New Resource

According to a recent article in earth2tech by Justin Moresco, mainstream homebuilders are starting to take energy efficiency and other green features a lot more seriously. The latest evidence came earlier this week when KB Home, one of the top five U.S. homebuilders, announced that all of its new developments in Northern California would be built to GreenPoint Rated standards, a green building rating system developed by Berkeley, Calif.-based Build It Green that grades homes based on energy efficiency, water and resource conservation, indoor air quality and more. “The early adopters were custom builders who championed the [GreenPoint Rated] standard,” David Myers, Build It Green’s communications and development manager, told us. “Now we’re seeing it move into the mainstream.”

Late last week, a California state commission voted unanimously to approve the nation’s first mandatory statewide green building code that, according to a statement by Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, “lays the foundation for the move to greener buildings constructed with environmentally advanced building practices.” The move sends a signal that the state is serious about green building, even if some groups worry it might cause confusion in the market around different rating systems.

According to Justin Moresco at Earth2Tech, 2010 looks to be a pivotal year for transitioning the built environment into one that consumes significantly less energy, water and other resources.

Modular Green Homes Go Mainstream: When Warren Buffet makes a bet in energy-efficient modular homes, it’s a good sign the market is set to grow. Clayton Homes, one of the largest builders of manufactured housing in the U.S. and a subsidiary of Buffet’s Berkshire-Hathaway, launched its i-house earlier this year. The homes, which will be constructed as modules in a factory and then assembled in the field, are billed as “affordable luxury in a green, energy-efficient package.”

Besides Clayton, a number of startups like Zeta Communities and Blu Homes are getting into the prefabricated market. So far, these companies have built a relatively small number of “prefab” homes, but 2010 could be the year that this industry finally becomes a serious player. “It’s going to change — there is no question,” Michelle Kaufmann, whose firm, Michelle Kaufmann Studio, designs prefab homes, tells us. “The technology is there, it’s just about embracing it.”

The industry will really take off once the country’s largest home builders start using modular construction. That time is probably not too far off, as Kaufmann says she’s been approached by two of the nation’s five biggest home builders (she wouldn’t give names because of nondisclosure agreements) to advise them on modular construction.

Besides cost savings in labor and materials compared with conventional building, modular construction can help developers reduce risk, Kaufmann says. A developer can build homes on a large site as sales come in rather than investing a large amount of money upfront to build all the planned homes at once and before most are sold. This should prove attractive at a time when financing is hard to come by and the market for new construction is lagging.

On November 10, 2009 we delivered a factory built bathroom POD to Stanford University. Working with Vance Brown Builders we were able to greatly reduce the on-site construction time, cost, traffic and waste associated with a field-built project. Installing the bathroom took less than an hour. Watch for more projects that are taking advantage of this innovative and sustainable way to build!

The growth of the green building market has been widely celebrated recently, spurred largely by government policies and rising recognition that such structures are more economical to operate.  An article published yesterday in Earth2Tech, by Justin Moresco does an excellent job of describing 5 of the major risks that could hinder rapid growth.