Prefabricated, kit, and modular structural systems offer ways to save on the initial build time and financial investment of green construction. There are a variety of structures to choose from, including yurts, teepees, geodesic dome homes, modular homes, prefabricated metal buildings, barns, Quonset huts, and recycled homes made from bottles, tires, or metal shipping containers.
Yurts, the traditional Mongolian dwellings, are now being built with modern features and a host of amenities like decks, fireplaces, skylights, doors, and windows. Likewise, there are even contemporary, updated versions of teepees that people are building green.
Geodesic dome homes, made famous by Buckminster Fuller, are made from panelized triangles fitted together. Panelized homes are typically built in a giant warehouse, where they are fabricated with custom panels, doors, and windows, then transported to the building site and fitted to a stabilized foundation laid by a contractor. Some companies are producing modular homes built of plywood, with trust roofs and creative, elegant designs. You can further customize a modular home with eco-friendly, low-VOC paints, sustainable insulation, and passive heating systems. However, modular homes have a large amount of embodied energy, which means that there is a large fuel transportation component with the moving of the completed home.
Prefabricated metal buildings are built very quickly, featuring metal roofs that make water catchment very easy. Roofs with a baked enamel finish reduce the amount of lead in the reclaimed water, as opposed to a traditional steel roof system. Contractors still have to implement the same standards for modular homes as they do standard residences. So, the package of services remains the same if you decide to purchase a green manufactured home.
Quonset huts, originally used for storage and habitation during World War II, feature really fun shapes, are economical to purchase, and very fast to raise. Michael Reynolds, the famous architect from New Mexico, has been making green housing out of recycled plastic bottles and tires. What’s more, architects are now even using recycled metal shipping containers, which are very strong and have standardized international metal joints and couplings. Many communities around the world are now building communities with these shipping containers, stacking them and arranging them in interesting configurations. Containers come as open tops or closed cisterns, allowing them to be building on hillsides, gravel beds, or to store water. The cost of a container ranges anywhere from a few hundred dollars to $2,500, depending on the condition.
With so many creative, innovative ways to save money and time on your green building project, the most difficult part can be choosing which one fulfills your needs and your dreams. Check out the Blue and Green Links section of TheBlueArchitect.org for companies and architects specializing in a variety of prefabricated, kit, and modular green homes.