Green homes going mainstream

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Homes also probably constitute one of the few markets where going green means building factories. Although builders in the U.K. and Japan build luxury homes in factories, most of the housing factories in the U.S. are associated with trailers.

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Factories, though, are incredibly efficient for building homes, according to Kaufmann. At building sites, the remnants from two-by-fours often get tossed out. By building in a factory, these wood stubs can be saved and used in the next home. Dimensions in the homes, in fact, are selected to maximize the efficient use of building materials.

It also takes less time, because electricians and other contractors can work simultaneously, rather than one after another. In all, it takes about six weeks to build a home in a factory and another four to six weeks to ship it to the foundation, bolt it on and tweak everything. In all, the time to complete a house is cut by 30 percent or more.

Another benefit is that contractors and carpenters don't mysteriously vanish from the job site when a home is around 80 percent complete. They have to come to the factory to work.

Factory construction additionally improves the quality of the home. Wood and other construction materials aren't exposed to wind and mold on the jobsite but are instead locked in a dry factory. Counters, walls, doors and other elements can be precisely fitted together. Interior mold becomes less of a problem.

Rather than conventional insulation, factory homes come with a more efficient spray-in foam insulation called Icynene that better seals up crevices. The homes are built to local building codes.

A bit of history
Kaufmann, who worked for famed architect Frank Gehry for five years, got into green homes out of a pain many in Northern California know. She and her husband, Kevin Cullen, were looking for a home in the Bay Area. They didn't like the homes they saw in new subdivisions and couldn't afford to do a tear-down on an older home and build on the site. Thus, they bought a plot of land and began to design a house. The end result became the Glidehouse, one of the three basic home designs MKD specializes in.

In 2002, she and her husband started the company. Their home has also become a showcase to demonstrate the benefits of factory modular building. Their home took 21 months from concept to final approval to complete. A factory version takes 10 months. Their site-built home cost $363,950 to build. The factory version runs $290,500 with shipping and sales tax.

Although some of the demand for green homes is being sparked in part by energy prices and fears of global warming, the trend won't likely decline if utility bills suddenly decline. Kaufmann suggests there is more to it than energy prices.

"There's an emotional response too. The more time we spend with our computers during the day, I think the more we subconsciously long for something natural," she said.

So far, consumer demand has been extremely high. After MKD got started and began to get publicity for some of its home designs, the company became so flooded with requests for information that it de-listed its phone number and address and eliminated direct e-mail addresses on its Web site. (Biodiesel conversion expert Jonathan Goodwin similarly reports that he too has to softpedal marketing because of high demand.)

[Rick Cavaretti]

green homes

Nice integration of PV panels. I understand there is better
quality control when building a home in a factory and there's no
worry about moisture exposure during construction. But really,
it's the 21st century. Why are we still building our homes out of
wood? Why are we still cutting down our forests in this time of
CO2 absorbing need? Poured concrete walls using foam forms,
on site. Reasonably quick and about 10% more cost than
'traditional organic' construction. The benefits: No mold or
water damage, no termites, fire safe, ultra-insulated, better
resistance to some natural disasters.

[aabcdefghij987654321]

CO2 in the wood

When they use exotic rain-forest woods then it's a problem but the wood used for the majority of home building these days comes from managed forests where new trees are planted to replace the trees that are harvested.

Not only that but by taking their wood and using in a building the CO2 that went into making that wood is trapped and will remain trapped in the wood until the wood is removed from the house and/or allowed to decay.

Total forestation in the US has been climbing steadily since 1985 and that only includes areas designated as forests. Those figures have totally overlooked the ever increasing forestation of the great plains which has been going on since shortly after the dust bowl days.

[Neo Con]

Duh...

I thought you dirt people were into "renewable resources". You know, like, stuff that grows back? Case in point: trees. Again, duh.

[twotall610]

agree

"Green" doesn't just mean end product but also the process and
material used.
Seems to me that "Green" is the new word used when the only
thing the want is your "Greens".

[prc0317]

rick, I agree with your comments

Just start using SIP's for above ground... more efficient than ICF's and cheaper to install, and easier to modify home in later years when you want to expand exisitng.

[kineticarl]

ICFs are great (strong, fast, highly insulative, durable), and some use 99% recycled foam, but concrete isn't exactly a renewable or green building material at this juncture. Standard concrete takes a lot of energy to produce, releases a lot of CO2 (though it does actually absorb CO2 throughout its life; exactly how much isn't known right now), and uses lots of nonrenewable stuff. I agree with aabcdetc...., that wood used in building keeps the trapped CO2 trapped, where as if it died and decayed in the forest, it would release its carbon.

[prc0317]

Enjoyed the article but ....

I've found that most people want to help out with global warming, the CO2 problem, and etc.. but they don't want to spend unnecessarily money in order to help out the environment... especially when it comes down to spending extra money with the already high cost of building homes.
I've been designing and building energy efficient homes, and additions to existing houses that actually reduce the usage of electricity and heating fuels. It's pretty simple! ...and it doesn't cost anything more than building with conventional building materials.
I build with "Insulated Concrete Forms" for foundations and "Insulated Structural Panels" for walls and roof. Although I've only built a few homes this way (which are awesome!), most of my construction business has been doing additions to existing homes with people that want to reduce there usage of electricity and power consumption. I design additions by first looking at their existing home and try to eliminate there biggest heat loss, and then I look at how to maximize making there existing home more efficient to live in with the amount of sun (free energy) is available.
It's pretty simple
Most of my designs end up expanding customers homes, keep their home warmer (or cooler, in summer) and reducing electricity and /or fuel cost... Plus when the owner sells their homes in a few years (when the cost of fuels and electricity really starts to escalate) they'll get more in return.

Conclusion: find a good builder that's willing to work with your needs and the environment.

[jarl johnson]

GREEN HOMES

IF ONE GOES BACK 200 YEARS AND LOOKS AT ANY NEW ENGLAND FARM HOUSE YOU WILL SEE WINDOWS WITH A SOUTHERN EXPOSURE FOR THE LONGEST WALLS OF THE HOUSE. THE THE REAR A BARRIER TO THE NORTH SUCH AS THE WOODSHED (WITH WELL PUMP), OUT HOUSE TOOL/HARNESS SHOP THEN THE BARN, ALL CONNECTED TO MAKE A SUNNY WINTER YARD. THEY DID NOT FRONT THE ROAD SUCH AS BUILDERS DO TODAY WITHOUT REGARD TO WINDOW LOCATION. THEY TOOK ADVANTAGE OF SUN AND SNOW BARRIERS. ADMITTEDLY THE HOUSES LACKED INSULATION BUT THEY NEVER HAD MOLD PROBLEMS, ROT, OR THE PROBLMS WE HAVE TODAY EVEN THOUGH THEIR CELLARS WERE DIRT FLOORED AND STONE WALLED.
BY THE WAY HAS ANYONE EVER NOTICED THAT IF YOU LEAVE DRYWALL IN THE GARAGE IN ANY EASTERN (AVERAGE HUMIDITY-NOT DESERT) AREA. THAT THE BACK SIDE WILL GATHER MOLD. COULD IT BE THAT THE RECYCLED PAPER THEY USE HAS THE MOLD SPORE BUILT IN! NO WONDER SCHOOLS ARE FINDING MOLD BEHIND PARTICIANS AND GOING INTO A HASTY RAGE.
J2J2JJ.