Distinctly Montana Magazine

S U M M E R 2 0 2 1 S P E C I A L S E C T I O N 8 9 SIPS or structural insulating panels. Most nano houses seem to be constructed of the composite building material made of a hard foam core between layers of struc- tural board. They are a little more expensive, Paul said, but they also save money on labor. But using man-made materials is only one aspect of the housing revolu- tion. The other is reclaiming existing materials to create new and beautiful pieces. Paul himself used reclaimed flooring in his nano house. Another pioneer in the field is Terry Davenport (of Natural Housebuilders, in Victor, MT), who is passionate about reclaimed materials, not to mention cre- ative as well. He has recently converted an antique church organ into doors and cabinets for one house. "I have a need to improve stuff that I like to build. This comes from my young- er days of motocross racing and we were always trying to improve our motorcy- cles," Davenport remembers. "There was a suspension revolution going on, and I got involved. Then I shifted that interest into building homes." He prefers to use organic materials such as reclaimed lumber and cement, but he sees the value in synthetics as well. Still, even there his yen for sustainability is such that he eschews foam insulated concrete forms, using instead ones made from recycled pallets and concrete paste. In one recent addition, he added some 1,200 square feet to the home, and still managed to reduce their utilities in half. The homeowners were understandably pleased with the results: "They love their house," Davenport said with a smile, "and they were great to work for. They are still glad to see me when we cross paths." Mark Weirich of Mark Weirich Architect, Inc. in Bozeman is another pioneer with principles, and something he wrote me in an email sums up the ethos of alternative housing. "If I can design a space that fits a client's needs but which is only half the size they believe they need, then only half of the materials are used, and only half as much needs to be heated." I thought of Paul's nano house, in which a single wood stove bought off of Amazon makes up for what the sun doesn't heat itself, which isn't much. In some of his work, Weirich says that in several houses he has taken "everything back to the studs, joists and rafters, then added some high-efficiency space, too. Doing this type of work I consider to be very green, for a few reasons: The walls and roofs are brought up to current standards of insulation, where the old construction had little or no insulation. Almost always, the window sizes are increased, adding to the passive solar abilities of the home. The heating systems are also brought up to current standards, which are much more efficient than the old systems." The work of these three builders, and many more, look forward to a world in which more sustainable building principles are the norm. But they also look back to those pioneers and Native Americans, who managed to create homes that could house them comfortably but which did not leave behind a footprint. And so, as I stood in this green yard under a beautiful Big Sky in the morning, I reflected that it was fitting that Paul's nano house rested on the same land as a historic property. Montana has always been a place where the old and new min- gle, which is perhaps the trend for the future of our state's housing, and maybe even the world's. Cottage uses reclaimed elements such as a converted church organ for cabinets and doors. Paul's 161 sq. ft. house has a base made of a composite building material made of a hard foam core. " T H E F R E E - S TA N D - I N G A S P E C T O F T H E S T U D I O O R H O U S E ADDS PRIVACY AND IS SIMPLER THAN ATTACHING AN ADDITION TO AN EXISTING HOME," SAYS PAUL HOUSE

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