Prefabulous Almost Off The Grid

A beautiful, user-friendly overview to building more energy-efficient and environmentally friendly homes using prefabrication. Prefabulous + Almost Off the Grid explores the many ways of using prefabrication to build beautiful homes that are not only environmentally friendly, but also incredibly energy efficient. Profiling more than thirty of the most energy-efficient homes in the United States, this user-friendly guide reveals how homebuilders can achieve similar results—whether they want to earn an advanced green certification or just incorporate a few energy-saving measures—with the help of floor plans, detailed resource lists, explanations of the latest technologies, and brilliant photographs. Author Sheri Koones shows that building green doesn’t have to be more expensive, and in fact, can lead to dramatic savings. Koones’s almost-off-the-grid homes, which take energy from the grid when necessary and return any excess energy produced, are healthier, quieter inside, and far cheaper to operate. As energy costs continue to rise, energy independence is becoming increasingly essential, and as this guide shows, the almost-off-the-grid home is a solution that is achievable for everyone. Recipient of the 2013 Robert Bruss Gold Book Award from the National Association of Real Estate Editors (NAREE) Praise for Prefabulous + Almost Off the Grid “The time has come to throw out the old stereotypes and to embrace prefab building techniques as the way of the future?and the best approach for today. For anyone wanting to create a house that’s sustainable in every sense of the word, this book is an excellent place to start.” —Sarah Susanka, architect and author of The Not So Big House series “You can build a high quality, environmentally friendly and efficient home at a reasonable price with a look and feel of a traditional home. Advancements like those used in our house and the other houses in this book will transform the homebuilding industry.” —Christine Todd Whitman, former governor of New Jersey and administrator of the Environmental Protection Agency “This is an easy-on-the-eyes guide that includes floor plans and multiple images of the exterior and interior of each home. It is not a manual for green construction, but a general overview of aspects of prefab and green construction. And it does that well.” —Natural Life magazine

Publisher description

A stunning look at how people around the world are using prefabrication to create energy-efficient, sustainable, and stylish homes. Prefabulous World is the fourth book in Sheri Konnes’s revolutionary Prefabulous series. Presenting an international look at sustainable home design, it explores a compelling range of design styles and cutting-edge green technologies. The rising cost of fuel and the growing commitment to protect the environment have sparked exciting innovations in prefab home construction around the world. Showcasing many of the unlimited possibilities offered by prefabrication to build increasingly energy-efficient homes, Prefabulous World features fifty sophisticated examples of eco-friendly home design in Australia, New Zealand;Japan, Canada, the United States, England, Germany, South Africa, and beyond. “As we look into the future, it is clear the more and more intelligent materials and energies will be brought to hand as preassembled optimized components and systems, and they will be beautiful—just witness the homes we enjoy discovering in this lovely book.” —William McDonough, designer, advisor, thought leader, and co-author of Cradle to Cradle and The Upcycle

Modular doesn't mean humble or common, judging by the well-appurtenanced,ainly large homes displayed in this collection. Koones surveys over 20odular houses in various styles, with lots of photos of the exterior,nterior rooms, architectural details, and in some cases, assembly. Locationnd the name of architect are provided for each example.

These widely acclaimed essays from the author of Infinite Jest -- on television, tennis, cruise ships, and more -- established David Foster Wallace as one of the preeminent essayists of his generation. In this exuberantly praised book -- a collection of seven pieces on subjects ranging from television to tennis, from the Illinois State Fair to the films of David Lynch, from postmodern literary theory to the supposed fun of traveling aboard a Caribbean luxury cruiseliner -- David Foster Wallace brings to nonfiction the same curiosity, hilarity, and exhilarating verbal facility that has delighted readers of his fiction, including the bestselling Infinite Jest.

"Prefab Architecture . . . is beyond theory, and beyond most of what we think we know about pods, containers, mods, and joints. This book is more than 'Prefabrication 101.' It is the Joy of Cooking writ large for the architecture and construction industries." From the Foreword by James Timberlake, FAIA THE DEFINITIVE REFERENCE ON PREFAB ARCHITECTURE FOR ARCHITECTS AND CONSTRUCTION PROFESSIONALS Written for architects and related design and construction professionals, Prefab Architecture is a guide to off-site construction, presenting the opportunities and challenges associated with designing and building with components, panels, and modules. It presents the drawbacks of building in situ (on-site) and demonstrates why prefabrication is the smarter choice for better integration of products and processes, more efficient delivery, and realizing more value in project life cycles. In addition, Prefab Architecture provides: A selected history of prefabrication from the Industrial Revolution to current computer numerical control, and a theory of production from integrated processes to lean manufacturing Coverage on the tradeoffs of off-site fabrication including scope, schedule, and cost with the associated principles of labor, risk, and quality Up-to-date products featuring examples of prefabricated structure, enclosure, service, and nterior building systems Documentation on the constraints and execution of manufacturing, factory production, transportation, and assembly Dozens of recent examples of prefab projects by contemporary architects and fabricators including KieranTimberlake, SHoP Architects, Office dA, Michelle Kaufmann, and many others In Prefab Architecture, the fresh approaches toward creating buildings that accurately convey ature and expanded green building methodologies make this book an important voice for adopting change in a construction industry entrenched in traditions of the past.

Prefab home construction has come into its own. Prefabricated homes used to be considered inferior to houses built on site, but not anymore. In Prefabulous Small Houses, best-selling author Sheri Koones presents 32 stunning prefabricated homes from around North America. 250 beautiful photographs and floorplans show the amazing breadth of styles available to today's homeowners. Small is the new big. Everyone from Millennials looking to buy their first homes to Boomers trying to downsize have turned to small houses in recent years. These homes cost less to build, less to heat, and less to maintain. All of the houses in Prefabulous Small Houses range from 325 sq. ft. to 2,000 sq. ft. and showcase construction methods perfect for any climate. Building better, building greener. All of the houses featured here are highly energy efficient and are built with sustainability in mind. In eco-friendly prefab construction, local materials are used when possible, metals and wood are recycled, and houses are built with a conscious attempt to preserve the land on which they now stand. A foreword by actor and environmentalist Robert Redford speaks to the urgency with which we must act to combat climate change and how prefabricated small homes have a role to play in that challenge. Amazing diversity. The houses presented here cover a truly remarkable range of custom styles and exciting locales, including: The Lake Union Floating House in Washington, which is built right in the water with hybrid marine construction techniques The 325-sq.-ft Casita de Invierno in Florida, made of just 4 rooms with high ceilings The Westport Beach House in Connecticut, built using a panelized system on the ocean front And many more, coast to coast

A former college president offers a framework for sustainability on campus, describing initiatives that range from renewable energy to a revamped curriculum to sustainable investment. Colleges and universities offer our best hope for raising awareness about the climate crisis and the other environmental threats. But most college and university administrations need guidance on the path to sustainability. In The Nine Elements of a Sustainable Campus, Mitchell Thomashow, a former college president, provides just that. Drawing on his experiences at Unity College in Maine, he identifies nine elements for a sustainability agenda: energy, food, and materials (aspects of infrastructure); governance, investment, and wellness (aspects of community); and curriculum, interpretation, and aesthetics (aspects of learning). He then describes how Unity put these elements into practice. Connecting his experiences to broader concerns, Thomashow links the campus to the planet, reminding us that local efforts, taken together, can have a global impact.