E-House Prefab Gets Green, Affordable

Aaron Newman shot me a link to an article in the South Florida Business Journal about his company, Envision Prefab.  Unfortunately, the article is behind a $$ wall, but this jpeg isn't.  Envision Prefab has a simple concept that involves containers.  I know we've been talking a lot about containers in the past week, but the idea here is to convert cargo containers into affordable housing.  Envision has models in the works in West Palm Beach and in Miami, with their first model expected in early September 2008.  Envision models range in size from 740 sf to 1300 sf and are expected to price out at ~$150 psf.

Envision plans a number of green-type features for their E-House:

• Energy efficient appliances
• Efficient split AC system
• Low-flow toilets
• HEPA air quality filters
• Tankless hot water heaters
• Grid-tied solar panels
• Electric car charger
• LED lighting
• Low-VOC paints
• Non-toxic insulation

The company also has lofty ambitions and wants to produce roughly 25 homes a month.  They're looking toward revenue figures in the $5 million ballpark for year one by targeting developers and municipalities in need of affordable housing. 

If all goes as planned, we could be catching the front end of new version of prefab.  Prefab made from recycled containers, rather than modules, panels, or any other style.  We'll keep you posted and hopefully have some new images once the initial models are finished.