Prefab green home builder to close shop

Michelle Kaufmann Designs, a company formed to sell pre-built green homes, is shutting down, a victim of deflated housing prices and the credit industry meltdown.

The Oakland, California-based company installed about 40 energy-efficient single-family homes that were prefabricated in a factory near Seattle. The company had hundreds more that were in the planning stages but it was unable to deliver them, in part because of the difficulty of financing new construction.

"We have always known that to pull off our mission, it requires scale. We always believed it would be our company to do the scaling. We were well on our way to do so. However, in this current economic climate, scaling for a small company has proven to be difficult," wrote Kaufmann on the company blog on Wednesday.

A prefab green building with integrated solar panels from Michelle Kaufmann Designs.

(Credit: James Watts)

In response to a query, Kaufmann said the company is closing but the timing has not yet been settled.

She said she was hopeful that she will be able to continue working on sustainable home designs. "The underlying concept works. Healthy, efficient and well-designed homes need to be accessible for all," she wrote.

There are a number of green businesses founded in the past five years that are struggling in the economic downturn. Energy related investments have gone down sharply, while companies in the housing sector, like Michelle Kaufmann Designs, are vulnerable to the real estate crash.

[dbargen]

And it couldn't POSSIBLY be due to the fact that the large cost of even prefab homes of this type doesn't get you much space for your dollar, and takes DECADES to recoup any significant difference in price for comparable living spaces.

Come on greenies, don't use a weaker economy as cover. Own up to the fact that the whole green fad is nothing more than that - a fad, and one based on a false premise and "crisis."

[kineticarl]

The concept of green or sustainable building incorporates a lot more factors that you give it credit for. There are an enormous amount of compelling reasons to build buildings to a higher standard, and it's not just about climate change. You should educate yourself on that before assuming it's just some tree huggin' hippie conspiracy, or revolves around a singular issue that you happen to disagree with. Books have been written, I won't attempt to explain further here.

[styymy]

At a cost of $300 - $475 sq ft for this type of home, the party was bound to be over before it got started.

[gggg sssss]

green = fraud

Sue Al Gore

[kineticarl]

Bah. Green is the future. Right now, most commercial/governmental/educational buildings can be built to a "green" standard for the price premium of ~5% over its traditional counterpart. In the long term life of such a building, which education and governmental institutions are very interested in, costs are easily recouped. In a well made green building, you not only save due to energy and water conservation, but a huge part of it is indoor air quality and user satisfaction; by and large people are healthier and more productive in these buildings. Decreased health care costs, fewer sick days and a happier work force add up to a better business. It's harder to quantify than electricity or water savings, but it's definitely there and it has significant ramifications.

Say, why are you sourpusses reading the green tech blog anyway if you think it's bunk? Just to troll? Dang. i guess I fell for it.

[AndrewRich]

Very disappointing- these are the people behind the Glide House, which was shown at Sunset weekends a few years ago.

[galadan111]

i am so sick of these 1960s style "modern" houses. don't they teach any other styles in architectural school?

she seems to be an average architect, whose main talent lies more in marketing herself than in creating original designs.

[MD_Willington]

Black roof?

Unless it has an integrated system for heating water with that roof, then a plain flat black roof must be terrible in the summer...

That house looks like a commercial building, UGLY!

[kineticarl]

I disagree that it looks ugly, but the roof could use some love. they could reinforce the structure to carry more load, make the roof accessible via stairs, transporter beam, or trebuche, and make it a deck or even a green roof or a combo somewhere in between.