BOWDOINHAM

The tiny house living movement is continuing to grow, with the concept moving from individual benefits to how it can positively impact groups of people.

Places such as Portland, Ore., and Austin, Texas, are experimenting with communities of tiny houses for people who are homeless or housing insecure. In Bowdoinham, Long Branch School is not only planning to teach people to build tiny homes of their own, the organization is building one for another non-profit to use. That will be on display during Celebrate Bowdoinham this weekend, with tours given from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the school, located at 20 Main St.

“The purpose is two-fold,” said John Favreau, Long Branch’s director of operations, about the open house. “To introduce people to the Long Branch tiny home project, and also to introduce them to Stepping Stone.

“They (Stepping Stone) house folks in need of transitional housing,” he added. “They have five old trailers that they’re hoping to replace with tiny homes, This is their first tiny home, and we’re hoping to generate some awareness. The Maine Community

Foundation is also involved in this home.”

The custom-designed home, built at Long Branch School, is 12-feet by 24-feet and includes a living room, bedroom, kitchen and bathroom. The rooms are small, but the house is energy efficient and will be heated easily by three small electric baseboard heaters. The house is about three-quarters of the way done, he said, with drywall being hung, cabinets being installed and the wood floor in place.

“We’re pretty much putting in the fixtures now,” Favreau said.

Tiny homes do require people to think about living with less stuff, since the space is small, but the biggest benefit is being able to live a homedebt free lifestyle — due to the lower cost of building a smaller home. That said, they are not for everyone.

“They are a good use for someone who wants a lowcost housing option, an option they can afford,” said Favreau.

Long Branch is planning to offer a class in building tiny homes, as well as build them for people. The tiny home for Stepping Stone is serving as the pilot project to figure out how the process will go, as well as to showcase what the school can create for prospective tiny home owners.

“Part of my responsibility is developing a curriculum to teach people how to build their own tiny home. We are still working on developing that as we build this initial home,” said Favreau. “We’ll be teaching people, as well as just building them for folks. We’ll do both.”

Typically, tiny homes are built on trailers and are about 8-feet wide and not taller than 13-feet, 6 inches; building within those constraints means no special permits are required to transport the homes on roads, and the trailer allows the owners to avoid minimum building size requirements in many municipalities.

The cost for Long Branch to build an 8-feet by 24-feet tiny home on a trailer is approximately $33,500, according to information supplied by Favreau. Those homes would include a loft space for sleeping, as opposed to a separate bedroom seen in larger models. According to Long Branch, the homes can be built to be hooked up to standard sewer or septic systems and town or well water, but they can also be designed with a composting toilet and separate grey water discharge and hose water hookup. The walls are built insulated to R30, and the roof to R40 within an air-tight envelope that includes a small HRV (Heat Recovery Ventilation) unit for air exchange. That means heat loss is minimal, and heating efficiency is extraordinary. Typically the homes are built with small electric baseboard heaters and on-demand electric hot water. Other heat sources can also be equipped, but for this small size, electric heat becomes the preferred method and, since the home is all electric, solar panels could also be incorporated to supply all or some power.

For more information, visit the Long Branch School website at http://www.longbranchschool.com.

rmontana@timesrecord.com