An Eco-Smart Project on Spruce Mountain
BrightBuilt Barn: An Introduction
Completed in November of 2008 in Rockport, Maine, the BrightBuilt Barn, a project that pushes the envelope of sustainable design, is the practical outcome of an in-depth collaboration between a team of the Northeast’s top green professionals and builders, and a visionary client coming together to create a super-green, offsite fabricated, and beautiful Net-Zero building that can be replicated and adapted over time.
BrightBuilt has been driven by 5 guiding principles, with Beauty as a prerequisite:
1. Livability
2. Sustainability
3. Replicability/Affordability
4. Disentanglement
5. Education
While the prototype is a working studio for the client, future BrightBuilt Barns can be reconfigured as one or two-bedroom units and combined in multiple configurations. With large intentions, its mission is to demonstrate an alternative method of building that allows levels of flexibility and sustainability beyond the reach of typical residential construction. This building requires NO FURNACE, even in Maine, and provides owners with real-time, easily understandable feedback of energy use through its “mood ring” LED fixtures. An off-the-grid option is also in the works.
With innovation applied to every detail, BrightBuiltBarn is raising awarenss about energy use, sustainability, new building methods, and open source collaboration. The BrightBuilt Manifesto reinforces our commitment to these building blocks of transformation.
BrightBuilt Barn: Live Data
Click here for more details on owning your very own BrightBuilt Barn for under $200,000!
What sets BrightBuilt Barn apart from the rest?
Net-Zero: This building will generate more electricity over the course of a year than it uses.
Super Insulation and extreme air-tightness: With a continuous R-40 insulated envelope (floors, wall, ceiling), this mid-coast Maine building requires NO FURNACE. While not officially at Passive House levels (yet!), the BrightBuilt Barn (at .59 ACH50) is one of the most air-tight buildings in New England. Owning the floor package allows us to ensure that such a comfortable and tight building can be constructed and delivered.
Real-time Feedback: Live feedback encourages human modulation of energy use and has been shown to reduce electricity costs by up to 12%. LED lighting around the base of and inside the building are programmed to run in colors depending on the level of current energy use in the barn. When on track for Net-Zero, it will glow green. Yellow indicated a borderline situation, and red indicates that the current usage exceeds Net-Zero energy goals.
Pre-Fabrication: 90% of the building is pre-fabricated at Bensonwood Woodworking, a timber frame company known for their innovative, industry leading, energy efficient panelization and delivery process.
Continuous Online Energy & Building Performance Monitoring: Reflecting what is going on inside, a large energy meter on the front façade will simultaneously show current levels of energy use and consumption. The energy use information will be continuously monitored online, via the BrightBuilt Barn’s blog. Data from other BrightBuilts will soon appear alongside this one, so that we may learn from the facts and stop our guessing at the combinations of systems and assemblies that will eventually bring us to attainable, carbon-free homes.
LEED Platinum: The BrightBuilt Barn is on track to receive a LEED Platinum rating from the U.S. Green Building Council.
Participant in Cascadia Living Building Challenge: Going beyond the benchmarks of LEED, to prove that buildings can be self-sufficient.
Open Source Collaboration: This promises to be the fastest, most practical way to achieve rapid evolution of ideas for sustainable building. This has proved to be the case with BrightBuilt. Team members have used web based communication systems to send and exchange information continuously throughout the design and construction process.
Some more specifics
The building is a 700 sf single level, with a loft for mechanical, storage and possible living. While currently designed with two open studios on either end and an office in between with moveable partition walls, this footprint can be easily reconfigured to serve as a one-bedroom house. See the Media Kit for design options and construction details.
Since it is built on 4' modules, additional modules can be added on to the form in either direction, growing a future iteration and thereby accommodating other programs.
Wall, roof and floor panels are on the site pre-fabricated, and are hoisted into place atop of a foundation. Once the form has been erected and gasketed together, the site builder ties the building into the site services.
And check the blog for some seriously vibrant dialog!