What’s round and green and warm all over?

Elegant homes with a focus on energy efficiency and a sensitive environmental footprint

Lars Chose relaxes in one of the round rooms he recently designed and built. — Brandon Knapp photo

Efficient Round Prefab in British Columbia

WHAT MAKES THIS HOME ENERGY STAR QUALIFIED?  

• Third-Parting testing to meet strict technical specifications.
• EnerGuide Rating of 84.
• High performance building envelope, including R66 ceiling and R34 walls.
• Domestic water heating system approx. 3 times more efficient than a standard system.
• Heat Recovery Ventilator for fresh air with minimal heat loss.
• ENERGY STAR qualified products, including windows, doors and lighting.

• Passive Solar Design
• Plumbed and wired Solar ready
• Grundfos Magna circulator pump
• Radiant floor heating and heat sink
• Daylighting emphasized
• Comfort Wall system (monolithic air barrier)
• Platinum ICF foundation
• Thermal mass for heat storage

The thermal dynamics that naturally occur in a round space , the carefully tuned window glazing, the cork flooring and the extra thick walls also contribute to the energy efficiency of this home.

ENERGY STAR QUALIFIED HOMES

• Save money on your energy bills compared to homes built to minimum code.
• Are more comfortable: warmer in the winter and cooler in the summer
• Are better for the environment, using less energy and producing fewer greenhouse gasses
• May qualify for energy efficiency incentives for homebuyers.
• Sell faster and for more money
• Are 25% more energy efficient than those built to minimum provincial standards. It’s like getting 3 free months of energy use every year.

Join us on Earth Day!

For years the trend has been to site homes for view or “curb appeal” and to ignore the fact that where the home is situated affects the amount of energy it uses.

This newly built home is sited to passively maximize winter sun to the south. A sun study has been conducted to install the correct width of overhang for summer shade. The poplar trees to the south provide summer shading, the fir trees on the north side provide shelter from the wind. The outdoor rooms on the east and west give sun/shade options.

However, with current energy awareness and depleting oil resources, there are compelling reasons to be responsible about the energy use of your home.

Your answers to the following 5 questions provide useful information on where to site your new home.The ideal location will increase your enjoyment of your home, help to shade the house during hot summer months,  optimize maximum winter sun, take advantage of free and clean solar energy and reduce moisture and wind chill.

1) How does the sun move across the sky in this location? In the northern hemisphere, where we are located, we want to maximize the sun in winter, spring and fall . We want to minimize the sun rays that come into the home during the hot summer months. This can be achieved by conducting a sun study to calculate the width of the roof overhangs for summer shade/winter sun.

2) Where do the shadows fall? Notice where there is shade created by land forms (ie: mountains), neighboring buildings and trees. Place the existing or natural shade to the north or west of your home. Plant shade trees to block the direct line of the setting sun in the west. Plant groups of deciduous trees to the south of your property, their leaves will provide the relief of dappled shade during the hot months. In the winter, the leaves will fall away, leaving a welcome opening for the warmth of winter sun.

3) Where does the water drain on this property?  Be aware of waters tendency to flow downhill. Install all drainage, ditches and swales to guide water away from your foundation.

4) Which way is the prevailing wind? Wind can chill your home and raise heating costs. Notice wind patterns and site the house to orient away from the wind. Reduce the number of windows on the windy side and plant evergreen trees to provide protection for the home.

5) Where can we place an outdoor living space? Build outdoor rooms that are connected to your home so that there are comfortable in-between options for human cooling and warming activities. Outdoor rooms can be defined by plant groupings , screens, furniture and pathways as well as constructed structures.

Questions? Comments? Experiences? We love hearing from you!

The many aspects of a healthy home

• Is inviting and welcoming (What is one object you can place in the entryway of your home that makes you smile?)
• Is bright and warm, with as much natural light as possible (What is one action you can take today to get more light into your home? Can you open curtains that are often closed? Can you trim back an overgrown window plant?)
• Is inspired by and connected to the rhythms of nature (Bring in fresh flowers or tree branches to make a bouquet or try filling a bowl of water and placing it on a table surface in your home today.)
• Is simple, clean and relaxing (Declutter one shelf or drawer today!)
• Is respectful of the earth and uses resources naturally (Check your recycling area. Is it organized and easy to use?)
• Has layers of natural materials, rich textures and inspiring colours (Today, remove one item that is made of an artificial material and replace it with an item that is made of a natural material like wool, cotton, wood, silk.)
  

  Natural materials have a soothing and healthy effect

• Is comfortable, practical, functional, and efficient (Identify one item or piece of furniture that is uncomfortable or doesn’t work properly. Recycle it and replace it today with an item that is functional and comfortable.)
• Utilizes nontoxic, high-quality materials and objects (Look in your cleaning cupboard, discard any products that aren’t natural. Replace with natural dishsoap, essential oils and baking soda.)
• Is unique; the style and objects have meaning for those who live there (Check your art objects, are there any that you are keeping for any reason other than absolutely loving it? Recycle any items and only keep meaningful objects.)
• Encourages physical, mental, and spiritual health (Ask yourself these questions; Where do I exercise? Where is my quiet place to contemplate? Where do I do my best thinking in this environment? Identify a spot for each of these activities today)

We offer a Mandala design that is a perfect small building and do-able backyard project.

