eco-cottage

Started by germangirl, August 10, 2006, 05:27:10 PM

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germangirl

August 10, 2006, 05:27:10 PM
Hi everyone! I have been a huge fan of this site since I first visited in 2003, and boy has it changed. I love reading and seeing what everyone is doing or has done and I applaud you all. I have a question about a progran I saw on television on a show called "Assembly Required". On this particular 2 part show the product presented was the Eco Cottage by Northern Steel. I would really like to hear opions on such a building as my husband and I are interested but a little wary about an "all steel" home - especially living in Michigan. We were interested because they are small homes and very eco-friendly - also with asthma and several chemical allergies it looked like a good idea to consider - but we're still questioning the whole prospect of this kind of place for a "home". If you are wondering what these cottages look like and what they are made of,visit the site at www.ecocottage.com. I would greatly like to hear input regarding this product. Thank so much, and again I just want to say how impressed I am with how far this site has come since I first visited.
-Liesl

desdawg

#1
August 10, 2006, 05:59:14 PM
All I get is a Freeparking website hosting advertisement. No Eco-cottage pictures.
I have done so much with so little for so long that today I can do almost anything with absolutely nothing.

Daddymem

#2
August 10, 2006, 06:02:53 PM
Où sont passées toutes nos nuits de rêve?
Aide-moi à les retrouver.
" I'm an engineer Cap'n, not a miracle worker"

http://littlehouseonthesandpit.wordpress.com/

glenn kangiser

#3
August 10, 2006, 06:12:04 PM
Hi Germangirl.  Glad you are here.

I worked with these people several years back - even was set up to be a dealer for them but we never did really get past the hurdles to get their products going up here.

http://www.sunwayhomes.info/indexEnglish.htm

Mario Aguilera is a friend who spent quite a bit of time taking me to his projects and to meet their engineers.  I attended an awards ceremony with them at Chepultepec Castle in Mexico City.  It was sponsored by the Mexican Government.

I liked their system better than some of the others in that it had a heavy red iron frame every 8 feet with 2x6 or  8  steel stud infill between for heavy insulation as I remember.  It was much better than the houses being built here at the time of simple steel studs cobbled together to make a steel frame house-- so flimsy that many times failed sections of the houses could be seen laying in scrap heaps on the jobsite, before they were even complete.

The site you posted didn't come up, but I would want heavier framing than just steel studs.  

The homes I visited in Mexico were nice big luxurious houses and indistinguishable from standard well built homes.  
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.

desdawg

#4
August 10, 2006, 06:12:57 PM
Thanks Daddymem. Looks kind of pricey to me. JMO.
I have done so much with so little for so long that today I can do almost anything with absolutely nothing.

glenn kangiser

#5
August 10, 2006, 06:15:06 PM
Per Daddymems link, this looks better than steel stud construction. :)
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.

glenn kangiser

#6
August 10, 2006, 06:18:23 PM
The basic wood structure shouldn't give you problems with allergies-- It is mostly the high tech finish materials that will bother you.  This could also be a problem with the steel house at a possibly higher cost.
"Always work from the general to the specific." J. Raabe

Glenn's Underground Cabin  http://countryplans.com/smf/index.php?topic=151.0

Please put your area in your sig line so we can assist with location specific answers.

germangirl

#7
August 10, 2006, 06:30:12 PM
 ::) oops - I'm bad. I guess my brain really is slipping - 4 kids will do that to a gal. I even wrote down the website so I wouldn't mess it up and I goofed anyway. Per daddymem the site is ecocottages.com. Thanks for such a quick response. Yes we had considered the problem with finishes and allergic response - perhaps we will just have to wait and gather a lot more information on home building as all the houses here in MI are an OSB lovers paradise, which happens to put in respiratory distress. I haven't seen an honest to goodness real piece of wood in years. No, I take that back - we have plenty of Log Home builders in MI but we would need to win the lottery to afford one of those.
-Liesl

John Raabe

#8
August 11, 2006, 09:55:25 AM Last Edit: August 11, 2006, 09:56:07 AM by jraabe
Since the topic of this thread is [highlight]"EcoCottage"[/highlight] I will show you a design I did with that title in 1982. It is planned as an expandable 16' x 24' solar and wood heated cabin (with no utility connections initially). You can see the 2nd phase extensions in the PDF.



Download the Eco Cottage PDF here.
None of us are as smart as all of us.

desdawg

#9
August 11, 2006, 10:43:52 AM
That is a good design John. I think your Eco = economical where the other Eco means ecological. At roughly $100 per square foot it isn't too economical. I always wondered about moving furniture up a circular staircase. Built in's are definitely a good option in a case like that.
I have done so much with so little for so long that today I can do almost anything with absolutely nothing.

John Raabe

#10
August 11, 2006, 12:27:01 PM Last Edit: August 11, 2006, 12:32:07 PM by jraabe
Yes, a spiral is tough for furniture. You need to have some sort of open balcony access between floors in such a case (such as the Victoria Cottage -- PIC). You can use a hoist or ramp for those oversized things you need to move every few years or so.
None of us are as smart as all of us.

Amanda_931

#11
August 11, 2006, 08:05:36 PM Last Edit: August 11, 2006, 08:08:06 PM by Amanda_931
I've had in mind a little chain hoist on a beefed up roof system--for a loft with ladder setup.

Bathroom in that tiny place--all outside, built as an addition to "the" house?

I really like the idea of putting the wood stove in a little windowed alcove, usable on sunny winter days for solar gain, maybe even summer evenings to store coolth for the next day.

CREATIVE1

#12
August 13, 2006, 12:48:51 PM
More info please about the wood stove in the alcove.  How would it work with the window, and should it be on the south side of the house?  Is the enclosing material used for heat storage?

Amanda_931

#13
August 13, 2006, 09:04:37 PM
It looks like John's got this:

Equator-facing window--with an external shutter maybe--lets sun in on cool days, this heats up the surround.  The surround in front of the window is acting like a small trombe wall--doesn't look like the window lets light all the way into the room, so I'd expect there to be a brick or several missing top and bottom.  So that air can heat up, rise, come into the room via the top spaces, drawing cooler air into the space via the missing bricks in the bottom.

When the stove is in operation, the surround just behaves like thermal mass--which it is.

That's how I'm reading it, anyway.

jraabe

#14
August 13, 2006, 10:04:05 PM
That's right Amanda. This is an earlier version of what I did in the Solar Saltbox where the thermal mass acts as a modifier and storage release mechanism (heat sink) for smoothing our solar and wood heat inputs. During nights and cold gray days the insulated shutters would be closed and you would use the stove. On sunny days open up and store some heat in the masonry. During summer heat close it during the day and open at night.

Amanda_931

#15
August 14, 2006, 10:25:45 PM
Speaking of Eco Cottages

while I was looking for something else, I found this SIPS made vacation/guest house with a really nice set of porches.  Don't think it's really all that ecological, but look who designed it--I read about him in Alex Wade's books.

It would make a pretty nice guest cottage, if a little big.

http://www.dwrightaia.com/pages/h_sunset.html

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