River Vine Blog

Check out our River Vine Blog for the latest tips and topics on building modular prefab green homes.

Spotlight on Uponor

For more than 40 years, Uponor has been the leader in PEX plumbing, fire safety, radiant heating/cooling, hydronic piping and pre-insulated piping systems for single-family, multifamily and commercial structures around the world. The core of Uponor systems feature flexible, durable and cost-effective crosslinked polyethylene (PEX) tubing and ProPEX® expansion fittings that are ideal for use in new construction, remodel and retrofit applications, providing solutions that conserve energy and water, reduce heating and cooling costs, support sustainable building practices and provide superior performance..

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Spotlight on Blu Bathworks

Blu Bathworks is a modern bathware design house and manufacturer founded in 2006 by award-winning designer Michael Gottschalk. Headquartered in Vancouver, Canada, Blu is known for sleek, contemporary bathroom fixtures and fittings that combine a sophisticated European aesthetic with sustainable design and production. 

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Building in the Rain

Winter’s here, and with it has come rain, rain and more rain! El Niño is wreaking havoc with construction projects all across the country, but it’s been business as usual at the AMS factory.

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Spotlight on Aquatherm

It’s a new year, and we have a new Spotlight Partner: Aquatherm, the global leader in polypropylene-random (PP-R) pressure piping for potable, heating and cooling, industrial and cooling and greywater applications. For more than forty years, Aquatherm has produced the most advanced and environmentally-friendly piping systems in the world, offering long-lasting, fully recyclable, rust- and corrosion-free plumbing solutions that deliver excellent performance, quality and cost savings.

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Geothermal Goes In

Geothermal technology is a key component of River Vine’s Integrated Renewable Energy Systems, harnessing solar energy stored in the earth to power the home’s hydronic radiant heating and cooling system for year-round climate control.

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A New Year, A New Look at Modular

Building a modular home is like the start of a new year—filled with infinite possibilities.

Too often, the word “modular” brings to mind a plain square box of a building… a trailer… maybe even a portable structure on wheels. But the new modulars, like River Vine, are permanent, high quality buildings that look, last and perform just like conventional construction. Virtually any home plan can be factory-built, and the finished building will be indistinguishable from one built onsite. A modular home can be a tiny house or an estate, single-story or high rise, traditional or contemporary, with any amenity or feature that can be included in a stick-built home.

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Wrapping Up the Year

We’re only a week away from the end of the year, and our factory crews have been busy as elves wrapping River Vine modules in layers of insulation. Since River Vine has a structural steel frame, properly insulating the exterior counteracts thermal bridging—the flow of heat through walls, ceiling and floor. Insulation creates a weatherproof shield that reduces heat loss in the colder months and heat gain in the warmer months, making River Vine a tighter, more energy-efficient building year-round. Less heat transfer means less energy is needed to keep River Vine’s interior at the desired temperature, reducing costs and improving comfort for everyone inside. 

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Spotlight on Heliodyne

Today, we’re spotlighting another River Vine Project Partner—Heliodyne, Inc., a leading U.S. manufacturer of solar water heating equipment since 1976. A pioneer in solar hot water, Heliodyne offers a full line of flat plate collectors and heat transfer equipment—all SRCC and IAPMO rated, ensuring that they are built and perform to the highest standards.

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5 Benefits of Solar Hot Water

A solar water heating system replaces a conventional hot water heater, efficiently harnessing the power of the sun to meet domestic hot water needs. River Vine uses a closed loop system with roof-mounted flat-plate collectors that capture sunlight and convert it to electricity by running it through a heat exchanger located in River Vine’s mechanical room.

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