8 Fabulous Prefab Homes Around the World
A word you hear over and over again in architecture is “envelope.” As in, the home’s envelope. A tight envelope offers improved energy efficiency. A meticulously crafted envelope reduces energy costs and leads to a home that’s more sustainable — good for the earth, good for everyone.
Actor, director and environmentalist Robert Redford, in his foreword to Prefabulous World: Energy-Efficient and Sustainable Homes Around the Globe (Abrams, April 2014), writes that “40 percent of the energy used in this country and others around the world are used … to heat, cool, and ventilate our homes and other buildings.” He and many others would like to see that statistic change, and that would begin with tightening the envelope.
Prefabulous World is the newest book by Sheri Koones, who has already covered North American prefabricated homes in four books. She’s been writing and speaking about the topic for more than a decade.
This is her first book that extends the range globally. “We build beautiful houses” in the U.S., she says, “but we can learn from people beyond our borders.” In her travels, Koones has seen many techniques to improve sustainability and create a tighter envelope. A few of them:
- Optimal solar orientation
- More windows on the side of the house that gets the most solar gain
- Fewer windows on the side where heat may be lost
- Large overhangs to block the sun in the summer; encouraging sunlight in the winter
- Efficient insulation throughout the entire structure
- Energy-efficient windows
None of these practices are particular to prefabricated homes, but in the homes in this book — a few of them profiled here — they have been implemented really, really well. “The future of home building is going to be prefab, and I wouldn’t have said that when I started this,” Koones says. “There used to be limitations in design, but today there are none.”
A natural question follows: If prefab’s so great, then why aren’t all houses built this way? To that she says, “It’s housing’s best-kept secret.”
Laurel Hollow
Location: East Hampton, New York
Size: 3,500 square feet (325 square meters)
This house was built with 21st-century methods but designed to look like it had been there for generations. The walls are made from advanced prefab wood panels and feature an exterior wood sheathing over a rigid-foam polyisocyanurate core. Despite the laboratory-like name, polyisocyanurate is composed of recycled materials and is made using green manufacturing techniques. It also has a great R-value (the measure of insulation effectiveness; the higher the number, the more effective the barrier). That material, coupled with a radiant heat system, means the dwelling stays warm using minimal energy during the chilly New York winters.
The Passivhaus in Bessancourt
Location: Bessancourt, France
Size: 1,905 square feet (177 square meters)
One of the many new standards that are elevating green practices, Passivhaus originated in Germany; it focuses on a structure’s envelope and interior health. This home, just north of Paris, is the second-most-recognized passive house in France.
It has no heating system, instead relying on home orientation, sturdy prefabricated wood panels, bamboo siding and an industrious design to stay warm. The large windows of the bedrooms face south to capture sunlight, while the north side, with fewer windows, prevents heat from escaping.
More fabulous Prefab Homes Around the World
8 Fabulous Prefab Homes Around the World
