Lawrence couple build an eco-friendly, round home / LJWorld.com

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Lawrence couple build an eco-friendly, round home

February 9, 2013

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A Lawrence couple is in the process of building an unusual home. The light blue house on a hill just south of Lawrence is round. And eco-friendly. And it's being built from a kit.

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There’s a light-blue house on a hill just south of Lawrence that’s round, eco-friendly, and being built from a kit.

Lawrence couple Dwight and Kimberly Purvis started building the circular home in November and plan to have it finished in March.

“It’s funny to me how badly I think I do want to live in a round house now that I’ve gotten this far with it because it’s pretty cool,” Dwight said. “It’s different enough that you get to use space differently.”

The couple, who have been married for 27 years and own Purvis Woodworks, got the idea for the unusual house a few years ago. They toured Deltec Homes in North Carolina and were attracted to the company’s speciality homes.

Deltec also sells traditional, square home kits that are eco-friendly. The kits come with wall panels, doors and windows.

As soon as their last child of two moved out, the Purvises purchased a Green Round Home Kit from Deltec for $154,000.

The house’s skeleton rolled in on a semitrailer in November, and the Purvises, along with some of their friends, went right to work putting it together. Each of the two stories of the house holds 2,100 square feet of space, and each floor is enclosed by 20 4-by-6-foot rectangular panels. The insulation of the house is spray foam, a green alternative to fiberglass insulation.

Barry Frank, a photographer in Lawrence, took time-lapse photography of the house going up. He also helped set up the house. Frank said it took five days to set up the outer shell.

“I thought it was a pretty fascinating project,” Frank said. “One of the things that struck me was at the end of the whole process, after the whole house went up, there was hardly any trash because there was exactly what they needed in the kit. It’s a very efficient way to build a house.”

The Purvises are working to ensure that the rest of the work on the house will be just as eco-friendly. They are purchasing green alternatives from local companies to finish the interior, such as bamboo flooring and Silestone quartz countertops. They are also using energy-efficient methods such as low-pressure shower heads and toilets, Energy Star windows, sunlight in closets and the stairway, a recycled-metal roof that reflects unwanted heat and an energy recovery ventilator, which circulates collected air from outside and releases the air from inside.

Dwight said that with this ventilation system, he will be able to fry bacon in the morning and not have to smell it for the rest of the day.

“I’ll be breathing nice, clean, fresh, country air without losing very much energy at all times of the year,” Dwight said.

Kimberly is excited about the view from the house. The north windows overlook what Kimberly calls an “evening golden valley” in the country. Farther north sits the Kansas University campus, which peeks through the many trees that blanket the city.

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Paul R. Getto 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Looks interesting. Will they give tours someday?

greenworm 3 months, 2 weeks ago

eco-friendly, thats funny.... they tore down a lot of woods.. to build a 4,200 sq. ft house, just for 2 people to live.. (eco-friendly) go to the corner of the house and think about that one..

Toto12 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Spot on. The greenest house is the one that is already built and the one near services. Certainly not one that requires driving 14 miles to buy groceries.

chootspa 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Because we all know that trees cannot possibly be replanted.

woodscolt 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Round has always been considered an architectural failure. People usually figure that out(after its to late though). How about that round jr high school they tore down because, well, it was round. I think it is fine these folks are building the house of their choice but I think the accolades pretty much stop there. Eco-friendly is easy to say but hard to do and I think this one is mostly easy to say. Enjoy finding home furnishings with round backs. Things always seem to wind up pointed in the wrong direction in a round house too. Wasted space, how ecological is that?

bscooke 3 months, 1 week ago

I'd be very interested in seeing references for the all-encompassing statement: "Round has always been considered an architectural failure."

KRichards 3 months, 2 weeks ago

4200 square feet is anything but eco friendly. The house looks nowhere close to that size however.

nut_case 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Confucius say: Calculate square feet in round house, easy as pi.

In this case, the diameter of a 2100sf. house would be a little under 52 feet across...probably pretty close based on the appearance of the (standard?) 36" / 3' front door.

