Friday, August 21, 2009




This shows galvalume siding with a band of Richlite material in between.

This view shows the rain screen. The material is tamarack.
Steve and Britt are highlighting the Wheat Board.
Our painter is using a low VOC paint.
This is our lead carpenter, Taylor.
This photo shows cork flooring being installed.
The frame for the rain screen coming together. It is what you see under the solar panels.
These are pavers that will be part of a display.
We had a sneak peak for our associates and clients recently. This is Marc from Sala talking about the features of the eco house.
The carport is gettiing a veneer of tamarack installed.
Inside the home Wheatboard is being used as a wall covering.
You can see the threaded rods that are part of the "bent" engineering.
A nice photo of the PVC panels.
Solar panel installation.
More solar panel installation.

Friday, August 7, 2009

I really like the look of this building.

It is exciting to see the windows being installed.

Our team keeps a clean job site.
You are looking at a "solar chimney". Think of it as a kind of turbo-charger. It will heat air before it comes into the building during the winter. It can also work well to ventilate air in the warm seasons.
The SIP panels are all in place.

The Eco-House fits snugly in the Progress Center!

This is a good shot of the SIP panel installation. They are fastened to the bents with long screws.

The garage is up. Very unique.

The SIP panels are being installed.
You can see the floor joists in place inside the bents.

The building is coming together. The SIP panels will cover a good portion of the bent assembly.
Great looking trailer!
Nice photo of a few bents.

You can see a few of the bents after installation. Notice the threaded rods inside each bent. The bents are spaced 12 ft. apart.
These are threaded with a clevass and dowel connection at each end. They will provide lateral strength.
We brought one of our fork lifts to St. Paul. for the construction of the Eco-House.

You can see the connecting plates in each bent.

The "bent" construction is progressing.


The walls of the Eco-House are made from what is called a SIP panel. The panels consist of a rigid foam core and a plywood skin, typically OSB plywood. Kind of reminds me of an ice cream sandwich.

This picture shows the floor outline of the Eco-House and how it relates to the space inside the Progress Center. The carpenters are working on the bent construction.

We are setting up a pattern for the first "bent". These were made onsite by our carpenters.

Pic 290

These are the steel connecting plates that are an integral part of the roof truss system. They are sandwiched between the 4 plys of each truss, or what Dave the architect refers to as a "bent'. The bent is the building block of a timber frame. As a cross section through the building, it carries most of the secondary members, like joists, rafters and connectors. The bent gives the timber frame home its shape. There are many types of bents. The holes you see in the plates are for steel dowels that hold the bent together by friction.