Little Green Buildings

Kent on 27 Mar 2008

I’m quite a big fan of Mother Earth News and in most of their recent issues there are always articles on SIPs or Structural Insulated Panels.

I started doing some research on tiny houses using SIPs and found a great site and company who specializes in tiny or small buildings called Little Green Buildings based in Port Angeles, Washington. They are a small company with great customer service. There buildings range in size from 32 square feet to 400 square feet and are quite reasonably priced.

Getaway

Why Use SIPs? Here are a few good reasons.

Extremely energy efficient.
Super insulated floors, walls and roof.
Small heating and air conditioning equipment = much lower utility bills and no more cold feet.
Because of the core system of rigid foam no mold, no bugs.
And a great fire rating!
Stronger, straighter, three times faster to build.
No vapor barriers to worry about.
Little or no waste.
No need for bird blocks or ridge vents.
Storm and earthquake resistant.
Snow loads just about anywhere on earth.
Super quiet. Need a place to shut out the noise of every day life?
More space. Because the roof itself is insulated â€œno atticâ€, more room for loft or storage space.

Here are a few more samples of Little Green Buildings designs:

Chalet

Beachfront Study

River Shack

Share and Enjoy:

11 Responses to “Little Green Buildings”

RowdyKittens on 27 Mar 2008 at 3:37 pm #

Thanks for the awesome info! I love your blog! Keep up the great work.
Marcell on 27 Mar 2008 at 6:17 pm #

Very cool blog. I love all the ideas and links. Our house is 538 sq. feet small. We didn’t design it ourselves, it was built in the 1930’s as a summer cottage, winterized much later. We like living small, but would like to someday design a more ‘green’ and energy effecient small house with some more land/elbow room outdoors, room to grow our food, etc.

Your site is giving us great info. Thanks!
Copeland on 28 Mar 2008 at 6:42 am #

Great post!
There are two items I’d like to address though-

# And a great fire rating!
(This depends on the materials used in the SIPs which vary manufacturer to manufacturer and for different applications)

# No vapor barriers to worry about.
(Vapor barriers should be used with any ridge connection)

Happy Friday!
–Copeland
Tom on 28 Mar 2008 at 6:44 am #

I really like this concept of small houses..and have also been watching the growth of SIP’s over the last year. I read that in ten years most houses will be build with them…yet most people don’t know they exist.

The entire concept of small and green will be the wave. Great TV show on Japan and how they live small just aired a week ago on cable…will see if I can find it and send it out.

Great blog-got my attention…
materialicious » Blog Archive » architecture roundup, 03/28/08 on 28 Mar 2008 at 8:05 am #

[...] Green Buildings via Tiny House Blog. SIPS are everywhere these [...]
Little Green Buildings on 28 Mar 2008 at 10:33 am #

[...] I love the Tiny House Blog! I discovered Little Green Buildings, via this post. [...]
AKB on 18 Apr 2008 at 7:24 pm #

I have been following your blog. It is just the site I have looked for years to find. For the past 18 years, I have been living in progressively smaller houses and I could never find info on living in less than 800sf houses (my smallest, and favorite, was 560sf). I have been wanting to find a place that makes truly small SIP kits that I could afford. FINALLY you pointed the way! Thank-you.
Kent on 18 Apr 2008 at 7:54 pm #

AKB - Thanks for your kind words. I am enjoying this journey also. Please keep me posted on your SIP kit experience. I would enjoy learning more and you can’t beat first hand experience.

Kent
bill on 03 May 2008 at 5:19 pm #

Can’t swear to it, but I think Fine Homebuilding had an interesting article on SIPs about, oh, six months ago….
Marti on 09 Jul 2008 at 4:14 pm #

Just found my new dream house: the Little Green Building’s “Sierra with Balcony”. Thank you for this site AND the LGB site.
Patrick Gillespie on 19 Jul 2008 at 8:56 am #

A foam core may discourage mold, but it does not, by definition, discourage bugs. In fact, several types of ants love nothing more than to borrow into foam - building extensive condominiums in the stuff. This is easily avoided by careful detailing and screens, if necessary.

Also, there are different types of foam, some of which “out gas” and some of which don’t - though nothing like the stuff from the 70s and 80s formaldehyde. Some people can become sensitized to the compounds while most won’t be bothered. The foam used in sips, to my knowledge, is also a petroleum based product.

Fantastic insulation but not without some provisos.