Is Prefab The Answer to Affordable, Modern & Green Homes?
Beginning a very interesting exchange into the question of whether “prefab is the answer” with an article on Jetson Green, Chad Ludeman took an informed look at the prefab industry concluding that it is not “the best way of delivering modern design to the average new home buyer.” Chad is the president of Philadelphia-based postgreen and developer of the 100k House.
In a equally thought out response, Lloyd Alter of Treehugger (and a player in the prefab industry) calls the question of whether houses built on-site or prefabs are better at best a tie citing James Kunstler’s assertion that the American suburban experiment is dead and that the landscape is going to keep changing.
If you are interested in prefab and want to know some of the underlying issues you can read these very well informed articles here:
Chad’s original article on Jetson Green:
Prefab is Not The Answer to Affordable, Modern & Green Homes
(don’t miss the comments…)
Lloyd’s response on Treehugger:
Another Opinion: Prefab is Not the Answer to Affordable, Modern and Green Homes
(again… don’t miss the comments.)
Lloyd’s second response on Treehugger:
Refab Now!
Allyson Wendt’s response on BuildingGreen.com:
Can Prefab be Green and Affordable?
I believe prefab, as long as it’s done locally, is one of the many solutions on the table to create affordable, mass-produced yet on-demand housing for people of all economic backgrounds.
There is no reason why the efficiency created by “assembly-line” type work can’t be used to also create some really nice looking custom homes! This is already how a lot of prefab industrial offices, portables and even toilets are done. Sure, they all look the same BUT with the advent of precision laser/water cutters along with modern industrial practices, creating hundreds of “unique” prefabbed homes is now possible!
Jon
http://woodmarvels.com – Create Unique Memories
Just wait, the masters will find a way to make you toil for a house the size of a dog house.
The answer is not to reduce yourself to a dog house, The answer is to decapitate the abusers.
I’m with Ed Elias in spirit. But all other things being equal – the less you can get by on, the less you will indebt yourself in terms of toil.