Posts filed under 'Prefab Housing'
The energy system design for the Simpatico Prototype Home qualifies it as a Net Zero Energy residence. Simply put, a Net Zero Energy home is one that produces as much energy as it consumes. This means that the Prototype will be self-sufficient with its electric, hot water and space heating needs. (This system has the added bonus of eliminating any need for natural gas in the home, highlighted in the posting An Introduction to Induction.)
The Net Zero Energy goal will be accomplished by combining 30 solar panels on the roof with a high-efficiency electric heat pump, passive solar architecture, and extremely efficient fixtures and appliances. This system will allow the home to “sell back” excess energy it generates during sunny days and to purchase energy like any other home during nights and cloudy days. Over the course of a year, the power bills should achieve a net zero energy equilibrium.
With rapidly declining solar install costs and aggressive federal and state credits/rebates, the projected payback on this system is only 3-1/2 years. To learn more about how this Net Zero Energy system works, please visit our design partners at www.NetZeroEnergyCertified.com.
January 25th, 2010
Want to know how to cook faster, using less energy, with more control? Try cooking with magnetic induction, a process that bypasses heating the cooktop surface and goes right to heating the pot. The Net Zero Energy design for the Prototype Home presented us with an interesting dilemma– keep a gas line in the home only to run a gas cooktop or eliminate gas completely and embrace an alternative method?
Magnetic induction cooking uses electricity to produce a magnetic field that sends currents into iron atoms that react by movement which causes friction and heat in a metal vessel. The electro-magnetic elements are housed under a ceramic-glass surface.
Unlike conventional cooktops that create heat below a pot, the magnetic induction process makes the pot into the heating element. Food is heated more quickly and to precise temperatures. Because they are not directly heated, cooking surfaces cool more quickly eliminating the potential of injury from unknowingly coming in contact with a hot surface. Cooking with magnetic induction is also 90 percent efficient, as compared to resistance electric at approximately 65-percent efficiency, and open-flamed gas which measures in the 55-percent efficiency range.
The simple act of boiling water will never be the same!
December 15th, 2009
Those of you who are familiar with the work on the Simpatico Prototype will find this image amusing. We also find it inspirational in both form and function. As told by author Andreas Stravopoulos in Dwell Magazine:
“First came the idea. Then came the late nights of Craigslist searching. And then it happened quickly: a trip to a derelict horse ranch in the Salinas Valley, an exchange of cash in an old barn, and a harrowing towing adventure up Highway 101 netted me my current abode—a 1959 Airstream travel trailer. The Airstream now resides in the garden of a co-op in North Berkeley, a few steps from the Cheeseboard and Chez Panisse.
My obsession with mobility, modularity, and affordability began long before the Airstream and has since extended beyond. As a recently self employed (read: laid off) landscape architect, I have been able to address several of the problems that I see in my field. Namely, the lack of connection between the LAND and the ARCHITECT.”
Click here to read the full article and view the slide show on Dwell.com.
November 3rd, 2009
Check out the nice press we received about the Prototype Home on Jetson Green. Jetson Green is a daily updated magazine that’s obsessed with green building and everything related to it, including sustainable architecture, good design, green prefab, clean technology in the built environment, affordable housing, and eco-friendly development.
June 5th, 2009
Simpatico Homes travels east to lend a hand to our friends at AMB Modular. Over the course of 2 weeks Simpatico worked side-by-side with the AMB team to help them set and finish-up 3 modular homes. Take a look at the Video Slideshow of the Modular Set on Feb 28 in Manasquan, NJ. These guys really know what they’re doing– start to finish this home set took only 6-1/2 hours! Maybe we’re biased, but this is just about the most fun you can have on a Saturday.
April 23rd, 2009
Prefab housing is not a new concept; in fact it has been around for over a century. Dwell magazine is at the epicenter of the modern prefab movement and the most influential prefab structures of today have graced their pages. Check out their really cool article that chronicles prefab’s history titled An Introduction to Prefab.
February 15th, 2009
The energy system design for the Simpatico Prototype Home qualifies it as a Net Zero Energy residence. Simply put, a Net Zero Energy home is one that produces as much energy as it consumes. This means that the Prototype will be self-sufficient with its electric, hot water and space heating needs. (This system has the added bonus of eliminating any need for natural gas in the home, highlighted in the posting An Introduction to Induction.)