Down side is building materials are generally made for square houses/corners and standard 8' ceilings. A lot of wasted corners/ends in circle construction.

windex 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Why is it every time someone does something new and interesting (especially if there's any mention of taking the environment into account) a bunch of online commenters show up to bash it? For the record, it's 2 miles to 2 different grocery stores. According to the article, they built the house because they wanted to build the house. Is that not a good enough reason anymore?

buckjennings 3 months, 2 weeks ago

The problem is that this house isn't green. These people are free to do whatever they like but they are out there in public thumping their chests about being eco-friendly when that is a big freaking joke. Even driving 2 miles to get necessities isn't green, nor is anything dwelling that large.

windex 3 months, 2 weeks ago

No, they're not thumping their chests about it being eco-friendly. That's what YOU read into it, for reasons I don't understand.

cheeseburger 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Uh, try re-reading the headline.

bad_dog 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Did the homeowners write the headline, too?

buckjennings 3 months, 2 weeks ago

So I guess in your world life revolves Wal-Mart and Target. Little wonder why you don't understand the larger issues and assume anyone who knows anything is a "Debbie Downer."

youdontsay 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Good for you for trying to be eco-friendly but before you start bragging about no excess trash when you were finished remember that you "bought a kit". If you would have had any excess it would have meant you did not put the house together right....I wonder how much excess was leftover at the factory where it was built???? Probably the same as there would have been if it had been built from the beginning here. And you would have helped our local economy by providing jobs here.

webmocker 3 months, 2 weeks ago

"...I wonder how much excess was leftover at the factory where it was built???? Probably the same as there would have been if it had been built from the beginning here...."

Manufacturing processes for pre-fab/kit homes tend to be more efficient with materials than typical on-site stick built homes.

toe 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Take more land for selfish use. Murder trees and grass and multitudes of insects. Destroy food supplies for deer and other animals of all kinds. Water run off increased. Solar gain increased. Air pollution from energy consumed. Eco-friendly. Spin the lie. Fewer people, fewer selfish choices.

MacHeath 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Man, you need your meds changed.

Pastor_Bedtime 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Hey toe and other naysayers: Unless your holier-than-thou response was written from an off-grid home with a locally-made, eco-friendly computer, you sound just as ridiculous as the right-wingers when they attempt to flaunt their morality as superior. I'm sure an observer could find fault with your lifestyle as not green enough....

oneeye_wilbur 3 months, 2 weeks ago

154,000 isn't much of a bargain and what did te land cost?

akt2 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Negativity is the name of the game on this website. Don't listen to it. It's causing their negative driven brains to rot. And why would the cost of the land be of anyone's business? It's a nice house, built by nice people I'm sure, who have chosen to do their own thing.

MacHeath 3 months, 2 weeks ago

I have thought round is a good way to go, never figured out how to do the interior walls. I would like to see how they did that.

I think it is hilarious that folks on here always find something to complain about. I don't think most of you have a clue about eco-friendly. My Mother used to reuse bread sacks for cryin-out-loud. It was called thrifty in those days. My folks lived through the depression, you understand.

If you really want to be eco-friendly, build a house that lasts hundreds of years. Most homes are built to last 50 years or less, in this country. No one will build a house like that, because the initial costs are too high per square foot.

I wonder how may of you eco terrorists bought a used Caddy as apposed to a new Prius. You can buy a good Sedan Deville for 8 grand. Probably does close to 25-30 mpg on the road. Hell no, you buy a used Volvo and feel good about it. I bet a Sedan DeVille would get better gas milage than a Volvo, and be cheaper to maintain. Use your damned heads.

buckjennings 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Great points. It's more eco-friendly--- by far--- to drive an older car and keep it running. It would also be much better to build a house that will last many years, but that's a concept that is just beyond our culture at this point. The particle board monstrosities being slapped together by our class act developers won't likely even endure the mortgage.

MacHeath 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Buy the way...kit homes are usually better quality that one banged out of sticks on-site. The manufactures can contract better materials, and they use those materials with less waste. I would be willing to bet that the manufactures on this home recycle a lot of waste material as well. So, what I am saying is: You eco-terroists don't have any idea what you are taking about.

Katara 3 months, 2 weeks ago

From what I have read about kit homes is that they are more energy efficient.

msezdsit 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Well Mac, , i don't know about the "eco terrorist", nor do you but I certainly do know there is a lot of speculation and betting going on with you. You don't know much of what your talking about but your talking anyway.

MacHeath 3 months, 2 weeks ago

I don't know what company built their house. I do know what most companies like that do, because I have researched it.
As far as building housed better...thats a European thing, and like buckjennings said, those types of homes don't fit our culture. We move around a lot, hence disposable homes. I don't think there is a newer home in Lawrence that isn't disposable. I doubt the former Castle tea room will be here in 400 years, nice as it is. It is really strange to go to the UK and vist a pub housed in a building that is 500 years old.

itsnotuptou 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Boy what a bunch of negative nay sayers. Let's hear about your eco friendly built homes. Hopfully they are smart enough not to read all the crap that is written on this post.

Liberal 3 months, 2 weeks ago

The naysayers are doing the same thing to infill development. There side as infill development is better....However when a local developer decides to do infill develop these same knuckleheads oppose it.

