I recently came upon this interesting concept for factory built, zero-waste modular homes made from cargo containers designed by the Australian company Quon.

Their website is a little light on info and the company may have never launched, but the Leggo-like building block concept for container living still packs a conceptual punch. Though the building units are identically shaped, their configurations are almost limitless … that, combined with the fact that the building modules can be moved via truck without special permits makes for one fast-tracked green building recipe.

The Carmel Valley residence is the creation of California’s Turnbull Griffin Haesloop Arichitects. This private home is located on a property in the Santa Lucia Preserve in Carmel Valley. The compound and views are reminiscent of the owner’s summers spent in the Catskills.

The house embodies a wide range of sustainable materials and design features. Exterior walls are built featuring a combination of gunned earth (PISE) -  a mixture of soil excavated from the site and concrete that is sprayed against a form – and recycled re-sawn cedar siding.

Lumber used in the project was either certified or sustainably harvested and the dwelling’s floors are recycled oak. A long lasting non-reflective zinc roof and passive cooling is enabled by the area’s moderate climate … the mass of the sprayed earth walls and well-placed, operable windows keep the indoor spaces comfortable.

Architect Richard Hawkes‘ Crossway passive house (no conventional heating system needed) has both a great look and a ton of eco street cred – it’s one of the first certified passive homes in the UK. The 4-bedroom, 3,000 sq ft home, which was designed to integrate into the surrounding English countryside, contains a preponderance of local materials, including local clay bricks and locally-grown cedar siding.

Spanning 20m and 8.5m high the home’s striking, vaulted green roof is seeded with meadow plants from nearby Marden nature reserve. The 26,000 clay tiles of the archway naturally regulate humidity and their large thermal mass regulates temperature providing healthy, airy internal space. Heat recovery ventilation, triple glazing and high insulation minimize the energy needs of the house. Crossway’s southern exposure maximizes its views while practically harnessing the sun for light and heat through passive solar gain.

The home’s construction also features an abundance of recycled materials. Newspapers, car tires and crushed bottles used in the lime mortar and in the polished ground floor. Advanced energy systems generate electricity and store thermal energy, while on-site waste treatment and rainwater harvesting are also featured. A monitoring system relays building performance data to Cambridge University for ongoing research.

photos: richard hawkes’ tumblir page

British design and architectural firm dRMM created Naked House as a prototype for a sustainable, affordable, CO2 responsible, prefabricated timber home.

The 3-bedroom cookie-cutter home is designed to be erected anywhere in the world where there is road or sea access, and delivered as a flat pack in a standard container. The container would then form the structure’s base, elevating the house off the ground by the height of the container. The container can also be utilized as a storage unit, garage or boathouse. The nomadic Naked House is designed to be dismantled, repacked into the container, and moved to a new site anytime (you will need a crane).

The house can be manufactured in a hyper-efficient, streamlined process from a cut-out diagram. All the walls and components are numbered elements – including door and window openings – digitally pre-cut from cross-laminated timber panels made from fast growing soft woods. The components of the 3 dimensional jigsaw puzzle are secured by super-long screws. It’s estimated the home can be assembled by four people with the help of a small crane in two days.

dRMM, an innovative London-based studio of architects and designers, was founded by Alex de Rijke, Philip Marsh and Sadie Morgan in 1995.

One day there may not be another building lot available. In a world of bloated urban development, an exploding world population and a finite supply of land, the need for more space, or better use of it, is becoming painfully obvious. Time for floating a new idea.

The SeaScraper, designed by William Erwin and Dan Fletcher, is a concept for a self-sufficient floating city, designed to provide a low impact, sustainable living environment that reduces urban sprawl on land by allowing us to create dwellings in the ocean. The floating city will consist of homes, commercial space, and recreational areas and is envisioned as producing all of the energy needed for its operation. (more…)

This site-assembled Aussie prefab is a perfect small-footprint solution for those exploring living an Outback lifestyle or in need of a backyard studio.

Designed and created by architect Craig Chatman, ARKit features exterior cladding made of underutilized, short length timber. The prefab design also features all-in-one panel walls that are factory built, complete with insulation, cladding and internal lining. The modular manufacturing process is low waste and efficient – making on-site construction a breeze.

The various configuration of ARKit range from backyard office or studio to multiple bedroom designs.

All of which require little site work (can be installed with no formal foundation), easy construction (factory prebuilt), and feature natural cedar siding that can be left with its natural finish and allowed to age to a classic grey patina.  Customization is possible with rainwater capture systems, solar panels and various other energy-saving features available.

West coast-based Urban Hardwoods creates impressive rustic wood home furnishings from the salvaged and reclaimed lumber obtained from the remains of diseased, dead, or storm damaged trees.

The magnificent chunk of California Redwood that forms the headboard of the bed pictured above was found in a barn near Mt. Vernon Washington. The 5 giant slabs of Redwood had originally been offered to a cabinetmaker in the Midwest, who for whatever reason, never got around to using them. More of Urban Hardwoods’ work is pictured below:

In order above: salvaged walnut desk, salvaged elm bench and elm dining table – all made from wood salvaged from the Seattle, Washington area.

Sometimes the shape of the building lot dictates the shape of a home. This cool looking site-built home, designed by California-based Office of Mobile Design, is a manifestation of OMD’s SwellHouse design. The prefab’s construction features a modular grid of exposed steel columns and beams that create 3,130 sf of graciously open live-work space.

The SIP (Structural Insulated Panel) system of prefabricated wall and roof panels provides this hacienda with modular structural stability, plus thermal and acoustic insulation. The SIP panels were assembled remotely, trucked to the site, and set in place manually.

This home is separated into two buildings – the main house, and a garage with a second floor recording studio. The two structures frame a courtyard. Two existing mature palm trees, and the small lot’s setbacks determined the placement of the structures.

Ceilings are high and the steel ‘I’ beams are exposed on the interior. The home’s rectangular shape and framing allow for plenty of sliding glass. A radiant tube heat system warms the concrete floor at the first floor.

Many people live and work in giant glass and mortar boxes devoid of fresh air. Designer François Hurtaud created this concept for this modular vegetated wall to create a natural, living air filter that also serves as an aesthetically pleasing art and lighting installation.  Plants have the capacity to depollute the air.

Hurtaud designed his modular green wall system as an “interior lung to enhance air quality and create a luminous positive effect on users.” The plants are carefully chosen for their detoxifying capacities, while the light is provided by ecoefficient LEDs mounted in the fixture’s mounted blades.