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Thursday, March 28, 2024

Tiny Lab: A Forensic Examination of Healthy Housing

Proof is Possible Tour AZ Oct 16-22 - Brochure Banner Grace Corbett - highres-resize

By Bharat Venkatesh

When thinking about purchasing a house, most people’s concerns are their finances and finding the right mortgage, followed by the house’s interior and exterior design, and the safety of the surrounding neighborhood. After all, a house is a big investment and you want to live in one that makes you happy.

Grace and Corbett with House-resizeHowever, Corbett and Grace Lunsford felt this was a mistake that far too many people make. They decided to conduct a nationwide “Proof is Possible” tour in their mobile tiny house called the Tiny Lab to make more people aware of the problems with conventional housing. The Tiny Lab is the archetype of a high performance house concept the couple wish people to begin adopting, named as such due to its integration of the tiny house concept with the scientific techniques and strategy utilized in its modeling and construction. This is tied in with the name of the tour – essentially showcasing the house as proof that it is possible to build it. It has also stood the test of time, having been towed more than 7,000 miles, able to endure both earthquakes and hurricanes, and the Lunsfords say they “have tortured this house more than any house has been tortured in history.”

Although the Tiny Lab is a part of the Tiny House movement, the Lunsfords say they are truly part of the Home Performance movement. They run a company called Building Performance Workshop. The Tiny House is both literally and metaphorically a vehicle to “attract people who come out and actually learn about how this home can be like their home.” The Tiny Lab, built with high-quality nontoxic materials and the best components from preeminent brands, demonstrates how airtightness and insulation acts as the “skin” of a house that allows absolute control over the interior and can be tuned to internal mechanical systems such as temperature and humidity controls, ventilation, plumbing and electrical systems.

TinyLab_Interior_Reverse-resize“We are monitoring the volatile organic compounds in the house continuously, every minute of every day, as well as carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, particulates and radon,” said Corbett. “We have actual proof that every single minute our house is performing the way that we want it to. In addition, our floor is made of cork […] because it’s good at sound dampening,” he continued.

As a “lab,” the completely airtight house consists of several monitoring systems that collect statistics on the atmosphere and various aspects of the house that act as an early warning system in case anything is wrong or if any component is working out of order. The Lunsfords take this very seriously, often relating their house to the human body, which can get sick. After all, prevention is better than a cure. Their new TV show is also called “Home Diagnosis” for the same reason, because people relate better to such terms.

“We’re using the medical references because that’s what really connects with the public, and really that’s who we’re trying to reach,” said Grace.

Everyone knows a car can kill, you but may not realize that a house can be just as dangerous – to your entire family. Your health is related to that of your house. Toxic gasses and contaminants like carbon monoxide are commonly produced, and the ones at risk are those that ordinary warning systems that you can buy at home improvement superstores do not standardize for – children, pregnant women, elderly and sick people. Quite ironically, these are also the people who stay at home the most.

TinyLab Exterior-resize“There’s a bunch of invisible stuff happening around us all the time in our houses, which is where we think, ‘Oh, I know everything about this place.’ If you can open your minds to how much you don’t know about your own house, then it becomes much more interesting to be a homeowner, and also allows you to solve problems in a much more effective way,” said Corbett.

The Tiny Lab is not only the “highest performance tiny house on wheels in the world” but also extremely energy efficient, including solar panels for off-grid operation, energy recovery ventilators, and a heat pump that targets the hottest parts of the room with infrared tracking. Arizona will be home to the Tiny Lab this October as it makes multiple stops in the Phoenix Metropolitan area October 16-22. This leg of the 29- city tour is made possible by Efficiency First Arizona.


Whether you are a potential homeowner, building or real estate professional, or if you just want to learn more about how to build high- performance, safe, green, sustainable and energy-efficient homes and see the proof it can be done, take a look at the schedule and register for the programs and workshops at proofispossible.com. For more on Efficiency First Arizona, visit efficiencyfirstaz.org.

Bharat Venkatesh is a journalist living in Tempe, Arizona, who feels spreading awareness about the importance of sustainability should be a part of every journalist’s ethical goal to seek the truth and report it.

Read more innovation articles at greenlivingaz.com/innovation

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