Photovoltaic Systems

Archive for the ‘Prefab’ Category

This is the first prefab by Canada-based SMPLy Mod.  The Model 984 was built on an engineered concrete pier foundation and has 984 square feet, two bedrooms, and one bathroom.  The siding is a blend of corrugated steel and concrete board, while the inside is flush with bamboo floors and Kohler and Moen fixtures.  The construct features a 2×10 R38 floor system, 2×6 R22 walls, and an 18″ r50 parallel chord truss roof — all built for a little less than $135,000.  SMPLy Mod is available in the US and Canada.

[+] More info about SMPLy Mod Prefab Homes from Canada.

Credits: SMPLy Mod; noticed at Inhabitat.

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This video showcases the pH Living Sanctuary, a factory-built home in Quakertown, Pennsylvania.  The healthy home has been certified by Building Biologists to the IBE Healthy Home Standard, according to California-based pH Living, and has been checked for VOCs, energy efficiency, formaldehyde, mold, electromagnetic fields (EMF’s), communications frequency pollution reductions, and radiation.

PH Living is an architecture and design group led by Doug Busch that provides affordable, aesthetically pleasing homes for people who are extremely environmentally conscious or suffering from Multiple Chemical Sensitivities.

The company offers single-family, multi-family, and commercial structures that can be customized as needed such as, for example, to be off-the-grid.  Prefabrication is employed to control the construction process and inspect the build.  Depending on interior and exterior finishes, a pH Living home starts at $150 per square foot.

The Sanctuary is a 380 square-foot prototype that can rented for up to a week by potential home purchasers.  Visit phliving.us for more information about renting this home.  More test homes will be made available throughout the country in 2012.

Credits: pH Living. 

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This is an update to a prior article about Tierra del Sol, a community of 22 prefab, starter homes, located in Stockton, California.  Built in modules by California-based ZETA Communities, the homes in Tierra del Sol have three bedrooms, two baths, and 1,268 square feet.  They’re homes are also expected to use about 45% less energy each than a typical home.

Each prefab home will have a hybrid heat pump water heater, mini-split heating and cooling, CFL lighting, Energy Star appliances, recycled and renewable batt insulation, 2 x 6 wall construction, triple-pane windows, and an envelope with R22 floors, R26 walls, an R50 roof, and an exterior layer of R15 rigid foam.

Other green features include no-VOC paints, low-VOC finishes, no-added formaldehyde finishes, proper ventilation and circulation, cement-board siding, and low-flow plumbing fixtures.

The solar-powered, Energy Star homes could help residents save up to $2,000 per year in energy costs.  Tierra del Sol is offered by developer Visionary Home Builders with the starting sales price of a home at $159,999 with a $30,000 GAP down-payment assistance loan from the County of San Joaquin.

[+] See more photos of Tierra del Sol in California.

Credits: William Porter via ZETA. 

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When Don Lenzer and Bettina Volz started looking around for a builder in the New York area, they quickly realized that they couldn’t meet their budget requirements with conventional construction.  The owners’ design firm, Stelle Architects, found Arizona-based ASUL (Adaptable System for Universal Living), who collaborated with the designer to provide an alternative construction methodology with a budget of $200 per square foot.  This is the Lenzer/Volz residence in Amagansett, New York.

ASUL, discussed here and here, uses “mass customization” to deliver a custom architectural home while still maintaining predictability and affordability.  The company does this with modular components (rooms, floors, decks, awnings, etc.) that can be combined in myriad configurations using a steel frame sans structural walls.

While under construction, ASUL uses a “refined site-built process” using its own crew, supplier relationships, and technology to achieve substantial cost and time savings relative to the traditional design-build process.

This process is already underway in New York with the Lenzer/Volz Residence.  ASUL is running a Facebook page to document the sustainable aspects and other construction details of the home.  For example, ASUL will track all material moving around the site to calculate the total amount of waste created and recycled.

The Stelle Architects home has three bedrooms, 3,000 square feet, and will be Energy Star rated.  Early on, Stelle ditched plans for roof-mounted solar due to the surrounding forest canopy.  Stelle also considered a geothermal system but dropped this idea because of the heavy clay content of the soil.  Thus, this home relies on siting, orientation, strong design, and passive solar principles to conserve energy.

[+] Follow the Hamptons Home project on Facebook.

Credits: Stelle Architects (renderings); ASUL (construction photos).

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