290 Square Feet for 5 Large
CPM Construcciones Prefabricadas has created a prefab house that costs only $5,000. I wish I could say I knew any more, but I’m pretty impressed. Some of the windows are even shaped and spaced differently- like it’s actually been designed. CPM is based out of Bogota, Colombia, but there’s room for more stuff like this here in the states.
Throwback to the Farnsworth House
Not much more can be said about the Farnsworth house- or Mies van der Rohe. I did learn; however, that Philip Johnson designed his Glass House after the Farnsworth House had already been started. I also thought it funny that Frank Lloyd Wright said that the house was “un-American.”
Defenestrate the Headaches

I couldn’t resist the temptation of using the word defenestrate in my title. So… windows huh? Have you ever wondered how to compare them? Wonder no more. It’s the NFRC to the rescue. There actually is a coucil that has put together a standard for rating windows. They are called the National Fenestration Rating Council. Five categories prove the difference between the good, the bad, and the ones that leak a lot of air. The categories are: U-factor, Solar Heat Gain Coefficient, Visible Transmittance, Air Leakage and Condensation Resistance; and all of these categories are displayed on a sticker (if the window has been certified). Me and my wife wish our 50 year-old windows didn’t leak air and resisted condensation a little better. Atleast we’ll know what to look for now!
