Custom PreFab, Off Grid - futuristic housing!

Matt checks out the latest Nexus G-pod build in San Antonio.
Andrew Seelye tells us all about how they keep the environmental footprint low while building and the hurdles he and his team figured out while building these out-of-this-world homes.
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[@SeanBlader]

That whole setup is pretty awesome. I just want to make it known that "lithium" is currently a generic term for non-lead acid batteries, of which for those batteries lithium is always the anode or negative pole. There are however various cathodes with the leading being the NiMnCoO2 or nickel manganese cobalt oxide, which is way too much to say so "ion" in lithium ion as the generic. These are usually used in areas where weight is important, so cars, phones, laptops, power tools, etc. However there is an alternative that is FAR FAR better than lead-acid for static emplacements where weight savings is not as important as capacity and that's lithium iron nickel manganese aluminum, which is shortened to Lithium Iron Phosphate, LiFePo, or sometimes as just LFP. The outstanding benefits of LiFePo batteries are cycle life, or number of times you can drain them, as well as capacity, or how much wattage you can pull from the battery before it's discharged. You can expect a cycle life of at least triple compared to lead-acid, and a 20% better capacity. Lead-acid does have 2 advantages over LiFePo, and they are absolute amperage, which is why we use them to start combustion vehicles, and they usually cost about half of a LiFePo battery. Do the math and you can get fewer LiFePo batteries less often than lead-acid for a pricier initial expense, which absolutely pays itself back when you don't have to replace them for at least 10 years. Even with over a century of research on lead-acid batteries you can expect a best case for them to last 5 years max, sometimes a LOT less if they are heavily discharged even just a few times. Moral of the story is: ALWAYS spring for the Lithium Iron Phosphate batteries in static emplacements. They now come in a ridiculous variety of sizes and will absolutely be less expensive over their lifetime.

[@The_Opinion_of_Matt]

Underrated comment with a lot of good information that I hadn't heard before.

[@TucsonDesign]

And NiFe last even longer. Several downsides, but if you're somewhere that gets regular sun (Arizona here), they can be your long term lowest cost.

[@unclegeorge7845]

Thanks

[@olawlor]

I agree with everything in this comment except "lithium iron nickel manganese aluminum, which is shortened to Lithium Iron Phosphate": I don't think LFP contains a significant amount of nickel, manganese, or aluminum--isn't the cathode material an olivine-type iron phosphate lattice? Do they spike the iron phosphate with NMA metals for higher current or something? How much? A 2022 paper on LFP chemistry "Implications of the Electric Vehicle Manufacturers’ Decision to Mass Adopt Lithium-Iron Phosphate Batteries" includes the phrase "LFP and LMO require no cobalt or nickel". (I'm a happy user of LFP and LNMC batteries, but I'm definitely not an expert on cathode materials.)

[@kaiwenhe5518]

It's perfect for Airbnb houses.

[@billcunningham8485]

Love this. One of the reasons why I am a fan of the channel is seeing and learning about cool projects. And yes, I called that couch as a napping spot at first glance...

[@Screamingtut]

Matt, SLA batteries can only be used for 50% of their total Amp Hours ie. If you got 2000Ah SLA batteries you only have 1000Ah of usable power Plus they can only do about 600-700 charge cycles, Whereas liFePO4 batteries can be used for 90% of their total Amp Hours ie If you got 2000Ah liFePO4 batteries you only have 1900Ah of usable power Plus they can only do about 3000 - 4000 charge cycles.

[@AsHellBored]

I was helping out a guy who's house burned down the marshal fires (colorado). He had solar only. I was running a big 15A bosch hammer drill for hours and the system kept up with it. Sometimes the water pump would kick on and trip the system, but for 2 panels and 3 batteries, I was impressed.

[@philipvecchio3292]

He's definitely right about lithium ion batteries, but lithium iron phosphate generally have more charge cycles, especially if you're going to be cycling them every day. The charge cycles of lithium iron phosphate are about 10 times longer than lead acid, but they are slightly more expensive up front, but not much.

[@johnalexander2349]

Yip. Lead is dead - 1500 cycle life at 10% depth of discharge vs 15000 cycles at 50% depth of discharge. No contest.

[@philipvecchio3292]

@@johnalexander2349 I think the only case I have seen for lead acid batteries is Uninterrupted power supplies, where it's very rare those batteries will be needed, but I am not sure even with that.

[@johnalexander2349]

@@philipvecchio3292 No, I think you can still make a strong case for UPSs in normal situations. Good lead acid will last 10 years if it's only drained once a year. Also for legacy equipment - some just can't take Lithium Iron without expensive BMS work. Oh, and for stuff with

[@icecreammango4330]

I'd like to see a follow up video when the house is ready and furnished.

[@rovinruss4770]

Very cool ideas. Low impact footprint for off grid is awsome

[@ojindustries9540]

Radius standing seam have been around for decades, the changeling part is doing them with two curves and a straight run in the middle.

[@chuckdoucet4510]

That is a sweet setup, thanks for always providing top-notch content Matt!

