Bensonwood Launches Unity Homes Line of Energy-Efficient Prefabs

<a href="http://www.bensonwood.com/" target="_blank">Bensonwood</a>, a New Hampshire-based precision home builder, has a new line of high-performance, prefabricated homes that are capable of achieving both net-zero and Passive House standards. <a href="http://unityhomes.com/" target="_blank">Unity Homes</a> is a line of four home designs that provide a high level of energy and resource efficiency, while requiring low maintenance through the use of high quality materials. Built in panelized sub-assemblies in Bensonwood's factory, Unity Homes are then efficiently delivered and completed in three months or less. With this new line of homes, Bensonwood is striving to comfortable, affordable and sustainable homes.

Bensonwood's <a href="http://unityhomes.com/" target="_blank">Unity Homes</a> features four distinct home styles that are 2 to 4 bedrooms and range in size from 1,113 to 2,452 sq ft.

The home styles are called the Tradd (a classic Tall Cape), Xyla (American Bungalow), Värm (Swedish Contemporary) and Zūm (a Modern Green Cabin).

The homes are built in Bensonwood's factory by skilled building systems specialists using advanced software systems and automated cutting machines to create sub-assemblies and larger assemblies with a high level of precision.

These completed elements are flat-packed and shipped to the site where they are unpacked and assembled in 1-3 days. In total, from fabrication to completion a Unity Home takes as little as 20 to 60 working days.

Unity Homes are engineered to be able to achieve net-zero status and Passive House standards.

Each home features R-35 walls using <a href="http://bensonwood.com/innovation/obgrid.cfm" target="_blank">OBPlusWall™</a>, R-44 roof; triple-pane windows (for cold climates) that allow more natural light and less heat loss; and a very rigorous assembly process gives industry leading air-tightness (less than or equal to .6@50 Pascals, the Passive House standard).

Each Unity home comes with a range of stylish and eco-conscious standard specifications, with carefully chosen and green options to customize exterior and interior finishes and fixtures.

With the addition of a renewable energy system such as photovoltaics or a small-scale wind turbine, each Unity Home could easily be energy neutral.

“The typical American home is a performance dinosaur, and is too much of a long term burden for homeowners and society. Bensonwood aims to help make this species extinct with a new breed of beautiful, functional and über-efficient homes under the new Unity Homes brand,” explained said Tedd Benson, founder of Bensonwood, in a press release.

"All the homes in the Unity collection will use 50-75% less energy than typical homes on the market today, thereby making fossil-fuel heating systems unnecessary because the energy loads are so low,” added Benson.

A completed Värm Unity Home.

Fabrication of Unity Homes in Bensonwood's factory.

Assembly of a Unity Home.