Phone :
+1 207.640.6300
Address :
137 High Street, Belfast, ME 04915
Email :
shelter@opalarch.us

The NEXT GENERATION
of HOUSING
has arrived.

STATE-OF-THE-ART, PANELIZED, SOLID-WOOD CONSTRUCTION


PLANET FRIENDLY and ENERGY EFFICIENT

 

Shelter’s innovative component-based design system and panelized, all-wood construction methods change everything about building your next house. Integrating timeless aesthetics, design flexibility, and precise factory fabrication, Shelter engages you in creating a uniquely beautiful, high-performance home—with a fine-tuned, collaborative process that’s as rewarding as the end result.

The NEXT GENERATION
of HOUSING
has arrived.

— Introducing Shelter by OPAL: a better, faster way of building.

The NEXT GENERATION
of HOUSING
has arrived.

— Introducing Shelter by OPAL: a better, faster way of building.

STATE-OF-THE-ART, PANELIZED, SOLID-WOOD CONSTRUCTION


PLANET FRIENDLY AND ENERGY EFFICIENT

 

Shelter’s innovative component-based design system and panelized, all-wood construction methods changes everything about building your next house. Integrating timeless aesthetics, design flexibility, and precise factory fabrication, Shelter engages you in creating a uniquely beautiful, high-performance home—with a fine-tuned, collaborative process that’s as rewarding as the end result.

A BETTER WAY TO BUILD

Shelter’s elegant, robust construction system begins with all-wood wall, floor, and roof panels consisting of cross laminated timber (CLT) structural elements bonded to façade-ready wood fiber insulation. Our precision-fabrication process seamlessly links Shelter’s design studio with our production line, where we utilize detailed computer design models to directly CNC-cut (computer numerical controlled) full-scale building panels. The entire building shell is manufactured and shipped to your site, where these super-strong, monolithic panels are assembled on a variety of foundation types, yielding a durable, weathertight building shell assembled in days.

A BETTER WAY TO BUILD

Shelter’s elegant, robust construction system begins with all-wood wall, floor, and roof panels consisting of cross laminated timber (CLT) structural elements bonded to façade-ready wood fiber insulation. Our precision-fabrication process seamlessly links Shelter’s design studio with our production line, where we utilize detailed computer design models to directly CNC-cut full-scale building panels. The entire building shell is manufactured and shipped to your site, where these super-strong, monolithic panels are assembled on a variety of foundation types, yielding a durable, weathertight building shell assembled in days.

GREAT DESIGN AND A SIMPLIFIED PROCESS

Shelter by OPAL redefines the home-design experience by starting not with a blank sheet of paper, but with a collection of elegant, pre-designed modular spaces, including bedrooms, kitchens, living rooms, and flexible multi-use rooms. Choose a single module as the basis for a freestanding office, guest quarters, vacation cabin, or exercise studio. Or, combine multiple modules—by clustering, or linking them with decks or connectors—to design a home or compound uniquely suited to your site, taste, and practical needs.

GREAT DESIGN AND A SIMPLIFIED PROCESS

Shelter redefines the home-design experience by starting not with a blank sheet of paper, but with a collection of elegant, pre-designed modular spaces, including bedrooms, kitchens, living rooms, and flexible multiuse rooms. Choose a single module as the basis for a freestanding office, guest quarters, vacation cabin, or exercise studio. Or, combine multiple modules—by clustering, or linking them with decks or connectors—to design a home or compound uniquely suited to your site, taste, and practical needs.

NET ZERO AND
CARBON NEUTRAL

Buildings account for 45 percent of global carbon emissions. Roughly 75 percent of that—operational carbon—results from heating and cooling the building; the other 25 percent, or embodied carbon, results from the production and construction of the building itself. To address operational emissions, every Shelter design targets net-zero energy use. By adhering to the Passive House standard and employing sophisticated energy modeling for every building, we reduce space heating by 80 percent from that required by code, to a level easily offset by a small solar array. To minimize embodied carbon, we use life cycle assessment (LCA) tools that model the total carbon footprint of our buildings. A key benefit of solid wood construction is wood’s unique capacity to lock up—or store—carbon that the living tree has sequestered from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. This carbon, stored for the life of the building, offsets the majority of the embodied carbon emitted in the production, transport, and installation of the rest of the non-biogenic building materials.

NET ZERO AND CARBON NEUTRAL

Buildings account for 45 percent of global carbon emissions. Roughly 75 percent of that—operational carbon—results from heating and cooling the building; the other 25 percent, or embodied carbon, results from the production and construction of the building itself. To address operational emissions, every Shelter design targets net-zero energy use. By adhering to the Passive House standard and employing sophisticated energy modeling for every building, we reduce space heating by 80 percent from that required by code, to a level easily offset by a small solar array. To minimize embodied carbon, we use life cycle assessment (LCA) tools that model the total carbon footprint of our buildings. A key benefit of solid wood construction is wood’s unique capacity to lock up—or store—carbon that the living tree has sequestered from the atmosphere through photosynthesis. This carbon, stored for the life of the building, offsets the majority of the embodied carbon emitted in the production, transport, and installation of the rest of the non-biogenic building materials.

PLANET-FRIENDLY OPTIONS, HEALTHY MATERIALS, HEALTHY AIR

Healthy indoor air quality is also central to the Shelter by OPAL concept. To avoid introducing synthetic chemicals and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) into the indoor environment, we use natural construction materials made with minimal treatment and processing. Every Shelter home has a centralized heat recovery ventilation system that continuously refreshes the indoor air with filtered outdoor air that is tempered for thermal comfort.

Every Shelter is available with sustainable options as well—photovoltaic solar roofing, smart home controls, high-efficiency fixtures and appliances—that enhance your comfort while further reducing your home’s environmental footprint.

PLANET-FRIENDLY OPTIONS, HEALTHY MATERIALS, HEALTHY AIR

Healthy indoor air quality is also central to the Shelter concept. To avoid introducing synthetic chemicals and VOCs into the indoor environment, we use natural construction materials made with minimal treatment and processing. Every Shelter home has a centralized heat recovery ventilation system that continuously refreshes the indoor air with filtered outdoor air that is tempered for thermal comfort.

Every Shelter is available with sustainable options as well—photovoltaic solar roofing, smart-home controls, high-efficiency fixtures and appliances—that enhance your comfort while further reducing your home’s environmental footprint.

© OPAL SHELTER 2023. All rights reserved.

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