With the official launch of www.formandforest.com less than a month away a lot of you have been asking "Just what are these prefab cabins going to look like anyway?" Some of the more impatient have even suggested the cabins are myth, going so far as to suggest that Form and Forest is actually a snow fort fan site dedicated to the men and woman who build them.

Well I can assure you that the cabins are real and are nearly ready for prime time with just a few more tweaks to go by D’arcy Jones and his cadre of superstar designers. Believe me the final wait has become as excruciating for us as for you. So to satisfy your longing we’re dropping a few spy snaps from the studio. Hopefully you get as excited by foam core sketch models as much as we do. If you need a greater fix be sure to sign up for our newsletter , the february edition is sure to tide you over with even sweeter previews.
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Technorati Tags:   architecture, Build a Cabin, cabin, prefab cabin kits, prefab cabins

We all know the big players on the block with their multi mountain spanning resorts, gravity defying trams , and mountainside McMansions. But what about the hills of our childhoods? You know the ones with the rickety 2 person chair that you nearly froze too death on, or the t-bars that worked you out more on the ascent than the ensuing descent ever did? We’ve rounded up the 5 best places to Ski in Canada where the powder runs deep, the tickets are cheap and the lifts run slow.

1. Castle Mountain . Nestled in the last valley of the Canadian Rockies before you hit the never ending expanse of the prairies is Castle Mountain Ski resort. Castle’s location is both a virtue and a curse, a curse because it is the last stop for warm moist pacific air to drop its powder before turning into gale force Chinook winds that tear the doors off the farmers trucks to the east. Sometimes this phenomenon doesn’t wait for the prairies and decides to blow early threatening the lives of skiers riding the chair up the mountain while taking the snow with it. However with 2,833 feet of vertical, the wide open bowls and chutes are sure to reward the persistent especially on a big powder day. The big bonus is the lack of people to share your stash with and with 299 inches of snowfall per year there will be lots to go round. Castle is the type of place where locals ski in their coveralls and blue jeans still pass for snow pants. There are modest development opportunities if you happen to fall and love and build a cabin there.

2. Powder King. There are rumors that at one time Environment Canada refused to publish snowfall amounts from Powder King because they didn’t believe single snowfall amounts could be so high. But modern recording equipment proved the locals right. One might assume the cubicle dwellers at Environment Canada were hardcore ski fanatics trying to keep the place a secret. With 2,017 vertical feet to ski, crowds so thin that your morning tracks are erased by afternoon and Atco trailer luxury, Powder King is definitely authentic. With modest on-hill real estate opportunities you might just want to stake a claim to this powder stash and build a cabin there.

3. Shames Mountain . Located on the north edge of the middle of nowhere Shames Mountain boasts the highest amount of snowfall for a lift serviced hill in North America. In their inaugural season (1990) 72 feet of snow fell. With access to phenomenal backcountry and stunning views, this mountain truly is a hidden gem. The lore of this place alone make the trip to Terrace and subsequent shuttle to the hill worthwhile. Snorkel skiing anyone?

4. Hemlock Valley . When you think local mountains in the lower mainland, Grouse, Cypress and Seymour are sure to pop up. But theres one more. Hemlock Valley. Located an hour and a half east of Vancouver this little gem gets all the snow the Pacific can throw at it receiving 30 -35 feet of snowfall on average. Not a bad spot to build a ski cabin if you live in the lower mainland.

5. Whitewater Whitewater is a classic just 15 minutes up the road from picturesque Nelson in the West Kootenays that attracts 45 feet of snow on average every year. And thats dry powder or cold smoke as the locals call it not the wet concrete of the coast. The two double chairs are by no means modern but hey you’ve got earn your turns somehow and the ample groomers, glades, bowls, chutes, tree skiing and affordable lift tickets are well worth the slow ride up.

Technorati Tags:   canadian rockies, castle mountain, hemlock valley, powder king, shames mountain, ski alberta, ski bc, ski deals

Construction waste accounts for almost half of what goes the landfill.

According to the EPA up to 40% of what goes into landfills is construction waste. A 2,000 square foot home produces almost 8,000 pounds of construction waste.  That is a staggering amount of garbage.

If you dissect what goes into a dumpster on a job site you will find that by weight or volume, wood, drywall and cardboard make up 60 – 80% of that waste. Two of these three major components of construction waste can be recycled or reused.

Take a look at the dumpster the next time you are on a construction site. You will probably find yourself thinking “I could almost build another house with the stuff in here”.  The sad fact is this is close to the truth.

Waste reduction is a basic and overlooked element in most construction.

In my experience proper planning can keep cardboard and wood out of the waste stream. At Form & Forest our design and manufacturing process is very tightly integrated. That means we are able to plan for reduced construction waste from the very beginning.

Our first cabins will be available this spring and they are being planned for efficient use of materials and waste reduction, all the way from the initial architectural design through to the manufacturing process.

This is important not only because it conserves resources, but also because it saves you money.  Good construction waste management will save you money because you have less to haul away, and more importantly you don’t pay for material you don’t need.

In traditional site based construction most of the waste comes from framing errors, and weather. Typically a builder will overestimate the amount of wood they need to account for this. This extra wood is not only expensive to dispose of it is also expensive to buy in first place.

When you build a cabin using our factory built framing components you don’t lose materials due to warping and weathering. You don’t have to worry about costly framing errors either, because we can manage quality control better on the factory floor than we can on the job site.

During the design process D’Arcy Jones and I have been working together very carefully to ensure that we can build his cabin plans as efficiently as possible. We run everything through a program that allows us to make the most efficient use of our materials. When you decide to build a cabin from Form & Forest we already know precisely how much material to order.

Technorati Tags:   architecture, construction, green building, prefab, prefab cabins, sustainability, waste

Build a Cabin and Put an End to the Cabin Fever Epidemic

Every year about this time we are faced with an epidemic of Cabin Fever. In the cold winter months people seem to lose focus and get restless. New research has uncovered a potential cure for the midwinter blahs that has no known side effects, and makes you smarter, happier, and more effective. Better still, the therapy is readily available and doesn’t cost a dime.

For years now people have been attempting to quell the onset of winter boredom and restlessness by heading out to see a movie or going shopping. According to a recently published study led by Marc Berman from the University of Michigan, heading to the mall or cinema may be exactly the wrong thing to do.

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Technorati Tags:   Build a Cabin, Happiness