A Zum in Walpole, NH

In 2014 we were approached by the organizers of the Greenbuild Conference about the possibility of building a demonstration home to be featured at the conference’s trade show. Greenbuild is an annual conference hosted by the US Green Building Council (USGBC), the organization that developed the LEED rating system. Each year the conference is in a different major city. In 2015, it was in Washington. Although we knew that building a complete home inside the convention center would be a challenge—especially because we would have only three days to complete the task—it also seemed like a wonderful opportunity to introduce Unity Homes, then a three year-old company, on the national stage.

Per Unity’s typical process, we developed the design of this particular home in a 3D virtual model. We then proceeded to prefabricate and pre-assemble the components of the home in our shop to a much higher degree than is usual for Unity, because we had only three days to assemble the complete home in Washington, prior to the start of the trade show. In addition to preinstalling most of the siding, we also prewired the panels, and preinstalled the sheetrock and flooring.

Unity’s normal pre-fabrication strategy is based on two dimensional panels, but for this project we took a three-dimensional approach to the bathrooms and kitchen. Because these areas are labor and material intense, we prebuilt them in two 8’x8’x20’ pods, one with two bathrooms and mechanical space, and the other with the kitchen and entryway. We finished the spaces within the pods in our shop, including installing tile and fixtures in the bathrooms, and cabinets in the kitchen.

Assembling the panels and pods into a complete, functional home over the course of three days in the trade show hall was an exciting, stressful adventure. Thanks to careful planning, precision prefabrication and the skill of our crew, the effort went smoothly, as can be seen in this time-lapse video.

Following the conference, we disassembled the home back into panels and pods, and trucked them to Walpole where we then built the home—for the fourth time!—on a permanent foundation. We sited the home to feature long views across a meadow toward the mountains of Vermont, and added a connector and a garage to make the home more functional.

After being completed in its final location, the home continued to garner accolades. It was certified by the USGBC at the LEED Gold level, and was recognized by the Department of Energy (DOE) as the first Net Zero Ready home to be built in New Hampshire.

Unity used this Zūm as a show home, as office space and a meeting venue before it was sold as a private residence in 2021. Prospective clients and other visitors appreciated the opportunity to experience first-hand the quality, comfort, health and quiet that we build into every Unity Home.