Little Green Buildings

Kent on 27 Mar 2008

SIPs | Comments (16)

16 Responses to “Little Green Buildings”

1. RowdyKittens on 27 Mar 2008 at 3:37 pm #

   Thanks for the awesome info! I love your blog! Keep up the great work.

2. 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!

3. 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

4. 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…

5. 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 [...]

6. 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. [...]

7. 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.

8. 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

9. 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….

10. 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.

11. 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.

12. Tiny Home Gallery on 22 Oct 2008 at 7:32 pm #

    [...] [...]

13. Rando on 09 Apr 2009 at 7:47 am #

    These little houses are pretty cool, so I visited their website to get a feel for square footage and floor layouts. I couldn’t locate floorplans for any of their structures. I found a few that had cut-away views but that was the only indication the site gave of what might be inside. I can’t imagine any educated buyer considering a plan that doesn’t offer the layout and dimensions. How would you know if the sleeping area were large enough for a double or king bed or if the kitchen offers a 20, 24 or 30 inch range or even a kitchen at all? This was a big disappointment!

14. Ellen on 22 Apr 2009 at 9:33 pm #

    My husband and I have been living and paying mortgage payments on a 700 or so sq. ft. house. We decided to build a Tiny second house out back, but the city code said we needed 500 sq. ft or more. However our property is rated to have multiple buildings as well as multiple family dwellings. So, we have seriously downsized and are building a 120 sg. ft. building. There will be no water, but electricity will be added. We have rented and are presently sharing our house with daughter, son in law, grandchild and baby to be. We are also building with cash from our tight budget. We used to sell antiques but have retired from that and are living without buying any more things. We will have a small garden out back. It is a freedom and privilege to be living within our means and still be able to pay high medical bills little by little for my husband. I am blessed to have a simplified life to share with him.

15. Kent on 23 Apr 2009 at 4:28 pm #

    Hi Ellen – I would enjoy learning more about the house you are building, please contact me…Kent

16. Ellen on 23 Apr 2009 at 9:05 pm #

    Kent, the building is 120 sg. foot. It will have french doors on the 10 ft. side. Two windows, 24×48 will be across each other on the 12 ft. sides. We have put down an insulated floor as we have cold winters. It sits on 6″ beams on gravel. The floor base is 6″ high for the insulation. We have two walls done and have wood for the other two, but just heard it’s going to rain again this weekend. We will have exposed 2×4 rafters and insulted ceiling and walls. There may be a small loft above the kitchen area. We will probably heat with just an electric heater for now. I guess I inserted my comments in the green house section. We do not have plans as of yet to do solar panels or other green additions as we are paying for this w/cash. Our consumption of electricity and water will go way down, however. We will probably just have jugged water inside. We will be using a large antique bead board cupboard for our few clothes and storage. There will be a repurposed old wood shelf for books, a farm table my husband built for the kitchen w/shelves above. He also made our bed w tons of storage underneath. Access to it is under the mattress. Thanks for your interest. This is a great site, from which I have gleaned.

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