There’s something about the traditional yet contemporary “house-shaped” form of this design that just resonates with me.  The home was designed by an Alberta-based studio called Bioi pursuant to the owner’s request for something simple, contemporary, and energy efficient with a build cost of less than $100,000.  It turns out, Warburg House received the highest EnerGuide rating available without generating its own energy, according to featured project information at Architizer.

That is to say, when there’s a budget, energy-generating technology (i.e., small wind, solar, geothermal, etc) is secondary to the primary goal of minimizing energy consumption with a thoughtful whole-house design.  In this case, the steel structure wasn’t given an opportunity to break the envelope.

The 750-square-foot modern home, located on a wooded farmstead in Warburg, has a structural steel frame that’s covered in a thick R40 skin with an outer layer of black corrugated steel.  The end walls and deck are finished with cedar, while the interior floor is polished concrete with embedded radiant heat.

Inside, the simple layout fits with an industrial design of the remaining fixtures and furnishings.  An object in the middle, covered in birch, houses the bathroom, kitchen, laundry, mechanical equipment, and storage.  Finally, windows punched into the envelope provide a path for natural light.

[+] More about Warburg House from architects Bioi.

Credits: Alison Andersen; noticed at MoCo Loco.

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Continuing the theme of tiny structures this week, I think this office cottage on Bainbridge Island is just awesome.  The compact, 200-square foot space was designed by Russ Hamlet and built by Geoffrey Hobert for the Rolling Bay Land Co. and featured on the recent green home tours presented by the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild.

The cottage was finished in 2009 and includes a murphy bed and composting toilet to accommodate guests, though the daily use is as an office for the Rolling Bay Land Co.

Finish materials include FSC-certified fir plywood, salvaged wood flooring, LED lights, denim insulation, corrugated metal siding, a green roof, rain barrels for rainwater collection, and a Stelpro convection wall heater.

[+] More about this office/guest cottage at Rolling Bay Land Co.

Credits: Studio Hamlet and Art Grice.

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Here’s a time-lapse video of one of the first Huf Haus prefabs in the country. Offered through Cleveland-based DotGreen, these homes are precision built in Germany and shipped in containers to the project site. Then, with the help of the local architect, in this case Sage Designs NW, the general contractor, Schmoes Construction, and the structural engineer, Visser Engineering, the timber-frame prefab is assembled.

This luxe prefab was assembled in about eight days in Issaquah, Washington. It’s on track for Built Green Five Star certification, and we’ll try to showcase more of the home soon.

[+] More photos of the assembly of this Huf Haus in Washington.

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This the new Blueair Sense designed by Claesson Koivisto Rune.  It was designed to shatter barriers in the bland world of air purification with a contemporary design, touch-less control, compact size, low energy consumption, quiet operation, and optimal clean air delivery rate.  All Blueair units are Energy Star certified and use “HEPA Silent” technology, and I understand Blueair Sense will be no different.  I’ve asked Blueair for pricing and availability information and will update this article when I hear back.

[+] More about air purifiers by Blueair USA.

Credits: Blueair.

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Speaking of tiny houses, check out Version.2, which is the second tiny house built by Leaf House and Laird Herbert in Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon, Canada.  Herbert appears to be on a roll because his first home was sold and two more are on the way, provided this second home finds an owner.  In any event, Version.2 is a 20-foot rolling house of luxury with a sofa bed, full kitchen, full bathroom, and dining area.

Including the 55-square-foot loft, Version.2 has a total of about 215 square feet of living space.

It was built with FSC tongue and groove cedar siding, metal siding, triple-pane Northern Windows, steel stud construction, spray foam insulation, Energy Shield wrap, low-VOC wood finishes and paint, a Sun-Mar composting toilet, GE propane range, Kohler sink, Pegasus shower, tankless water heating, Ecoheat electric baseboards, Broan ventilation, LEDs, dimmable CFLs, birch plywood and ultralight drywall finishing, etc.

Leaf House is selling Version.2 for $44,500.  Check it out here.

Credits: Leaf House; noticed at Tiny House Blog.

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Adam Leu has the height of an NBA small forward, 6′ 7″, and wasn’t satisfied with just a standard tiny house.  So he modified a couple plans by tiny-house enthusiast Michael Janzen and created the Tall Man’s Tiny House.  It’s 21-feet long, 13′ 3″ tall (total, not the interior), and includes three roomy segments of seven feet.  This place includes one bedroom, one bathroom, a loft, and an open living and kitchen room, as pictured.

The tiny house was built on an old camper’s trailer with 2×10 construction above the wheels and 2×4 construction in the front and back.  It has nine, double-paned windows from Crestline for natural light and an exterior finished with cedar rainscreen, ply-and-batten, pine, and steel.

The interior is finished with maple plywood in the ceiling and five-inch pine flooring that’s been stained and sealed with Danish oil.  In addition, the tiny house has a Bosch electric water heater, sawdust compost toilet, IKEA furnishings, and camper-style water and power, but there’s no dedicated units for cooling or heating.

Leu has the 130-square-foot home listed for $27,000, in Canal Winchester, Ohio.  To see more photos and detail of the construction of this tiny house, visit Tall Man’s Tiny House.

Credits: Leu/Tall Man’s Tiny House.

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I spent some time in the home improvement stores this weekend and noticed a newer bulb from Philips designed to replace the standard flood light.  The BR30 LED bulb is Energy Star compliant, delivers 730 lumens, and uses a decent 13-watts of energy.  Plus, it’s mercury free, lasts about 25,000 hours, and has a standard warm color of 2700 Kelvin.  While the price is hovering at $40 at Home Depot right now, I expect that to slowly drop.  Plus, the bulb is an easy install — just screw it in — so testing this is a no brainer.

[+] More about LED light bulbs from Philips.

Credits: Philips Lighting. 

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The Live Screen will make its debut at Wanted Design in New York City this weekend. It was designed by Danielle Trofe and relies on a hydropic, self-watering configuration to create a stylish and sustainably maintained vertical garden for home interiors. The water is circulated with an aquatic air pump that pushes water through what will likely be 80% recycled food-safe plastic when the product is produced.  More info in the video:

[+] More about The Live Screen by Danielle Trofe Design.

Credits: Danielle Trofe; noticed at Urban Gardens.

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This is BeachHaus I in the White Rock area of British Columbia.  The home (like the neighbor, BeachHaus II) is on the market, should you have an interest in a luxe, modern, prefabricated home with incredible views.  BeachHaus — located at 15611 Columbia Avenue — is waiting for LEED certification from the CAGBC and has three bedrooms, two full bathrooms, two half bathrooms, a two-car garage, and about 2,085 square feet.

BeachHaus is listed for sale at $1,350,000, which includes a clean design by noted architectural firm Pb Elemental, a factory-built structure of four modules by Method Homes, and the full project development by InHaus Development.

To keep energy in check, BeachHaus has dual-pane low-E windows, Control4 home automation, an air-to-water heat exchange system, energy monitoring, soy-based spray foam insulation, an automatic skylight, Bosch appliances, and ultra-efficient laundry with steam dry, etc.

For water conservation, the green prefab includes an integrated rainwater harvesting system, dual-flush Toto toilets, and xeriscape low-maintenance landscaping.  Other green products and materials include FSC-certified wenge cabinetry, carbonized bamboo hardwoods, an open bamboo staircase, and a HEPA-filtered HRV, etc.

To see more of BeachHaus I, check out this video on YouTube.

[+] More about BeachHaus I Prefab by InHaus Development.

Credits courtesy: Pb Elemental.

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