Bonsai Communities
bc_EarthHome™ [ ShowHide ]
bc_TreeHome™ [ ShowHide ]
bc_WaterHome™ [ ShowHide ]
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Signature Homes
The Model of Efficient Homes and Healthy Living
In addition to current homes for sale and custom build-to-suit projects, Bonsai Communities prides itself on creating fresh as well as enormously efficient and healthy homes, such as our signature homes – bc_EarthHome™, bc_TreeHome™, bc_SkyHome™ and bc_WaterHome™. These homes are smart, inventive, simple, efficient and cost effective, yet unique and as individualized as our community members.
Custom Building Off-site
Our homes are custom built in a controlled factory environment; built off-site up to 95% complete, and are then transported to the home site for placement and finish. The off-site building process allows us to build a better quality, tighter and more energy efficient structure through the use of pneumatic tools, refined production practices and advantageous factory apparatus such as jigs and hoists, all leveraged within a controlled building environment without the adverse effects of inclement weather conditions on the structures during the construction process. Additional benefits to minimize environmental impacts include:
- The control available in a factory environment allows us to be extremely precise with material planning and use – less than 5% waste is accomplished as compared to up to 40% through standard on site construction techniques.
- We are able to drastically reduce pollution, traffic, and wear and tear from transportation to and from the building site by leveraging bulk material delivery in the factory, shortened construction time lines in the controlled environment, close proximity of workers, and the delivery of a small number of completed modules to the site.
- The physical disturbance of the building site is minimized, for there is no need to stage and store large amounts of material on site for extended periods or provide significant space for machinery and job site parking. In many cases, we are able to clear only the building footprint itself and enough room to deliver the completed modules.
Each of our signature homes comes in a variety of sizes and options to fit your needs as well as flexibility for future expansion.
When you purchase a Bonsai Community home, you can either choose one of our standard models with pre-selected sustainable features or we can partially or wholly customize your home to suite your preferences, including one of a kind originals. If choosing minimal customizations, we can have your home completely built on-site in as little as 3 months.
You can have a Bonsai Communities home nearly anywhere in the world. Contact us to get started.
Common Home Elements
All our homes include strict adherence to our design and efficiency guidelines, passive solar with NASA radiation analysis for each specific home site, integration of solar hot water for domestic hot water and high efficiency radiant heating depending on the intended climate, natural heating and cooling as much as practical, energy and water efficiency, drought tolerant landscaping, built with sustainable and healthy materials and harmonious integration into the surrounding area.
A few highlights from our signature homes:
bc_EarthHome
- earth mounds to naturally temper (insulate) the home from the harsh (warm or cold) outdoor climate
- earth mounds create a “below grade” design to buffer the homes from noise
- earth mounds help minimize the visual appearance of the home. Notice the back view and how the home looks like two small buildings, yet is a sizable, comfortable home, seamlessly integrating with its surroundings.
bc_TreeHome
- designed to sit among the trees, bringing the outdoors – in. Optimal placement for bc_TreeHomes are lots that back into a treed canopy – setting the home high up on stills as-one with the canopy.
- small building foot print to increase heating and cooling efficiency, minimize soil and site disturbance, reduce excavation and provide better water infiltration into the natural ground
- tight design and central layout reduces the amount of exterior wall space, increasing the thermal efficiency
- built in lattices for seasonal shading to keep the home cool during warm months
- use of various sustainable and highly durable building materials such as bark siding, a natural waste product from poplar wood processing (highly durable, naturally weather resistant and requires minimal maintenance)
bc_SkyHome
- outstanding passive solar design naturally heats and cools the home through the use of dense heating masses (floor and walls) and the proper positioning of windows, overhangs, decks and deciduous trees for summer shading. Tall windows further accentuate passive heating efficiency. All of our homes have a strong passive heating / cooling component, the bc_SkyHome leads the way.
- wind catcher tower is based on a thousand-year-old Persian design to naturally cool the home, working in reverse during winter months to create a solar chimney that forces warm air down into the home
- green roof, an energy efficient feature as well as a nice, natural outdoor terrace area as part of the home’s environmental experience
- optional built in climbing wall on the side of the home
- more sustainable and durable materials, natural stucco, green roof, recycled metal roof (great for rain water catching) and reduced-wood resin sidings
bc_WaterHome
- maximized daylighting (the natural lighting of all or most of the inside of the home) through the placement of numerous small windows – energy efficient as less lighting is needed and a healthy feature (exposure to natural light)
- large expansive roofs for rain water harvesting – approximately 550 gallons of rainwater can be collected for every 1000 square feet of collection surface per inch of rain.
- carefully planned window placement for optimal air flow and drafting to naturally cool the home (another feature in all our homes)
- oof designed to mimic water waves
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