Any exciting adventure worth its salt has to have a name, right? We have decided to name our tiny, off the grid, fully sustainable, steel structure house project the “Net Zero Project” and I have the honor of taking you along with us on this journey.
It all started with a vision that morphed into a team that will work to bring our project to fruition. The first step in this process was to bring the key players together in a meeting and that is what took place last Friday, July 7th. The excitement that filled the air in that meeting (in spite of the rain) was palpable. When you bring together in one place several folks all passionate about the same thing, well….let me just say there was non-stop talking, sharing of notes and ideas flying around that space.
Let me describe the project in a little more depth and why we are so excited. The tiny house will be built on a unique steel frame. Our model will be located in North Georgia lot at Eagle Ridge Buildings Ellijay, GA and if you are familiar with the area you know there are lots of hills, cliffs and shall we say non-flat land. The spot we have chosen for this model is no different - but never fear Durable Steel Structures has a solution. The back deck and back part of the house will be erected over the cliff on special steel supports. When you sit on that deck you will not just be looking at the mountains you will be sitting in the mountains – you can see now why we are excited, but wait, that isn’t all.
As many of you that live in mountainous regions know there are many beautiful spots you would like to live however they have one problem, there is no way to get electricity to the area. Fortunately that is not a problem for our tiny house. Solar Tyme is providing solar energy that will not just power your lights but it will even support heating and air specially designed mini-split for a solar system by Makau Group– what is better than a tiny house in the midst of the mountains???? A tiny house in the midst of the mountains that has heat and air!
Well, so we are now in a beautiful spot and very comfortable but even more than food and heat and air a person needs water. Don’t have city or county water in the area, there isn’t a good spot for a well???? Again, no problem, with Georgia Water Tanks technology in capturing, storing and purifying water this house will have plenty of water to drink, shower and wash clothes. Not set up with septic? The Net Zero House will have state of the art Sun Mar composting toilets providing an easy to maintain solution featuring 3 separate independent chambers with Bio-drum for composting, finishing and evaporation.
It was exciting to share ideas on how to put all of the components together. As the project moves along we will be adding other elements such as, special storage solutions and other items that make off grid living in a tiny house possible and comfortable. Future blogs will include in depth looks at the technology used and the companies providing it, updates on the progress of the build of the house and an invitation to come view it here in Ellijay, GA. There is just too much to tell in this one blog. Looking forward to sharing with you again next week. Our motto, “Disconnect from the Grid to Reconnect with Life”- or our shorter version – Disconnect to Reconnect! Tiny House Toodaloo for now.
