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We’ve cheered on the creative and efficient dome home design in recent months, and have now discovered a truly unique variation that’s sure to turn heads. Innovative company Solaleya was spotted at recent West Coast Green Festival by Inhabitat writer Chris Worrall. Solaleya is the creator of the dome house that, wait for it - rotates to follow the sun.
Yes folks, you’ve heard of rotating restaurants and dance floors. Now, you can actually order and live in a house that slowly spins to take advantage of passive solar heating and natural lighting opportunities. The domes come with a remote control allowing you to orient your picture window to the view of your choice.
Framed with FSC-certified wood and insulated with cork, Solaleya’s design presents a number of eco-friendly benefits. Unfortunately, each unit is pre-fabricated in France, requiring that it be shipped overseas to the construction site. But here is a design for living that can respond to the seasonal angle of the sun. That’s an impressive concept by any standard.
The very beginning was quite stressful due to some difficult neighbour relations, but we go through that (for now). In the meantime, our foundation is poured and backfilled:
and the framing is well underway:
Adam the framer frames the double-walled exterior walls. Once filled with insulation and sealed, they will provide an amazing R56-rated resistance to heat flow to the outside.
The east and west walls completed, with a pile of reclaimed two-by-fours from the old pink house that Adam and Nick, the framers, will reuse as backing.
Rim detailing: Adam seals the gaps betweenboards to reduce air movement around the floor rim. This rim would normally remain exposed, leaking air for the entire lifetime of the house.
Adam finishes the rim detail by stapling a strip of Tyvek over the floor rim board. Attention to details like this, which Adam and Nick are very conscientious about, is very hard to come by in Alberta’s slap-it-up-quick building industry trades culture.
The framing is probably the most revolutionary part of this NetZero Home, which is ironic because it adds the least amount of cost compared to the other innovations. Insulation and good sealing have no moving parts - they will save energy 24 hours per day, 365 days per year, and never break.
The second floor should be done by the end of this week!
The stucco is taking much longer than anticipated, the weather in May and June being so dismal being part of the problem and just the shear amount of work to do on the stucco. We’ve had some great help the past few weekends from great friends and family though and are making headway! We’ve started work on the finish coat this past week and got a good start on the north wall. After troweling it on you sponge it to seal the surface and heal any drying cracks. It turns out looking fantastic and looks just like adobe. (gallery below the fold)
What’s round, sturdy, stunning, affordable, earthquake and hurricane resistant, made in Canada from waste wood and frameable in under 8 hours?
I give you the Canadian Wooden Dome, an invention of Vancouver engineering firm Altus Engineering Ltd.
Green Building Company Profile: Canadian Wooden Domes (CWD) Company Name: Altus Engineering, Ltd. Location: Vancouver, BC
Company Mission Statement
“To successfully provide affordable, aesthetically pleasing, energy efficient, environmentally friendly, and durable structures that are highly resistant to natural disasters.”
Dome Basics
Domes are nothing new. Think the Pantheon (Rome – 125 AD), the Taj Mahal (1653), and St. Paul’s Cathedral (London – 1708). It’s domes in modern North America that are uncommon to most. And though the average Canadian surely hasn’t imagined living in one, the beauty, comfort, affordability, security, and environmental benefits may soon woo a great many of us.
(Image Source: Wikipedia)
Simply explained, a CWD is made from 2 x 4 lumber ends cut to a precise size and shape to form panels or sections. When fastened together, these sections become progressively smaller concentric rings, and presto – you have a dome. Watch the video to help wrap your head around it.
(Image Source: Canadian Wooden Domes)
Domes in Canada
Altus Engineering’s CWD building experience reaches 8 years back including prototype development. Currently, one CWD tourist lodge and few cottages have been built in New Denver, BC. Of all the company’s potential clients, it is the government of Mongolia that is signed up for up to 14,000 affordable housing units.
(Image Source: Canadian Wooden Domes)
What Makes a CWD Energy Efficient?
“A dome contains approximately 30% less air volume compared to a traditional stick built building with the equivalent floor area, because walls and ceilings are sloped not angular – so there is a smaller air volume to heat and cool.
