How about a folding green home..aka blu home?

[SoCalDem]

They fold like a shoebox for shipping..shipped in and put up in a week:)


http://www.bluhomes.com/




Smart Design is what lays the foundation of successful green buildings. This means using advanced computer modeling to site your home to maximize natural light and passive heating and cooling while allowing beautiful views and interaction with nature. It means designing to use less, to use interior space wisely, and designing for longevity, flexibility and healthy living. Finally, it means designing for flexibility – our homes are designed to adapt to changes in future use, and can be “added onto” as your family grows. If need be, Blu homes can be folded up and moved as your needs change!

* Design to use less: We “design big” rather than “build big”, meaning we design to make a space feel larger than it is. We design for double function so that aspects of the homes can serve more than one purpose. Through the use of large and numerous windows we design to minimize the need to turn lights on during the day.
* Design to collaborate with the environment: We orient homes in the landscape to maximize both views and energy efficiencies and try to avoid extreme excavations or other highly invasive procedures.
* Design for longevity: Our houses are made of sturdy wood and steel frames and are designed to last a long time. We build them offsite in a factory with controlled conditions, producing higher quality construction and higher quality houses.
* Design for flexibility: We build flexibility into our design so that our homes can adapt to changes in future use.
* Design for healthy living: Our houses are thoughtfully crafted in a way that integrates some of the most beautiful elements of design with a keen understanding of the importance of sustainability.

Blu | Element open, practical and naturally suited to meet the needs of small families and empty-nester's.

* 1 level
* starting at $125,000
*

* 1-2 bedrooms
* 1-2 baths
* 36’ x 20 1/2’;
48’ x 20 1/2’

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[kentauros]

1. I'm all for prefab of any kind

from the inexpensive to the unhappy hipster dwelling ;)

However, the people in control of housing in the US (developers, building contractors, housing code bureaucrats) haven't yet fully opened up to the concept. They go up easily in other countries, but I'm guessing they offer too much efficiency, both in construction and energy-use, for TPTB to let them come in without a fight.

If I ever get a house instead of continuing with apartment-living, I know I'll only need about 1200-sq.ft. of room. I have yet to see any new-housing construction go under 1800, and it's usually much higher than that. Too many Americans just don't 'get' the concept of prefab and are more likely to think of trailer homes first...

[nadinbrzezinski]

4. In certain places pre fab has a problem

when the land shakes, they are not the most stable of critters.

That said, some prefab might survive better.

And it is not PTB... it is the ever so popular institutional memory and doing what you have done all our life.

As to the apartment I live in... code... shmuck... that is another story...

[kentauros]

5. I can understand that about how earthquakes affect them

and the fact of the "institutional memory". That's pretty much what I was getting at for why most Americans don't 'get' prefab. Here on the Gulf Coast, they'd be great, because I've seen plenty of designs that would hold up better to hurricanes than even the all-brick single-roofed homes built in the 50s.

But I don't think the prefab/design community has done enough to make people understand that prefab does not mean "trailer home".

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. Oh fully agree

there are some designs that would hold much better... and that are down right efficient and pretty to boot.

I am sure that if we were serious, we could even overcome those issues with the land moving, for example.

Oh and Americans are as a culture poor in overcoming past prejudices.

[kentauros]

7. I would think the shipping-container designs would do well in an earthquake.

Just don't tie them down to the ground ;)

[Liberation Angel]

2. Way cool. When I was homeless a few times in my life

I woulda slept in a dog house if it was big and dry enough (and not too stinky)

These are awesome!

K&R

[SoCalDem]

3. They just did a segment on Home & Garden channel & the inside is awesome

It looks like a great way to end up with a fantastic house..a segment at a time:)..Like Legos:)