10. What are 100% green materials?
Even when the miniHome was only 1-day old out of the factory, it didn’t have any of the noxious off-gassing and poor indoor air quality that plagues most vehicles, trailers, houses and manufactured products. That’s because we set out a very exclusive set of criteria for our manufacturer, which demanded:
- No vinyl
- No formaldehyde*
- No toxic adhesives or finishes
- All water-based, or plant oil-based finishes
- No CFC’s or HCFC’s
- All woods to be certified from sustainable sources (FSC certification)
- High natural ventilation rate (windows open)
- Constant fresh air supply (windows closed) via heat-recovery-ventilator
- durability and low-maintenance
This ensured both a mountain-fresh indoor air quality, with the pleasant aromas of unfinished cedar and pine (which are given a light coating of water-based urethane to give an easy-to-clean, satin finish), and a clear conscience - that we produced a building of enduring beauty from materials and methods that have the lightest burden on our ecosystems.
*with the exception of our IKEA kitchen cabinets, and SIPs panels, which are however entirely face-sealed to prevent off-gassing. We are planning completely UF/PF-free cabinets for the SOLO and DUO SE models.
We aren’t using IKEA anymore, as we found a local manufacturer that makes kitchens and bathrooms for us with FSC and/or Formaldehyde free sheet goods! Yay!
Do you have documentation to show the durability of the minihome? I cannot see anything about this on the website.
What is the exterior of the house made of?
The exterior *was* richlite which did not behave as expected (UV resistence) - it was an experiment for us - one that failed. It is now Prodema, a proven, European commercial cladding system. Most buildings using these materials are designed for a 100 year life-cycle. All of the materials we use have stood up very well to over 500,000 visitors. Unfortunately, we do not list the specifics of the materials we use in the units as this is considered intellectual property, however, all of it is high-end architectural material, with commensurate warranties and lifespans.
[...] Sustain - currently there are only three options from this builder but they expect to release 8 more models very soon. Square footage currently starts at the miniHome SOLO SE (PDF) with 350 square feet and goes up to the the miniHome DUO SE (PDF) at 475 square feet. Available only in North America. Bonus fact: These homes are 100% green materials! [...]
wow these are terrific. Is it possible to customize in any way eg. I would love to consider this for a cottage but the windows would need to be much bigger…terrific!
Kathryn,
We can customize all of our models. Have you looked the the 12WIDE models? These have extensive glazing on the ‘South’ elevation.