Here is a short and fun video that demonstrates a portion of the assembly of the prefab components of an Aspen 21′.

Contact us if you can imagine enjoying the ease, efficiency and practicality of creating a space like this.

Here at Mandala Homes, we like to encourage the understanding and use of outdoor rooms in the design of a home,  because we know that  the feeling of “home” is encompassed in the land around the house as well as in the house itself.

“I don’t divide architecture, landscape and gardening; to me they are all one.” Luis Barrangan

This covered kitchen porch has a magnificent view

Beyond encouraging  connection to the land and to nature, there are other advantage to outdoor rooms. They can be beautiful and they can reduce energy costs by providing natural cooling spaces. And, less materials are used in building outdoor rooms so useable square footage is gained for less money.

Another cost savings choice is to link the outdoor eating area with the indoor kitchen.Simply add a covered porch to a southeast wall near the kitchen and incorporate a door and a pass-through window in the design. This provides the pleasure and fun of gathering and eating outdoors without the cost of a second outdoor kitchen.This southeast facing eating porch is also the perfect site to place wooden boxes and clay pots planted with easy care vegetables and kitchen herbs.

Another outdoor room idea is a private, covered porch area directly connected to the master bedroom. Such a room can provide an intimate sleeping space that is optimum for star gazing, a natural way to cool off in the summer and a way to enjoy nature from the comforts of home. The outdoor room featured in our Magnolia plan is designed to step down into a private patio area. This is a  quiet and beautiful place for reading ‚ sitting and enjoying the sunset.

Outdoor Room on the West Side

We‘d love to hear your response to these ideas and to read about your experiences in creating or living in outdoor rooms.

Eco Wood and Stone Home

1) people who are dreaming about designing and building their own unique home.

2) people who are in the midst of designing and building their own unique home.

3) people who have succeeded in the extraordinary undertaking of designing and building their own unique custom home.

When considering the motivation that underlies the big accomplishment of building a home, a story by poet, Robert Louis Stevenson, comes to mind,

Stevenson describes an annual ritual enacted by the young boys of his Scottish childhood. Every September, the local boys would buy small tin lanterns called bull’s eyes. They would light the lantern from the fires of their home hearths, tie it to their belt, wrap up in a heavy winter coat and venture out into the dark night. Each boy would wander alone in the fields that surrounded the village, coat tightly buttoned up, with not a glimmer of hidden light shining through. When a youth met another boy in the autumn heath, each would open their coat and reveal to the other the hot smoking light of home.

Stevenson felt that this childhood game symbolized the constant light of our connection with the center of our lives and that the boys are a symbol of a human being who is wandering in the dark night of life; each with our own hidden home-light burning secretly inside.

He wrote “The essence of this bliss was to walk by yourself in the black night, the slide shut, the topcoat buttoned, not a ray escaping….a mere pillar of darkness in the dark; and all the while, deep down in the privacy of your fool’s heart, to know you had a bull’s eye at your belt, and to exult and sing over the knowledge.”

Designing and building your own unique home is akin to emerging from a pillar of darkness, to have a steadily burning lantern in your heart. It’s like having a “bull’s eye at your belt”. It gives you a constant reflection of your own creativity, a tremendous sense of personal accomplishment and a feeling of security, peace, and possibility.

Natural Home

Our homes should be our safe sanctuaries. They should nurture our well being on all levels. But the modern home often does not.

Increasing numbers of people are developing illnesses like environmental allergies, sick-building syndrome and multiple chemical sensitivity due to chemical and biological toxins found inside modern homes.

Until about 25 years ago, indoor air pollution was  rare. But a few fundamental things have developed in building practices that have affected the environmental quality inside our homes.

Synthetic Chemicals. At the turn of the century and for thousands of years before, our home and work environments were free of man-made chemicals. This is no longer true, there are currently more than 4 million registered synthetic chemicals.

Approximately 80,000 are in common use.We don’t know the long term effects of these chemicals on the human body. In particular, we don’t yet know the effects of exposure to combined chemicals in a sealed environment.

Increased Energy Efficiency. In solving one problem, modern home construction has created another. Improved technologies have been introduced that seal homes more tightly.

However, a tightly sealed home that has no air leaks must have a ventilation system to replace humid and stale air that can be laced with bacteria, mold and off-gassing toxins.

In many areas, there are no building regulations requiring ventilation or HVAC systems. For optimal indoor air quality, it is very important to understand and balance the systems in a high performing house.

House Siting  In order to survive, ancient humans carefully observed their environment. Human dwellings were constructed to fit into the landscape in beneficial ways. They were sited to capture and use needed shade, sun or protection.

It’s only a society that is over populated and disconnected from the environment  that would prioritize siting a house primarily for view or proximity to town.

Thus we see inappropriately sited homes (ie: north facing/unprotected) with mold problems or houses demanding costly systems and energy to maintain the modern expectation for uniform temperatures 24/365.

Green Home Solutions:

• Be vigilant in using chemical free building materials
• Properly install and use a ventilation system in your new tightly sealed home.
• Carefully observe your proposed building site and choose a location that maximizes the environmental quality of the home.
• Work with a company that consistently researches and understands building materials, performance building, energy efficient systems and healthy homes.