[@Dirtos]

would have loved a detail on how the solar is attached. That connection must deal with some torque when the wind picks up.

[@frankminisplitking]

Super awesome y’all! I’m excited to see more! And would love this for my ranch!!! Off grid, high quality, easily put anywhere and great quality systems! I’m excited!

[@alansnyder8448]

Thanks for this... I signed up for the mailing list. I really like the low-impact foundation.

[@eh_bailey]

Really interesting design, it would be nice to see how one comes together.

[@andreyka64]

Love these off grid builds.

[@largepimping]

3:20 - "Lithium is a mobility-based power storage." Meaning what - lead-acid is superiour to lithium batteries for stationary installations? Oh, hang on... just noticed that I'd time-travelled back to 2010. Never mind.

[@dtwizz83]

I love it! Murica! Found you on Instagram. This is the future baby.

[@DrivingWithJake]

Great video as always Matt! Cool ideas on a few of these things!

[@NewResults]

Super awesome project!! Kudos to Andrew and his team!

[@bpl1376]

This is awesome - nuts off grid

[@dovahkindragonborn9827]

love seeing what some high-end off-grid projects look like ... if i had money to splurge and land in the middle of nowhere, this would be a consideration

[@mtruncale]

Would love to know how much to setup the solar container thingy!

[@russelljohnston4256]

I've got a 20' container coming next week and in the big picture that solar set up is EXACTLY what I'm going for. Love the show. Thanks!

[@MrStreaty122]

Have you checked our Ambition Strike’s setup? Their system, which they built themselves, doesn’t track the sun but it does have seasonal angle adjustments

[@russelljohnston4256]

@@MrStreaty122 No but I'll look into it. I'm looking for a DIY type that'll support a small 2 bedroom house in Ca. Thanks for the tip.

[@kadmow]

Another fibreglassing trick for making radiused moulds - quarter slit pressure pipe is so useful and readily accessable.

[@mnava1726]

Love it!

[@robertlee8805]

Yeh. Me too. It does have a Moon/Mars space station of the future. I'd have several in different directions and some back to back and some end to end for more moving around when the weather doesn't corporate. You want to be able to go to different sections of your living pad . Oh what does he do with AIR circulation and eliminating stale and cooking air?

[@mdug7224]

Great innovation!

[@kylester89]

What was the total cost of this passive house prefab?

[@RyanTinger]

Nice!

[@kadmow]

Remembering that a 2000AH (rated) Lead acid battery can't reliably provide more than half of that capacity - or the long term (cycles) are significantly affected. Of course Lead Acid is "mature technology" - but at todays rates a LiFePO4 chemistry is cheaper for the capacity, especially with 3-5000 cycles vs ~500 cycles max for the Pb. However, rating the (1000Ah usable) to around 5-10 days of mean energy use, makes the discharge C rate extremely low, which is great for longevity, putting it all inside an insulated box, makes heating and cooling fairly trivial.

[@michiganengineer8621]

Lead acids are good if you're on a low budget, especially if you can get old submarine lead acids. Plan on replacing them every 5 years though.

[@missingremote4388]

Aerodynamic

[@Jay-ij6gc]

7:37 SASQUATCH!! Did you guys see that in the right hand side of the frame???

[@skeeet5758]

I don't know pretty nice but I'd imagine the price tag went double when I see something like that it's suspended off of the ground I'm thinking a spot for an animal to hide it looks like a remote location considering that it has solar I'd imagine it has some kind of rainwater collection eventually. I think it's nice but I don't think it's practical.

[@mikejf4377]

What company is producing the shaped styrofoam that forms to the containers wall? Nice video. Will all his buildings with stand a tornado or hurricane?

[@jwristen24]

Whats the name of the poly product that seats into the sides of the container?

[@donb-wl6mo]

Interesting design… Wonder what the cost for that particular building is?

[@MerkDolf]

😃 👌 👍

[@jeremycovelli]

Pretty cool but what's with the tiny windows on the high side? On a slop over looking the trees and no view?

[@TucsonDesign]

Clerestory windows are great If you want light and privacy. In this case it doesn't look like there are any neighbors right there, so that doesn't seem to be the reason. Wide, short windows (at any elevation) can help mitigate solar heat gain. My guess is this design is meant to be a modular model home, that could also be put on sites that have privacy concerns. Or the designer wasn't considering function and just thought it 'looks cool', which seems plausible here given the rest of the design ;) Lots of architects like the idea of modular homes from a profit standpoint: one design that can be sold many times. But it's far inferior to designing a home to the specific site, views, solar orientation etc

[@protoearth]

He says 2000 amp hours but at what voltage of the battery system? This determines the actual energy capacity.

[@HubstepCamaro]

Yeah that bothered me too. The unit is KWH. (Kilowatt hour, meaning 1000 watts of power continuously for 1 hour). It’s lead acid so the capacity is crap, a modern lithium ferrite polymer will give you 5kwh for $1500 in a sever blade and you can scale to 30, 60, 120kwh or whatever you want in units of 5kwh

[@EVLS10]

@@HubstepCamaro SLA is still cheaper just for capacity.

