a furnace. The BrightBarn is currently on track to earn the a LEED Platinum rating.
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- stat: fail
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You might be wondering how the BrightBuilt Barn can keep homeowners warm with no furnace. It’s so well insulated that the occupants and normal use of appliances will usually be enough to warm the home. For days that are extremely cold, a solar water heating system will kick in.
Saving energy has been factored into the design in a variety of other ways as well. LED lighting is used extensively, and occupants are encouraged to monitor their energy usage through a real-time feedback system. The house has a built in indicator system that tells owners as to whether or not they are on track towards being a Net-Zero home. A Net-Zero home means that the home is generating more energy that it uses.
In terms of energy consumption, the BrightBuilt Barn has numerous solar panels to provide needed energy. This factor combined with the very high level of insulation provides for a home that can stay warm enough in the winter that it needs no furnace. Almost sounds like magic, doesn’t it? Combine this fact with the BrightBuilt Barn’s potential lifespan of 200 years and you have a true winner.
Additional information on the BrightBuilt Barn can be found on their website and their Wiki.
Affordable? Didn’t anyone catch the latest news? Affordable is $20,000 in real dollars for 65% of the nation’s two income families trying to make ends meet. Get REAL. Green is great, recycled materials are wonderful, and the whole house is a terrific concept and absolutely unachievable for folks needing shelter today that doesn’t mean endless, life-squelching, debt. Put your imagination back to work and design all the energy saving goodies into buildable shelters for everyday folks. gus.