Full circle: Mandala Homes is a business and career inspired by Fine Homebuilding Magazine. And now our business, building energy efficient prefab homes, is featured!
We are often interviewed for various publications and are always thrilled to have our hard work and exceptional homes in the news. This one, a feature by Fine Homebuilding Magazine, is of particular pride – Lars credits the esteemed and pre-eminent resource in homebuilding for inspiring his career!
Given the profile of the magazine, a feature demonstrates that the word is out: energy efficient prefab homes, and Mandala Homes’ unique approach to round home building, in particular, is catching on.
Being featured in Fine Homebuilding allows us a prominent platform to promote the fact that a Mandala prefab home not only supports sustainability and green living but health and wellness – physical, mental, and spiritual – which is so fundamental to the Mandala Homes mission.
This month’s article, interviewed so insightfully by Senior Editor Kiley Jacques, showcases the Mandala Custom Homes package, “which includes: a customized design, an energy consultation and audit (HERS, EnerGuide, BEES, Net Zero, etc.), permit sets, construction drawings, engineering documents, a climate-specific building envelope, and print as well as digital assembly instructions.”
The article also highlights the unique fact that we ship our packages all over Canada and the US, including Alaska and Hawaii. The components of your home are meticulously prepared in packages with a detailed packing list, and loaded on to truck(s), or into a shipping container.
Given that temperature, climate, and other weather conditions can vary widely geographically throughout North America, our packages are not merely a one-size-fits-all. As Lars explains, “Because we ship homes all over North America, we had to understand climatic zones and their effects on building envelopes.”
In early 2010 we developed the “principles for creating energy efficient, sustainable building envelopes for multiple climatic zones, which meant moving the air and thermal barriers to the outside of the wall—a unique approach…”.
Ours are “freestanding faceted structures without internal load-bearing support, engineered for seismic activity, wind, and snow load.”
All of Mandala Homes “prebuilt components—assembled and finished by local contractors—include the floor system, the roof system (engineered scissor trusses and precut sheathing), and pre-sided wall panels with the windows installed. The wall assembly includes a rain-screen system, exterior rigid-foam insulation, and siding. Foundations—typically stem wall or full basement—are fully engineered based on a soil engineer’s report, with ICFs being preferable for energy efficiency.”
It was so important to us to identify clearly that all Mandala Homes prefab home packages are “all sourced from high-quality B.C. wood.” We’re big believers in supporting a forest industry that consistently produces a responsibly and sustainably sourced and harvested renewable building material grown in our own backyard!
Of course, an article about Mandala Homes wouldn’t be complete without mention of our round building approach. Lars, a musician who “appreciates the exceptional acoustics a round form provides” also makes a point to shed light on the inherent strength in the circular shape.
A round home “supports green building principles: A round structure uses 20% fewer materials for a building envelope of the same square footage as a conventional home.”
There was so much more covered, and we encourage you to read the entire article HERE!
Again, we’re SO honoured to have been featured, and we would like to give a hearty thank you to Kiley and Fine Homebuilding Magazine for such a well written and informative article that so effectively showcases the mission of Mandala Homes.
Curious about building your own energy efficient prefab round Mandala Home? We’d love to talk to you. Contact us!