Tag:Residential
Bath Fan & Speaker In One
Homewerks Worldwide has developed a bathroom exhaust fan with bluetooth music streaming capability. The fan will move 90 cfm at a noise level of only 1.5 sones.
I didn’t realize music in the bathroom was such a thing! Previously I told you about the Kohler Moxie Showerhead (here) that streams music along with the water. (See what I did there?) Before that I told you about the Amerec’s Ipod Shower Docking Station (here). I guess no one sings acapella in the shower these days.
Would Your New House Look Good in High Heels?
Image borrowed from blog.armchairbuilder.com
I’m not talking about stripper shoes! I’m talking about truss construction. This is something we’re seeing and recommending more in new construction. Installing a truss with a raised heel detail allows for more insulation at the perimeter where often the insulation is compressed or absent due to the proximity of the interior ceiling to the roof deck. The detail to the right shows how a standard truss is built. As discussed here before, venting and insulation is important to shingle life and to prevent ice damming.
Image borrowed from Building America Solution Center
A high heeled or raised heel truss (see left) is created with the equivalent of an additional wall section separating the bottom chord and top chord of the truss at the exterior wall. This allows full thickness insulation to extend out to the wall and complete the protection of the building envelope. If care is used in selecting your roof slope and eave extensions, this is never noticed as your soffit can be installed to return at the same height as the interior ceiling making the construction look like a standard cantilever truss.
When you’re planning your new home or addition to your existing home, make sure and ask us about this and other “Green That Save Green” solutions.
Shipping Container Living Space
Credit: Urban Space Management (CONTAINER CITY) Ltd.
Brent Martin and I have had several discussions about using shipping containers as living space. Apparently someone beat us on the implementation. London-based developers Urban Space Management used shipping containers to create Container City, a 22-unit modular building. I read about it in the April issue of Multi-Family Executive. You can read the entire article by Linsey Isaacs on their site here. I also read an article recently where Ball State University was experimenting with the idea as housing in third world countries. Another million dollar idea lost to quicker minds…
Affordable Housing
On Saturday, I sat in on another focus group meeting on the Culver Comprehensive Plan. This one was specific to the Lake Maxinkuckee Environmental Council and Fund. It was a fairly good discussion and several achievable goals were added to the consultant’s list for the plan. I was a little disappointed that there wasn’t more discussion about why goals from the previous plan weren’t met and how to achieve that, but overall I thought it was positive.
The Dream of “Affordable Housing”
As with every single Culver meeting on the Comprehensive Plan that I’ve attended, the subject of affordable housing came up. This is such a nebulous term that is thrown around with people at the table talking about houses currently available in town for $70,000, others talking about the $125,000 to $250,000 range and also the eco-friendly housing project that has been floated around which is looking at the $250,000 range. To help me get a handle on it, I asked a banker friend to break it down. (This is all in big fat round numbers, so don’t get too picky on my math, please!)
Tube Elevator
PVE52 Vacuum Elevator
I think this elevator has a lot of potential due to its small footprint, but I’m a little disconcerted by the similarity to the drive-up window tubes at a bank. Ha! It appears to only go up and down and not travel horizontally across the ceiling, but then you never know!
This is a vacuum lift from Pneumatic Vacuum Elevators, LLC. It is a self-supporting structure with a footprint of only less than 53″. This still provides an internal cab diameter of 43″. It can rise up to 35′ and have up to 4 stops. Door openings can be arranged in line or at 180 degrees. It requires no mechanical room and no added headroom.
A standard lift requires a constructed shaft with an interior dimension as large the exterior dimensions of this one. That could be an advantage in the residential applications that this is designed to accommodate.
Often we use stair climbing lifts in residential applications. This is fine for homes with wide stairs and for users that are still ambulatory. Unfortunately that option doesn’t work well for someone who is wheelchair bound. There is no way for the rider to move the chair from floor to floor.
The Pneumatic Elevator is a aesthetic and life style choice. The cost is similar or greater than a standard cab style chairlift elevator. it would be something to consider in the right application, but it is designed to be a feature and not something hidden or disguised as is often the goal in home elevator installations.
