Students and graduates of Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture, have created an energy efficient prefab home prototype they call Mod.Fab.  This great looking one-bedroom, 600 square foot prefab is designed for sustainable desert living.

The Mod.Fab can tap into the local power grid or function “unplugged” by relying on low-consumption fixtures, rainwater harvesting, graywater re-use, natural ventilation, solar orientation, and photovoltaics to reduce energy and water use.

(more…)

Here’s a home design that will get you living “smaller” and in affordable style.  Stillwater Dwellings designs modular homes that strive to provide the perfect combination of style, cost and sustainability.  The Seattle based firm’s one story, “mini” line (sd-m) comes in two models, the miniONE (370 sq. ft.) and the larger, miniTWO (585 sq. ft. – see floorplan, below).  Designed as a first home, cabin or mother-in-law abode, these pre-built units (more…)

Love the look and love the name.  New York architect Jeffrey McKean has designed his Modesthouse and MH Mini homes to integrate seamlessly into their surroundings.  McKean’s designs feature lots of glass and light, sustainable building practices, green energy systems, and a wide choice of eco friendly materials and finishes. (more after jump)

(more…)

The Japanese really know how to utilize space.  The Paco Cube, designed by Schemata Architecture Office Ltd., is a three meter square prefab home that lets you be in the location you desire with the tiniest of footprints.

Paco Cube’s ready-made kit features a compact layout that includes: a kitchen, shower, toilet, sink, sleeping hammock, desk and lighting.  Add some solar panels, a rainwater collection system and a composting toilet and you could probably go pretty much off grid.  (more pix after the jump) (more…)

Alchemy Architects, creators of weeHouse prefab homes, has been an innovator in prefab design for a while now.  We thought we’d take a look at some of their recent sustainable home designs.  Prices: from around $70k for a studio, to $270K for a 4 bedroom/4 bath design.  Site costs are, of course, additional. They also offer a full range of customizations.

marfa weehouse – west texas (below)

cobleskill, ny weehouse (below)

McGlasson weeHouse Two Harbors, MN (below)

The MetroCabin is designed for people looking for an easy-to-erect, prefabricated small space.

Measuring 16 feet deep by 20 feet wide it’s an ideal size for an artist’s studio, pool house, extra room or a place to store your visiting relatives.

Insulated and constructed with FSC certified wood and toxic-free glues, the cabin has a roomy nine foot-nine inches of ceiling height in the front, Andersen doors and windows, and doesn’t require a foundation.  Comes without electric or plumbing, which, along with the front deck, can be added as options.  Two people can assemble the cabin in as little as two or three days.  Base price: $32,500.

more details @ metroshed.com

An emerging player in the booming prefab and green building movement is EcoSteel Building Systems, a residential and commercial builder with a “hybrid approach” to prefab.

EcoSteel, which is headquartered in Park City, Utah, is currently completing five modern prefab steel homes in South Carolina, New Mexico, Utah, Maryland and Massachusetts, while three other projects are starting — two in California and one in Georgia.  (more…)

Has the current economic armageddon signaled the death knell of that bloated, over-sized expression of American success and excess – the ‘McMansion’?  Is there actually a possibility that the next wave in home building will focus on living smaller and more sustainably?  The folks at Toronto-based Altius Architecture and Sustain Design Studio have created the miniHome to provide a sustainable housing option for couples and individuals into zero population growth, stylish sustainability and affordable prefab housing.  Their biggest model yet, the 12WIDE, is set to roll-out in 2009.

The basic 12WIDE model will run you roughly $119,000 Canadian. The home ships on its own set of wheels with detachable chassis for easy placement (you add foundation).  This prefab features: super-insulation, a tankless hot water system, radiant space heating,  durable materials, intelligent controls, multi-tasking furniture, warm LED lighting and 10′ ceilings.  Add optional solar panels, wind and composting solutions and you’re getting very, very green.  Energy and water saving features make the 37 foot long 12 WIDE a purported ‘net-zero’ home.

find out more about miniHomes and their many variations @ sustain.ca

I’m always on the prowl for innovative home builders and though Office of Mobile Design (OMD) may not be the new kid on the block, they’ve designed some great sustainable homes. I’ve decided to feature Venice, CA based OMD’s ‘Seatrain’ home which is located in The Brewery art colony in Los Angeles. The rambling, 3,000 square foot home in the 300 loft artist community, has added some of the remains of the industrial area it now inhabits to its prefab mix. (more…)

A secret fantasy of mine is to live in the Pacific Northwest, perhaps in the San Juan Islands area.  So when I stumbled upon Balance Architects’ prefabs built with sustainable practices by Method Homes, I had to take note.

As of right now, any of their 3 models of prefabricated vacation cabins can be delivered to you whether you live on San Juan Islands, the mountains of Washington, Montana, British Columbia, Oregon or Idaho; and they’re working their way further south and east.

Utilizing certified-FSC lumber, bamboo cabinets, EcoTop Countertops, Energy Star appliances, Yolo no-VOC paint, radiant heat and solar power options for generating electricity, construction targets a rating of LEED for homes 2.0 or higher.  Appropriately green for a cabin in the woods.

These eco-minded prefabs can be constructed in a day, but allow at least 3 months for the entire process. For those who want a vaca in Mount Baker, Washington, you can rent one of these babies and try before you buy.  Check out their 2-bedroom, replete with organic sheets.  I just might be heading west very soon. more @ methodhomes.net

via:  haute nature