"I also built wood terraces for each of the lodges plus the pool (and included infrastructure) for a total of 200 square meters (2,150 square feet) of living space," Mamane says. His favorite part of his home is that "the main room includes the kitchen and the living room, which has a design chimney and wide windows that open up to the terrace and the garden areas."
Pop Up Passive Results
The Passivhaus Standard originated in the late 1980s as the brainchild of Wolfgang Feist of the Institute for Housing and the Environment in Darmstadt, Germany. Today, the Passivhaus standard (passive house, in English) has expanded across Europe, with over 20,000 homes earning passive house certification in Germany alone.
As the energy savings of the passive house standard become more evident, local governments are beginning to invest in passive house infrastructure. In the Swedish town of Växjö, two city-funded high-rise apartment complexes have recently been built following passive house principles. This project has drastically lowered the energy costs for homeowners in the city and is also helping the city move towards the short-term goal of reducing CO2 levels by 70 percent by 2025.
The passive house standards have been deployed to Provence, with Bien Loin D'ici as a prime example. "The high-quality insulation is particularly efficient with the Pop Up House concept," says Mamane. "Also, the orientation of our home allows us to take advantage of the sun during the winter to warm up the house." The structures also integrate a smart use of energy through heat pumps, LED lighting, phyto-depuration water treatment, and 30 photovoltaic solar panels on the roof to produce 9 kW [kilowatts] of free electricity."
Mamane says that it is difficult to compare energy use to other Pop Up structures, "as we have a huge consumption of energy (with our Airbnb and spa business) due to the luxury equipment used by the spa, the sauna, the large pool, and other appliances and comforts in the guest houses. But when we are closed for the winter, our home needs four times less energy than my mother's 130-square-meter (1,400-square-foot) flat in town. Our energy bills are zero in winter, thanks to the solar panels."
The Wonders of Wood
Mamane addresses qualms other homeowners may have about building and living in a wood home. "People tend to have concerns about the durability of wood homes," he says. "My wood home is only four years old, of course, but some wood houses are many centuries old, proving their durability. Another concern is the price because (in Europe) wood homes aren't cheaper than a concrete house, but you'll save money in the long term."
He adds that "Beyond the obvious environmental and financial benefits and advantages, the kind of wooden house we have is a pleasant place to live because of the nice smell and the constant, optimum humidity levels. We have absolutely no excess humidity or smell of decaying wood." Moreover, the construction of the Pop Up preassembled structures was efficient. "It's easy and fast from a homeowner's point of view," he says. "It took a total of only two weeks with four full-time workers to build the entire structure of our home."
Mamane says, looking back, that he wouldn't have gone any other route with the design and construction of his own home and Bien Loin D'ici. "We took time to think about the project, and we've made no mistakes," he says. As for other homeowners contemplating passive house construction and a Pop-Up home, he has this advice:
"It is important to think holistically before you start. The orientation of your home in relation to the sun, the kind of energy devices you will use, the possibility of installing solar energy, and your water treatment options: all of these need to be considered. Choosing to upgrade to a more sustainable and energy-efficient home gives you more comfort and economic savings, and also the feeling that you did it right for sustainability purposes."
