BrightBuilt Barn

Location

Rockport, Maine

Overview

LEED Standing

Platinum

Project Team

• LEED Consultant: Jen Huggins, Fore Solution
• Builder: Tedd Benson, Bensonwood Homes
• Engineer: Tedd Benson, Bensonwood Homes
• On-Site Builder: Alan Gibson, Gibson Design Build
• Landscape Architect: Ann Kearsley, Ann Kearsley Design
• Mechanical Contractor: Pat Coon, ReVision Energy
• Lighting Designer: Greg Day, Day Matero Studio
• Architect: Phil Kaplan, Kaplan Thompson Architects

This 700 square foot home is LEED Platinum certified.  The building has a small but adaptable initial purpose – it will serve as a working studio for the client, and can be easily reconfigured as a one or two-bedroom unit. A base model is currently being offered as a product in conjunction with Bensonwood Homes for about $175,000.

With large intentions, its mission is to demonstrate an alternative method of building that allows a level of flexibility and sustainability beyond the reach of typical residential construction. Each component of the building envelope (walls, floor, roof) achieves R-40 insulation, which in combination with high efficiency windows, and an incredibly low air infiltration (0.59 ach50), results in a building that requires NO FURNACE. Each subsequent model comes panelized and finished (appliances, fixtures and mechanical systems may be included), and can be assembled on site in less than a week.

This building takes a radical stance toward carbon neutrality. Not only does it generate all the electrical and heat energy that it needs, thus reducing its annual carbon footprint to zero (i.e. Net Zero), it takes the next step by generating substantially more electricity over the course of a year than it uses, and sending it out into the national electrical grid, where it displaces the need for more carbon-producing sources of electricity such as coal-fired generators. Over time, the surplus energy will erase the “carbon debt” incurred by building the BrightBuilt Barn.

The roof of the BrightBuilt Barn is packed with 30 individual 32″ x 62″ solar panels. These photovoltaic panels are arranged symmetrically on each side of 60 evacuated solar thermal tubes. The solar panels will roughly produce 132 kWh per day and will feed any excess energy back into the grid. The tubes will produce the energy equivalent of approximately .37 gallons of heating oil per day, saving an estimated yearly total of 137 gallons for domestic hot water and, as needed, to the space heating needs of the building.

Home occupants and observers will be able to track the building’s energy performance through an array of LED lights around the lower perimeter of the building which are programmed to glow in multiple colors depending on the moment-to-moment level of energy the barn is producing or consuming. At its most energy efficient, when more kWh are being produced than consumed, the ‘light skirt’ glows green; glowing red when kWh production is less than consumption – not unlike a mood ring. All energy use information, both moment-to-moment and cumulative, will be compiled for the owners use and in time shared on the website:  www.BrightBuiltBarn.com.  Please view the site for additional images, information, and purchasing details.

Green building features include:

• Super-insulation (SIPS, pre-fabricated panels)
• No Furnace (Air-to-air Heat Pump)
• Solar Hot Water & Electricity
• Disentangled Wiring & Plumbing Systems
• Triple Glazed Windows
• Minimal Construction Waste due to pre-fabrication
• Primary materials contain at least 25% recycled content
• Native, Drought Tolerant Plants
• Real-time feedback of energy use

On-Site Builder: Alan Gibson, Gibson Design Build
Landscape Architect: Ann Kearsley, Ann Kearsley Design
Lighting Designer: Greg Day, Day Matero Studio
Mechanical Contractor: Pat Coon, ReVision Energy
LEED Consultant: Jen Huggins, Fore Solution