Exterior Paint Design Concept

Good morning!

I’ve been working on some paint schemes for the exterior of the COMET. I think that because I’ll be towing it around so much in the next few months, going to Tiny House Summer Camp With Derek Diedricksen in July, and the KOA vintage trailer rally and sustainable weekend event in Brattleboro, VT, it’s really important I have the outside looking nice and giving people some info about the project.

I love the little stripe details that reference a comet in the seafoam section. I’m also going to put a seafoam colored atomic-looking comet shape behind The COMET text, to tie it all together. I still need to figure out where to put the website and other info.

What do you think? Any suggestions? Let me know in the comments!

 

Radiosity 3000 – Radiant Heat Barrier for The COMET

So you probably have heard that white roofs are good for green building: white reflects the sun’s heat and keeps the building cool in the summer, reducing AC costs and energy use. In addition to painting the roof (and most of the exterior, except for a few colorful graphics) with white no-VOC paint, I will be using a product called Radiosity 3000 as a radiant heat barrier to keep The COMET cool in hot temperatures.

As you can probably imagine, a little aluminum box like the camper basically turns into an oven in the heat. My solar system won’t allow me to use air conditioning (I also don’t have the space for an air conditioner, and don’t particularly like them in general) so I was looking for a solution to keeping the COMET cool in the summer. The people at Green Building Supply suggested Radiosity 3000, and I think it’s going to end up being the perfect thing.

Radiosity 3000 is a radiant heat barrier that comes in powder form and mixes right in with interior or exterior paint. It has no effect on the paint’s color or performance, as it is just very fine glass. Here’s an excerpt from the Green Building Supply website:

“Radiosity 3000 is a paint additive that creates a radiant heat barrier on roofs, ceilings and walls to greatly reduce cooling costs. It can also be used in interior applications to reflect and trap warm, radiant heat from fireplaces, stoves or in-floor heating systems. Radiosity 3000 contributes significantly to the thermal comfort levels in both summer and winter months while it reduces energy usage.”

Basically, I am going to mix the Radiosity 3000 in with the exterior paint, and paint the entire COMET with it to keep it cool in the summer. On the interior, I will mix it with the interior paint to keep heat in when it is cooler outside. I’ll have a double heat barrier!

Pretty cool!

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Tomorrow I’m going to start demolition in The COMET: tear out the rotted wood in the walls, take out the old water tank, clean it up inside, and get a real sense of what needs to be replaced guts-wise. We’ll see what’s hiding behind those soft spots in the walls, so expect some gruesome photos tomorrow!

Thank You Green Building Supply!

I want to give a huge Thank You to Green Building Supply, an eco-friendly home and building center, for making an incredibly generous contribution to The COMET project. I found Green Building Supply while I was researching and pricing out sustainable building materials, and knew they would be great people to work with. Their website is comprehensive and informative, and their staff is friendly and SO helpful. I told them what I was doing with The COMET, and they were happy to help me figure out which green flooring, paint, and other products would be a good fit for the project. Green Building Supply has the best selection and best prices of any eco-friendly home place that I came across in my research. I also love Green Building Supply for going beyond the “sustainable products” for interior finishes and having a commitment to energy efficiency and sustainable systems as well. They have composting toilets, air and water filtration systems, energy efficiency items, and everything else you could imagine, in addition to eco-friendly flooring, countertops, paints, and more. Check out their website to see everything they have to offer. I highly recommend them as a resource for your next green building project.

Thank you Green Building Supply for your kind contribution to The COMET, which includes Marmoleum Click Classic flooring, UltraTouch Denim insulation, AFM SafeCoat primer (no VOC), a bunch of paint and caulk (also no-VOC), and Radiosity 3000 radiant heat barrier.

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Also, check out the new page I just added, up at the top of the website, titled “Events + Appearances”, to see where you can find The COMET in the next few months. I’ll be adding Tiny House Summer Camp (with Deek Diedricksen, July 6-9, go to relaxshacks.com for more info)  details and the full roster later, as soon as it is announced. I’ll also add the Brattleboro, VT KOA vintage camper and tiny house event (July 21-22) so keep an eye out for it! And if you have a vintage camper that you would like to display at the rally in Brattleboro on July 21-22, then please contact me! Vintage campers get a discounted rate at the campground.