Island Project
Maine Island Passive House Prefab
GO Logic’s founding mission back in 2008 was to develop efficient methods for prefabricating Passive House structures. The effort was successful, and our panelized prefab system, continuously refined over the years, has formed the core of our work ever since. For most projects, executing a large portion of the work in our climate-controlled indoor shop yields clear benefits in time- and cost-efficiency, limits the amount of activity on the site, and minimizes site disturbance.
It also allows us to partner with local builders, giving more clients the benefit of our specialized expertise. We provide an airtight, super-insulated Passive House building shell; the local contractor handles sitework, foundation, utilities, and finishes—all of which can be executed with standard means and methods.
We find this approach especially appropriate for projects on islands, where construction labor is often in short supply and lumberyard deliveries can be unwieldy and expensive. This current project, on a ferry-accessed Maine island, makes an especially strong case for our panelization system, even for relatively complex buildings on difficult-to-access sites.
Riley Pratt of OPAL designed the house, an ocean-view Passive House structure with large corner windows and a cantilevered upper level. GO Logic took the complex design and created a 3-D model of every element of the structure, from which we generated detailed shop drawings for use on our shop floor. We prefabricated all of the floor and wall panels in our facility, along with the pre-cut, engineered materials for site-framing the corner windows. The 2×8-framed wall panels arrived at the site complete with 6” of wood fiber exterior insulation, air-sealing gaskets at the joints between panels, and windows and doors installed and flashed. The roof structure consists of pre-manufactured trusses, which were craned into place.
Getting these large structural components from shop to site, though, required a considerable amount of planning. Not only is the island remote from the mainland, the site is on a remote part of the island. The ferry could handle our large panel truck, but once on the island, we had to transfer the cargo onto a smaller rig that could negotiate the winding, narrow drive to the building site.
Site visits and crew transportation required a parallel set of logistics, involving trips by ferry, water taxi, and small airplane. To safeguard island residents from potential coronavirus exposure, the GO Logic crew stayed overnight at the island’s only hotel and limited contact with other businesses.
In spite of these logistical challenges, we completed the panelized shell in just two weeks. We spent the following two weeks building the non-panelized portion of the structure, installing the larger window units, and applying exterior trim. When the local general contractor has installed the roofing, completed the electrical work, and insulated the roof structure, the GO Logic crew will return to complete the air barrier and ensure an airtight enclosure.
