Building a green home--part one
Green homes come from factories.
It sounds like a contradiction, but it isn't. By building a home in a factory, builders can cut down on the amount of wood that gets thrown out and trips back and forth to the lumberyard. Plus, building in a factory lets the contractors get tighter seals on everything, which leads to better insulation and less chance of mold getting into the walls. (The home also gets done in much less time and costs a little less, if you live in an area where construction costs are high.)
Michelle Kaufmann Designs is currently building a demonstration green home in a factory owned by another green builder, XtremeHomes. You can see the home in part of this video. In a few weeks, we will film another video when the home will be put on a foundation. The home will be on display at the West Coast Green conference staring September 20 in San Francisco.
One thing to note in the later video will be the style of the home. Many assume that a home out of a factory will be sort of dumpy, like a double-wide trailer. The homes are actually being pitched to upper and mid-range buyers and can have more design nuances than traditional subdivision homes. (Before starting her company, Kaufmann worked for architect Frank Gehry.) XtremeHomes is building a 6,000 square foot home for someone in Lake Tahoe. You can see that home going up in the video too.
designes but I would want the house to be too basic. We all know
that basic is the most energy efficient. No extra curly-cues. No
classic aesthetic amenities. Will it be box living?
But saving well earned cash using less energy is interesting.