More Great Press

BrightBuilt Barn had a banner day, being favorably mentioned on two premiere eco-blogs on the same day.

First, a follow-up post by Preston Koerner of Jetson Green blog, who first reviewed us back in September:

http://www.jetsongreen.com/2008/12/brightbuilt-bar.html

Second, an extremely favorable mention in Treehugger - headlined "BrightBuilt Barn is Built, Bright, and Beautiful":

http://www.treehugger.com/files/2008/12/bright-built-barn-built.php

And we are expecting more to come....

Light Skirt in action!

The light skirt is finally up and running and the first snow has fallen, giving BrightBuilt that striking glow we've anticipated since the initial renderings. To view more of Naomi Beal's latest pictures, go here: BrightBuilt Barn Photos

LEED Platinum Buildings Go Mainstream

Preston Koerner at the Jetson Green blog has compiled a compendium of 33 buildings who have achieved, or are in the process of receiving, Platinum ratings from the US Green Building Council's Leadersip in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) initiative.

The link is here:

http://www.jetsongreen.com/2008/12/leed-platinum-p.html

BrightBuilt Barn is referenced in the article. Now that construction is complete, we are in the process of applying for a LEED Platinum rating - we will keep you posted on our progress through the rigorous certification process.

More on LEED can be found here:

http://www.usgbc.org/DisplayPage.aspx?CategoryID=19

German PassivHaus Construction Similar to BrightBuilt

Yesterday's New York Times contained an article on German "PassivHaus" construction; you can read it here:

http://www.nytimes.com/2008/12/27/world/europe/27house.html?_r=1&partner=rss&emc=rss

Passive Houses use superinsulation and strict air tightness to reduce the heating energy requirements of a building by 70% - 90%. BrightBuilt Barn has used some of these same concepts to create its own approach to sustainability.

The Wikipedia entry explaining the history and background of Passive Houses is here:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Passive_house

The PassivHaus concept grew out of a collaboration in the late 1980s and early 1990s between two professors of architecture, Professor Bo Adamson of Sweden and Dr. Wolfgang Feist of Germany. Over time, their ideas were codified into a standard of building performance, as described on this English-language page of the PassivHaus Institut's webpage (most of which is in German):

http://www.passiv.de/English/PassiveH.HTM

The UK branch of the PassivHaus movement has an English-language website with more information here:

http://www.passivhaus.org.uk/index.jsp?id=667

It's gratifying to see advanced but pragmatic approaches to sustainability in building design and construction begin to get recognition in the mainstream press.

Last Pieces of the Puzzle?

Here are photos of the concrete sink and kitchen countertop at Jon Meade's shop today. They are just about the final substantial outstanding items which the Barn awaits.

They were a long time coming but look quite beautiful. Jon is a true artisan. They should go in next week. The final blower door test will follow shortly after!

BrightBuilt at GreenBuild

None other than Bensonwood's fearless leader, Tedd Benson, was the Keynote Speaker (along with Kevin O'Connor of This Old House and Steve Kieran of Kieran Timberlake Architects) at this year's GreenBuild event in Boston last week. The special track was specifically for Green Homebuilders and within this track, Tedd also led another seminar called "Extreme Green", in which he talked at length about a number of Bensonwood's cutting-edge projects, including - of course - The BrightBuilt Barn.

The picture you see here from the Main Event is of Tedd in the midst of giving a truly inspirational speech to 800+ attendees. Many people  after the event relayed to me how much they were moved by his words. Include me in that bunch. And yes, that is BBB on the big screen in the background. Pretty cool, all around.

BrightBuilt in Electronic House

BrightBuilt has been featured in another excellent Blog, Steve's Castle's "Green Technology" Column for the magazine, Electronic House. Take a look, and be sure to view Steve's other interesting postings.