Prefabs Are Not the Answer

At least not right now or anytime soon. From Inhabitat:

According to founder Steve Glen, the wood–framed models (which are preferable in cold weather) are 30% less expensive than the steel-framed versions. That means you can have a 1,700 square-foot, two-story home for $392,000 or upgrade to a 3,100 square-foot home for $698,000.

Why are they even offering a 3,100 square foot version? What part of that is sustainable? The buildings have photovoltaics, but if you made the house smaller you probably wouldn’t need the extra energy produced. A 1,700 square foot home is plenty for most people, though I’m not sure how affordable it is. The nearly $400,000 price tag doesn’t include land, foundation, and utilities hookup. Maybe that’s affordable by southern California standards, but for most of the country, affordable is closer to $200,000, including land.

Until prefabs come closer to their manufactured home cousins, it’s hard to take them seriously as an option for sustainable living for the masses. I’m pretty sure you could spend $400,000 on a custom-built home with sustainable features and get something just as nice, if not nicer. You would definitely get something nicer if you hired an architect who knew how to maximize daylighting and passive solar heating.