Angled walls and ceilings create dead airspace that inhibits natural air circulation and warm air tends to pool at the ceiling. With the sloped walls, ceiling and open spans, domes facilitate more natural air circulation with more even heating or cooling.” (Canadian Wooden Domes)
Dome walls are built to 5.5 inches thick, but a greater thickness can be achieved for those striving for higher insulation values. Using basic insulation ratings, dome walls should perform at about R-36 with sprayfoam insulation, or R-20 with cellulose insulation.
Ecofeatures
Recycled or Reclaimed Content
Framing is made from 2×4 or equivalent lumber ends that would otherwise be chipped or used for finger jointing.
Durability
The 24′ dome prototype, passed a series of 9 earthquake tests of increasing intensity while bearing a weight of 5.5 tons. Expected life span is 2 to 5 times that of traditional frame buildings.
Toxicity
Depends on finishing materials chosen.
Company Location
Delta, BC
Water Conservation
Like conventionally built homes, CWDs accommodate rainwater capture equipment.
Energy Conservation
Estimated 30-50% energy savings compared with a conventional home of equal square footage due to the lower volume of air.
Like conventional homes, domes accommodate renewable energy equipment.
Production Impact
A CWD requires 30% less material than a home with comparable square footage.
Site disruption is minimized because dome sections are factory built, then transported for assembly.
Corporate Social Responsibility Program
No
Independent Certifications
No, however the system has earned several awards.
Dome Construction & Finishing
Altus Engineering Ltd. manufactures the Canadian Wooden Dome (CWD) sections and assembles them on the construction site. This gets you a fully framed and assembled dome with all external sheathing. Because the sections are pre-fabricated and ready to assemble, a dome’s frame can be raised in a single day. The dome featured in the above video link at the University of British Columbia was erected in just 6 hours.
As for windows, roofing, and the rest of the work, the company recommends that post-assembly steps be contracted out, or completed by the homeowner. Of course, finishing can be included at an extra cost.
In addition to single and two-story structures, domes can be built with or without basements, and as additions onto conventionally built houses. While exterior and interior building materials are not limited to those shown in photos, the company lists recommended and compatible materials within their technical specifications.
Budgeting for a Dome
Base prices for dome frame assembly depend on the complexity of the structure but as a guide are as follows:
a 26’ diameter hemispherical one-storey dome: $21,142.66
a 26’ diameter hemispherical two-storey dome: $28,196.67
a 33’ diameter elliptical one-storey dome: $35,420.42
Prices include on-site assembly but not taxes.
Contact
Canadian Wooden Dome Group
1311 Howe Street, Suite 600
Vancouver, BC
Canada V6Z 2P3
T: 604-691-1758 / F: 604-691-1759
Toll free: 1–877-982-3322
It’s been a while since we updated with some photos so here we go. Later this week we’ll upload some photos of the M&E rough-in’s so far and some more interior work that has been done. Winter, the holidays, a new job, and finding out we are expecting has caused a bit of a slow down in work on the Shire Home, but we hope to get back on track soon!
Before rough backfilling could begin around the house conduit had to be laid to run the underground power into the house. Because of the overhang and supporting post footings this had to be dug by hand. A 20 foot trench three feet deep doesn’t sound that bad till you have to dig it yourself
Here the dozer is spreading out loads of fill over our septic field. Instead of hauling in loads of fill from elsewhere we got it from my wife’s sister’s lot next door where they were wanting to dig a pond! It saved us money on fill and they got the pond they wanted for free!
More fill dumped and ready to spread out around the house. Note the 24” apron of insulation at the base of the floating slab, this will prevent frost from getting under the slab and heaving it.
After the fill has been spread and sloped away from the house! We stockpiled some topsoil for spring next year to spread out over this and support some grass next year. Note too that the 24” of gray parging covered insulation is nearly covered, this also provides some frost protection.
A few days after having the rough grading done around the house we had a wind and rain storm, winds reached 130kph at some points in the Maritimes and was strong enough at our house to blow scaffolding over! Thankfully it didn’t damage anything and wasn’t to hard to straighten.
You can see here that it didn’t blow over completely and myself and my brother-in-law had little problem pushing it back into position.
Putting in the chimney was a snap till we tried to get it through the too snug flashing we had made up for the steel roofing.
Many attempts, shims, screwdrivers, jimmy’s and whatnot later we finally got the flue set properly!
