EQUITY GREEN

Prefab with organic exterior [Architecture View]

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Housefish Key Modular Storage [Design Public]

I was surfing the net and came across some sustainable furniture. From Design Public..."The newest addition to the Design Public sustainable family: Housefish and their Key Modular Storage! These pieces are made in the USA, crafted out of a maple Veneer over FSC certified birch / alder plywood, have a zero VOC clear finish and the doors are waterjet cut steel with a zero VOC powdercoat finish. The entire piece is crafted out of renewable or recycleable materials. A perfect storage or shelving piece to add to your collection and reduce your carbon guilt."

+Housefish Key Modular Storage [Design Public]

Green Sites To Consider

I came across a couple green sites recently...they provide wind and solar information based on your address.  The first is findsolar.com.  This site helps determine the solar viability of your home.  Once basic information is entered (address and power company), the site spits out the utility savings per month, total cost, solar panel size, tax credits and anything else you would need to know before you installed a solar panel on your house.  The second site is firstlook.3tiergroup.com.  With this site, after you create an account, you can figure out how much wind hits your property by providing your location.  These sites provide excellent initial cost info on the solar and wind investment decision.  When you consider the fact that installing a solar panel can cost between $30,000 and $60,000 (before credits), you want to make sure that you are figuring out all of the relevant costs and benefits of a particular decision.

++Find Solar [website]
++First Look [website]

Microsoft Getting Into The Infrastructure Game

Microsoft is looking to join the energy-efficient market...by producing software for building control systems, traffic management systems and water quality management systems.  I am all for a more efficient driving experience...I just hope I never come to a light and see the blue light of death (syntax error). 

"The whole transportation sector has huge inefficiencies that can be reduced by software.  I think buildings account for something like 37 percent of greenhouse gases around the globe.  If you look at the big sectors--transportation, buildings and building management, deforestation, electrical grid, and utilities--in every one of those we are looking at how software can enable innovation."--Rob Bernard, Microsoft's Chief Enviornmental Strategist

++Buildings, traffic next frontiers for Microsoft [CNET News]

Push Button House by Adam Kalkin

The Push Button House by Adam Kalkin is a fully functional living space that opens and closes with relative easy...easy to ship and ready to use.  A great addition to the container collection!  Via architechnophilia.

Rolling Huts Place Prefabs On Wheels!

A prefab on wheels?  That's right...it started in 2005 when Olson Sundberg Kundig Allen Architects ("OSKA") and lead architect Tom Kundig built the Delta Shelter.  The Delta Shelter is a 20' x 20', 1,000 square-foot weekend cabin that was constructed in Mazama, Washington (pictures on the next page).  Not surprisingly, the owners also wanted something for thier guests...and as a result, the rolling hut was born!   

Travelodge Creates Travelpod...A Mobile Hotel Room

Travelodge recently announced the creation and limited use of the Travelpod...a line of prefab-esqe, mobile hotel rooms that can be transported to camping sites or large venues, like sporting events, and rented out like traditional hotel rooms.  The pod is a polycarbonate glass box that has all of the amenities a normal hotel room would have like carpeted floors, air conditioning, cable tv and even blinds!  Via here and here.

Hybrid Seattle Focuses On Prefab + Cargotecture

Came across this cool company that builds prefabricated structures and structures out of the ever-versatile shipping container.  Formed in 2003, Hybrid's team focuses on "generating thought-provoking and ecologically sensitive solutions to our present and future urban cultural conditions."  They coined the term "cargotecture" (not sure if they were the first) in 2003 to describe any building system that uses ISO shipping containers.  Its cool to see a company trying to make prefab housing a little bit more attainable and mainstream for the masses.  Check out their work...they have some cool designs and concept art.

The All Terrain Cabin (ATC) By BARK

Designed as a small home by BARK (a Canadian design company), this cabin of sorts was made using the standard ISO shipping container...built grid ready, it can be transported by train, truck, ship, airplane or helicopter as a normal shipping container.  Once it arrives, it opens up to 480 sq/ft of prefab living space with features like solar panels, glass floors, low-flow shower-head, LED lighting, concrete sinks, bio-diesel stove, and even a water management system!

Shipping Container Getaway!

Here you go...a truly one of a kind, shipping container cabin!  This little beauty is the brainchild of Hive Modular architect Paul Stankey and his wife Sarah Nordby.  Built in northern Minnesota, this "family cabin" is an exploration of ready-made products, recycled materials and shipping containers within a very tight budget.