David Byers: yurt builder with a vision

Carpenter David Byers calls himself the “C-V-O” or Chief Visionary Officer of his company. The Belle Isle, New Brunswick carpenter was bored with the rectangle and fell in love with all things round.

"My vision is to have round be the new square," he says.

He's now building a nine metre, or 30 foot insulated yurt. It’s name comes from the circular tent used by nomads in desert climates.

It has taken three years from the drawing table to the ground. Rooms will be pie-shaped and equipped with plumbing and heating. Thick foam insulation between slats in the roof, in the walls and in the floors will prepare it to be a year-round building.

Byers says this is the first yurt of its kind in the world.

“The logs are insulated. The biggest problem with a log cabin is they make them out of green wood, and they settle and they split,” he explains. “We've taken a large, seven and a half inch piece of EPS foam, like a Styrofoam coffee cup, solid, and glued, kiln dried wood around it, and made that the log. So it won't settle, and it won't split, and it achieves R27 insulation value."

Round construction is more energy efficient because of less exterior exposure. It’s also better in high winds, according to those who have them and sell them. But it’s not always cheaper to build.

A single story will cost about $92,000, and you put it together yourself. Prices depend on what kind of wood you want.

The wood is glued on, giving room for variety. It can be different types on different sides. On the inside, it's pine. On the outside, it's cedar. The house itself sits on steel piles driven directly into the ground.

The piles are insulated, and screwed into anything from bare rock to permafrost. 

Byers is now looking for buyers and says his company has already answered over 7 million inquiries, but they're all waiting to see the final product.

In about two weeks the first yurt provincial administration building for the Mactaquac Golf Course, will be finished.