The Tiny Life

Here is a pretty neat concept

‘bufalino’ by German industrial designer Cornelius Comanns is a small camper which is equipped to meet the basic needs of one person. the concept behind the project is to offer absolute flexibility during periods of travel. the minimalist construction is based on the existing piaggio APE 50 three wheeled light transport vehicle

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So I have been thinking and thinking about this idea of a meetup for Tiny House people.  I have figured out a few things all of which are free or cheap, this is still in the planning stages.
What I have figured out:

• Location to host in Charlotte, NC
• Tour of an off-the-grid container home
• Tour of first LEED certified Hotel in Charlotte
• Green / Eco-Friendly expo with a series of talks
• Possible tour of a micro farm
• A short list of speakers (not yet approached)

What I still need to button down:

• A Tubleweed style home brought to Charlotte, NC for tours
• Print Materials / guides
• Finalizing the above
• Volunteers
• Marketing / Promotion
• Group to webcast talks and video tours

What can you do to help?

Have a Tiny House?

Want to volunteer?

When I was looking around for videos I noticed that for some reason, videos of hide away beds includes techno music, but none the less, these are pretty neat!

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So my friend Kent over at TinyHouseBlog.com has put forth a great post, he is asking about the next steps we need to take to start meeting face to face.  Now this is not an easy task, for many of us, we are far from others.  In fact, this blog is read by people in 150+ countries!

I did have a map going of where Tiny House people are located, but it recently was shut down because the website that ran it shut its doors.  The other bloggers and I need to come up with a replacement, I will be talking with them soon on that note.

Why should we meet?

First off, it is always good to socialize with people who are passionate about the same thing.  I have talked about how relationships are so important and how I try to drive a personal connection.  Next I see it as a way to gather and share information in a highly concentrated form.  The information gained in a few hours of talking would talk 10′s or 100′s of post on this blog. Finally bring a group together with a Tiny House bring press, press bring awareness to our issue and challenges thinking.

What will do?

What I propose – this can be changed and improved – is after locating people in a certain area, we determine a meeting place that is central.  The most successful meet will have at least one Tiny House which will draw people and the press if things go well.  The day will consist of:

• Meet and greet
• Tiny House tour
• Sharing our story with press
• Information sessions
• Distributing materials
• Exchanging contact info
• Determining next steps (if any?)

What’s next?

In the comments please give me some feedback on what I laid out here.  Some questions you might consider in your comment:

• What would you like to see?
• What info sessions would be useful?
• Where are you located?

I have talked about straw bale houses before (see post) but this house is a whole new take on bales, specifically cardboard bales.  For those who might not be familiar most retail stores and other truck/shipping places have a large machine in the back called a baler, basically you throw your cardboard in them and you have them recycled.  You can even make money off the sale.  But there are some cardboards that are simply not able to be recycled.  So check out this neat take on bale houses.

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This is a pretty big house for this blog, it is a whooping 500 square feet, but the design and its focus on solar are amazing!  The house uses very practical materials for the external cladding.

here is an excerpt from the description

The cylinders’ design was inspired by industrial agricultural materials. The structure was made by CorTen corrugated steel as the cladding and exposed steel beams on the interior. The house takes advantage of solar gain from the steel envelope through an innovative skin-integrated solar thermal system that pre-heats hot water. Each cylinder has two operable Velux® skylights to maximize the natural lighting.

The interior was designed by combining the agricultural and industrial aesthetic through a contemporary lens. The materials chosen were considered to be eco-friendly. The primary material pallete is made from forested black locust, ash and beech hardwoods from local area. They are complemented by the use of zero off-gassing finishes throughout the entirety of the house interior. Nanawall™ systems are used as the boundary between the courtyard, bedroom, and living room, blur the distinction between interior and exterior space. The kitchen was designed to provide energy efficient cooking activities, also to combine between cooking and entertaining activities. In the bedroom, the bed is raised into a a concealed ceiling box to create an open and usable space in its footprint.

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The mirror surface of these odd looking rolling houses is kinda of an interesting concept, with the mirrored shell, it blends the house into the landscape somewhat, making the focus on nature.  I really like this, houses often can detract from natural settings, disrupt the rawness.

Sustainable to the core, rainwater collected on the roof is circulated into the structure for gray water reuse, the toilets compost and top-mounted solar panels and/or a wind turbine create electricity that, in turn, can be used to heat water and space inside of the airstream-esque mobile pod house.  At nearly 300 square feet, each individual unit has closet space, a bed, kitchenette, living area and a bathroom complete with toilet, sink and shower.  While best suited to just two people a single one of these portable homes could house up to six people as needed

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Here is a Tiny House that was designed to be eco-nomical, eco-friendly, and eco-logical.  Measuring at 523 square feet and $50,000-$100,000 this Tiny House is designed to be setup off the grid.

The Osprey includes a bedroom, bathroom, living room, galley kitchen, and integrated decks.  It can easily go off-the-grid, as well, if that’s what the homeowner wants or needs.  The standing seam metal roof has room for thin-film solar to generate some or all of the home’s energy needs.

• Energy Star, low-e windows;
• Energy Star appliances;
• R21 walls, R19 floors, and R50 ceilings;
• 15.5 SEER/8.5 HSPF ductless HVAC;
• On-demand tankless water heater;
• Zero-VOC paints and an air filtration/cleaning system;
• Low-flow faucets and showerheads;

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What many of you might not know is that there is a growing subset of Tiny House folks that see these houses as a solution to homelessness.  I covered one group based out of Atlanta called The Mad Housers, a group that make modular Tiny Houses that they setup in a few hours.  They do this all for free.

Here is another group that is taking on this challenge with design of Tiny Houses:

Fresno architect Arthur Dyson says he has the solution to the city’s homeless problem: villages of tiny homes built with recycled materials and surrounded by fruit trees.

The first structures — some measuring only 80 square feet — are already under construction on the Fresno State campus, where Dyson has been working with students in a construction management class to develop concepts.

But the structures won’t become living spaces for the homeless unless city officials can find a suitable spot for them.

Gregory Barfield, Fresno’s homeless prevention and policy manager, said the city is ready to assist Dyson with the project, including finding a site.

No finished house photos yet….

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This Tiny House started out small, but grew to a whooping price tag of $100k!  Now I am sure that you could do it for much less, the fact that it was built on an island I’m sure added some cost.

This 260-square-foot shed is located in Bowen Island, British Columbia, and was built with reclaimed or certified lumber, low-E windows, low-VOC paints, an R20 concrete slab, steel roofing, rainwater harvesting, and a 2,400 gallon cistern that irrigates Glave’s organic farm.

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