I applaud the individuals building their new home...Enjoy it and do not listen to the individuals here who are only about tearing others down. Just have compassion for them, because they must lead miserable lives, if all they have to worry about is what :you" do.

budtugly 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Liberal that video is hilarious!

buckjennings 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Again, is it really so difficult to grasp the idea that the primary complaint here is that these people are thumping their chests about being green when they are anything but? Or has our lousy public education system failed you as well?

windex 3 months, 2 weeks ago

They are not thumping their chests. Not about the house being round. Not about the house being from a kit. Not about the house being eco-friendly.

Toto12 3 months, 2 weeks ago

I wish this couple the best of luck with their new home but calling it eco-freindly is nothing but greenwashing. There are sooooo many things about the project that aren't eco-freindly. The shape of the home is structurally and physically wasteful. You only have to look at the picture of the radial floor joist layout to realize that the floor joists become so close together at the center bearing point that it is almost solid wood!

Eco-freindly in this day and age has to mean anti-sprawl, rehab, brownfield development, infill etc... Building a new home in the woods on the edge of town is strike one since you are taking ground that was previously woods, habitat or agricultural land, all very precious.

Buying the home and having it trucked in from the east cost is very wasteful and fails to utilize local materials and labor.

The only two things that could be considered eco-freindly about this home is that it was manufactured in a controlled environment and that they have insulated it very well.

A bank of north facing windows? really? What about passive solar?

I don't begrudge these nice folks building their dream but calling this eco-freindly is really a travesty of journalism. Perhaps the writer could do some research into what really makes something eco-freindly. There are loads and loads of good information sources out there if one looks.

notaubermime 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Wasteful with wood? Depending on where the wood comes from, using wood can be a carbon sink. If this wood is farmed and is not taken from natural habitat, the wood used to construct a house can represent a substantial amount of carbon dioxide that has been converted into the organic compounds within the tree.

Moving about the country via truck can be wasteful (a train would have been better), but if they eliminated foreign construction sources, this dramatically cuts down on the carbon foot-print.

Passive solar? Considering the insulation, I would imagine that they are trying to avoid passive solar. Avoid losing heat in the winter. Avoid gaining excess heat in the summer. Heating and cooling a house can drive up energy costs.

Toto12 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Perhaps you need to do some reading about passive solar. It is really simple and only requires some thermal mass, a window and a well planned window overhang. Simple and effective. The overhang blocks the sun in the summer and allows it in the winter. With a well insulated house you can really save on heating bills without adversely affecting cooling bills.

notaubermime 3 months, 1 week ago

You are right in that I did need to do some reading about passive solar. Now that I have, your characterization of it being "simple" makes me think that you need to do the same.

For one, the angle of the sun seems to indicate that the ground the house sits on slopes up to the south side. This means that the house only has one floor exposed on the side that would receive insolation. This makes modeling heat transfer in an energy efficient manner much more complex.

Two, the south side of the building should be unobstructed. It isn't. There is a thicket of trees on the south side of the building that would greatly impact the design.

Three, the house is cylindrical rather than rectangular. Even the basic rectangular home requires the design of an experienced professional and proper placement of rooms. You need someone with detailed knowledge before trying to apply passive solar building techniques to a cylindrical house (and you will need to pay for that level of expertise as well).

Finally, a simple overhang fails to compensate for temperature. You may think that the summer solstice should be hot, but the truth is that the hottest days of the year take place one to two months after the solstice. Outside temperature is always delayed from the angle of the sun. To screen off the heat during the warm days in the summer and early fall, you set yourself up to fail to heat during cold days in the late winter and spring. The only way around this is to have the overhang adjustable depending on outside temperature, at which point the overhang quickly increases in expense and complexity.

Making a efficient passive solar building is not a simple process and trying to apply those principles to a house that faces the environmental and structural challenges of this one make it anything but a slam dunk. It is a lot easier for you to criticize than it is to actually put your criticisms in practice.

buckjennings 3 months, 2 weeks ago

People are free to build whatever they like but it's perfectly reasonable to point out that this thing is anything but "eco-friendly." As for being negative, I suppose realism means you're a "Debbie Downer."

lunacydetector 3 months, 2 weeks ago

it's perception cheryl crow recommends one square of toilet paper after using the restroom. walmart built an enviromental store on south iowa that has a wood roof, and runs it with electricity and has no natural gas. most electric hand dryers claim to save the environment by saving trees failing to mention that dirty coal is released into the atmosphere to power the dryer.

JS82 3 months, 2 weeks ago

Let's give these people a break. They didn't ask to have this article written. They are just doing something different and the Journal World reported on it. Eco-friendly is a description not exactly a defined term.

patkindle 3 months, 2 weeks ago

great video, did you notice most of the whiners are gutless wonders that wont even post with their own name , but have to hide behind an alias? i bet most of them are just jeasous because they live in thier parents basements beause they cant get a real job.