Open-Built
It's called Open-Built. And it's a new approach to how we build and remodel our homes.
Open-Built seeks to "disentangle" a home's systems and streamline production (even on custom work), making it easier for people to grow with their homes — and easier for builders to deliver a superior product. Developed by industry titan Tedd Benson of Bensonwood Homes and The Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Open-Built uses new building techniques and green building practices to improve the American dwelling.
It starts with smart design, then moves into fabrication. Open-Built takes the 50,000 or so pieces of a house and systematizes them into about 50 components — in the shop — which are then installed on site in record time.
"Imagine having all the parts for your car delivered to your house and you assemble them in the driveway," says Tedd. "We wouldn't do it with our car. Why should we do it with most people's single largest investment?"
Good question. Bensonwood and MIT offer their findings for free. Open-Built (modeled on open-source software) is available to any builder or homeowner. Ideal for new construction or remodels, it is opening doors to the evolution of the American home, and evolution is good.
Bensonwood
Open Prototype Initiative