[@CaptainObviious]

How much does that home cost though? It's really nice and low e, but what is the cost of that home

[@raymondpeters9186]

Pumicecrete is by far the best building material on the planet Pumicecrete is a mixture of pumice cement and water mixed and poured into a set of reusable forms walls are poured from 12"to 24" thick pumicecrete is fireproof termite proof rust rot and mold proof and has a high R value and good sound attenuation solid poured walls means no critters can live in your walls Pumicecrete can be built for a fraction of the cost and time and pumice is one of the few building materials that can go directly from the mine to the job site ready to use without any additional possessing and zero waste Google all the walls of my house are made of pumicecrete

[@JosiahK555]

Interesting, but I personally would never live in one of those square pill boxes.

[@CalebNorthNorman]

They completely defeated the whole purpose. It's still a wood 2x4 house only it's much more difficult with custom curved plywood. If it was a all metal building it would have been simple but it doesn't even have a steel frame and the metal on the outside was a nightmare and custom bent.........so this is a traditional built house that is made much more challenging by trying to make it look like it's built from a industrial metal shell which it isn't, it's a facade. Almost nothing I see on this house is a new idea. (It is not built out of metal like WW2 London bomb shelter or something like that where the metal is itself is its own structure and needs no framing.)

[@Largepapa2]

Why do all of the displays have tape over them?

[@michiganengineer8621]

Those look like Outback charge controllers. I'm going to guess Outback didn't want to buy a sponsorship like Schneider.

[@lookup9078]

🛎️🛎️

[@jspafford]

Lithium we don’t need it. Matt “um ok.” Have fun replacing all those batteries in a few years. Then you’ll be moving them by hand. You’ll have to move lead acid a lot more than you’d have to move lithium. Yeah lipo. Logic does not compute. Heh. Especially now that you can get your own well made cells direct from manufactures and put it together yourself with off the shelf components into a complete system. Especially that you’re putting it in the container opposed to outside. Using lithium that route would without a shadow of a doubt be cheaper than lead acid over 6-7 years. For the equivalent power discharge rating. You buy something like a Tesla power wall when you just want to stick it outside your home and never think about it again and have some great software. Teslas have everything neatly packaged with inverter and even a heat pump inside. If you have a engineer involved or are tech minded and can follow some KZbin videos, build your own for 60% off. And buy second hand used solar panels that are not as efficient but because you have a ton of space you can have a lot of panels. Only expense there would be a few more inexpensive charge controllers. Sigh.

[@Eric998765]

Starting price of $440/sqft in case anyone in curious.

[@ToIsleOfView]

I guess if money is no concern then you make an oval frame. I would rather have square frames and be artistic in other ways.

[@roberttaylor9259]

I think it's great but I wish the interior was more reflective of the exterior architecture. The two are starkly divorced from each other.

[@marcus_b1]

Those container builds are very poorly designed. Speaking from designing and building my own.

[@Chris.Brisson]

How many dwelling units would we get for $3.8 billion? Asking for a friend who is looking to help homeless autoworkers.

[@trampfossil]

Better upgrade your batteries to 0 service LFI unless you want a real time consuming and 5-6 year battery life....

[@thinde88]

Lead acid?! I set up a SINGLE WIDE off grid and made sure I had the budget for 30kwh of LFP. What a joke.

[@davidblalock9945]

Yes, lead, as in AGM batteries. Since weight isn’t a problem, AGMs make the most sense. They have nearly infinite cycles, as they respond very will to high voltage impulse reconditioning. They are 100% recyclable. They’re very low cost. They also don’t use cobalt, a radioactive element thats extracted in huge strip mines by artesian miners, whom are predominantly children. Nor do they use lithium, an element who’s mining process has the absolute worst environmental impact of any industry on earth.

[@5W5Y5]

Interesting build, not something I would want up here in the Northeast.

[@rykdheiner]

Lead acid? Lol, Is he serious

[@Hellcleaner13]

I hate it when people measure energy capacity in amphours.

[@donovandelaney3171]

Give them to the homeless.

[@skeeet5758]

If you want my honest opinion that's a million dollar trailer I'm sorry that's just the way I see that.

[@benduea2713]

Interesting but not really impressive!

[@mikep8080]

Sorry that looks like a turd I would rather live in cardboard box

[@NelsonClick]

I see where it's going and I like it BUT please, please, oh God please, no cantilever houses. I don't know what it is that "modern" architects find so edgy and fascinating about them but they never last, look uncool quickly and nobody likes living in them long term. Cantilever designs have been around for decades and aren't edgy. I'd rather live in a glass pyramid. Anchor my house to concrete in the ground.

[@sparksmcgee6641]

Looks like it's just the decks that are "cantilevered". There is often a reason to cantilever in the mountains. Uneven sites, and small sites. Just takes steel

[@gchesterton]

There’s no cantilever. What are you talking about? Besides, cantilevers are awesome when necessary.

[@jonerlandson1956]

phoenix or the allegator swamps...