By Jean Lotus

A Colorado startup modular home company unveiled a prototype last month that features HempWool batt insulation. The Addazu home system was designed by a team graduating from the Colorado School of Mines and is meant to address the high cost of construction by streamlining design in modular parts that can be mixed and matched, said founder Kelly Pickering.

“We've broken down the housing system into six distinct parts and those six unique parts are then assembled into a variety of floor plans,” Pickering told HempBuild Mag. The parts can be combined to build anything from a 400 sq. foot accessory dwelling unit/tiny home, up to a 3, 200 sq. ft. duplex.

Pickering and his crew rolled out an 11 x 11 prototype structure July 27 at local strip mall. The off-grid cabin will be moved outside of of Breckenridge, CO, close to the Continental Divide at about 11,000 ft elevation. The team chose HempWool as a sustainable insulation, they said, to test the inside temperatures in the mountains with “heavy snow, cold temps, high winds, and summer monsoons that come with that elevation,” the company said.

The designs were drafted with lower costs in mind, to try to make installation as inexpensive as possible. The models are being fabricated at a plant in nearby Commerce City, CO. The different components ship in flat containers to keep transportation prices down, the company said.

Walls are supported by extruded steel bars that can be added to or disassembled, and the “quick-connect” MEP electrical system is also a plug-and-play modular system that can be easily installed. The company believes they can install the homes for less than $200/sq. foot, depending on the model, they said.

Hemp for energy performance

Why use hemp insulation? Pickering said the goals were sustainability and energy performance over the lifetime of the home. The HempWool insulation was manufactured in Idaho from US-grown hemp at Hempitecture, Inc.

“How do we make the structure affordable over the lifespan of the building itself versus just focusing on the cost of construction up front?” he says he asked himself while creating the design. The goal is a home that “meets all of Colorado's energy standards while also really reducing the cost,” he said.

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The company also seeks to make the homes comfortable and welcoming, especially if being used for social housing, Pickering said. the 9.5-foot ceilings are meant to make the small room spaces “feel open and inviting,” he said.

Among the visitors was City of Golden City Council member Paul Haseman, who said the Denver suburb (population 20,000) was running out of room to build and middle-income housing had disappeared.

“The people who work in Golden can’t afford to live in Golden,” Haseman said. “They have to drive in, which leads to more traffic.”

A lack of attainable housing has exacerbated a homelessness crisis in Denver and Jefferson County, he said.

“We’re looking at solutions for tiny homes,” he added.

The Addazu prototype at the event was designed as a proof-of-concept to help gauge interest and attract investors, founder Pickering said. The company is looking at building more of the structures near Moab, UT and in mountain areas in Colorado such as Grand Junction, Rifle and Steamboat Springs.

“This is housing with sustainability and accessibility,” observed Hempitecture’s Denver representative Ashil Parag. “But it’s also within the construct of dignified housing, which is a mission-based approach,” he added.

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