Cat Mountain Lodge
The Cat Mountain Lodge is a bed and breakfast located in Tucson, Arizona. BryckBlock.com (a division of Brick by Bryck, Inc.) was the general contractor and green advisor for this building. Take a moment to view the videos of our construction or the feed from our live webcam.
Some of the green building materials and procedures featured at Cat Mountain Lodge include:
- ICF block - ICF block comes in various types but is basically a styrofoam block with a hollow core which is then filled typically with a pea size gravel. To build our 10 inch thick walls we filled the ICF block with concrete for extra insulation. The exterior walls are stucco and the interior are drywall.
- Solar panels - We installed solar panels on the roof which provide the power through an inverter to all the electrical for the lodge. A bonus to this set up is the ability for the electric meter to run backward when we generate more power than we use. Imagine the electric company paying you instead of the other way around!
- Each room has its own ductless air conditioner with a thermostat for that room. The larger rooms have duct work that is installed in the insulated living space so that heat loss is minimized and cooling the living space is much more efficent.
- Porches are installed to block the sun in the summer and allow winter sun to shine on the exposed concrete slabs for radiant heating.
- The interior floors are colored concrete with a large mass which maintains a consistent temperature of approximately 72 degrees all year long.
- Grey water harvesting is done on all plumbing except for the toilets.
- Water harvesting and collecting is done through barrels which collect the rain water from the roof.
- Easy to care for, natural desert landscaping provides beauty and maintains the integrity of our desert ecosystem.