Finally success and the “Unicorn” stove is lit!
Soffit installation at dusk in the cold…. Brrr!
Framing the window next to the future door.
Putting in the stops for the glazing unit to be installed next to the entry door. This was one of the glazing units that was salvaged from a local jobsite and featured triple pane, 2 layer low-e and argon gas! very beefy and efficient!
Straw finished off with a nice radius and openings ready for the small 12″x12″ glazing unit samples we installed on the north face of the building.
Exterior trims/glazing stops made of cedar where exposed and spruce where covered with metal flashings.
Finished glazing units in the kitchen. These fixed units will let in light under the upper cupboards and be super efficient.
Upstairs bedroom walls framed in. A 45 degree wall with a sloped ceiling makes for some tricky cuts on the stud tops. Note the interior window framed in the bedroom wall next to the stairwell opening. This will allow more natural light from the south windows into the bedroom.
Another view of the upstairs framing, this one including the laundry/linen closet between the bedroom and bathroom. The area the picture was taken from is an open living area with southern exposure.
The view down our stairwell opening. The stairs will be built of the same rough sawn 4×8’s the floor is made of along with 2×12 preiumium white fir.
Looking up from the first floor of the stairwell opening. Note the ultra cool exposed 4×8 floor framing!
Looking into the framed in porch with the new strand board temporary door.
My concern for the environment led me years ago to become acutely aware of the role that energy plays in our lives. The following quote sums it up nicely:
There is no substitute for energy. The whole edifice of modern society is built upon it…. It is not “just another commodity” but the precondition of all commodities, a basic factor equal with air, water and earth. E. F. Schumacher (1973)
Energy is something that we all take for granted. In its easily obtainable (ie. fossil fuel) forms, though, it is being depleted at blinding speeds.
So when we moved into our newly purchased 1954 raised bungalow in Edmonton seven years ago, I was determined to make it an efficient home. We did major renovations to it - replacing one of the furnaces, putting in all new windows, sealing the cracks and gaps in its outer shell, and covering the outside of the house with rigid foam insulation.
Our home was given a rating of 71 by an Energuide for Homes inspector. The Natural Resources Canada web site says that a rating between 66 and 74 is appropriate for “a typical new house”.
So everything should have been OK, right? End of story? Not so much. I realized that typical new houses are very poorly built, and that our upgraded home still consumes a vast amount of energy.
How much energy?
For space and water heating alone, our home consumes about 150 GJ of energy per year. That’s the equivalent energy of burning about 140 pine trees each and every year (for 10″ diameter trees - sources here and here).
For several reasons, including the environment and energy security, I don’t feel good about living in a home that constantly requires such huge inputs.
An idea is born
So, I began to realize that in order to get to my happy place we would need to build from scratch. We would need to build a home that had energy efficiency and harvesting of solar energy as its primary design driver.
In the summer of 2005, the 92-year old house two doors down from us came up for sale. We bought it, and the Mill Creek NetZero Home project was born.
By Stephani Carter LEED® A.P. - I.D.T. - Principal
Eco-Interior-Designitect
It seems we can’t turn on the television or radio or even open a newspaper these days with out hearing about the many global issues facing the world and our own country in particular. Reports and studies of evidence are piling up such that we can no longer idly wait for others to offer solutions. The 2007 International Panel on Climate Change cautions that “for the next two decades global warming of about 0.2° Celsius is projected. If we continue to emit as many, or more, greenhouse gases, this will cause more warming during the 21st century than we saw in the 20th century.” Still, the mounting data is staggering:
“Toronto’s air pollution contributes to about 1,700 premature deaths and 6,000 hospital admissions in Toronto each year” - Dr. Barbara Yaffe, Toronto’s Acting Medical Officer of Health. Read the rest of this entry »
Oh, lordy. Greyhound shipping has lost my paperstone samples. I did pick up the Squak samples, using my bike trailer I’ll have you know. The wind was nuts but I’m proud that I’m finally using the trailer the way I intended when I got it 2 years ago. But, I’m going to have to buy a car before the streets are lined with ice. On the bright side, Greyhound covered the shipping cost because of the kerfuffle. Hurry up and wait time again.The cabinetry will be 6-8 weeks before it’s in our hot little hands, alas we have some leeway to solidify the other niggly details.
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