Ideabox's newest prefab model, the Fortino, is on display at the Portland Home & Garden Show this weekend, so you'll want to check it out if you're in the area. The Salem-based prefab company teamed up with Crate & Barrel to design the interior and several landscape designers to transform a 50'x100' show space into a contemporary landscape setting. Jim Russell, president of Ideabox, says it's a complete "living experience" on an urban lot.
We like to keep a pulse on the evolving world of green prefab, but there’s an Austin-based company that we’ve yet to mention. Ma Modular, a venture of design-build firm KRDB, turned to modular construction to make modern design approachable, affordable, and convenient. The company is also committed to good design and green building and aims to deliver projects with a quick turnaround.
Last year, we mentioned a community of 23 solar-powered homes, The Mews in Atwater Village, under construction in Los Angeles, California. We now have some images of the model home and news that The Mews will have grand opening this weekend from 1-5 pm on Saturday and Sunday. Each home comes standard with a grid-connected, 1 kW solar photovoltaic system, as well as three bedrooms and two-and-a-half bathrooms.
This scenic observatory, referred to as OceanScope or ContainerScope, presents a beautiful reuse of old shipping containers in Songdo New City, Incheon, South Korea. First noticed at and according to Dezeen, OceanScope was designed by Minsoo Lee and Keehyun Ahn of AnL Studio from three, old, cheap shipping containers.
Yesterday, a new green home design studio called Fab-Homes launched a collection of pre-designed Passive Houses for the North American market. The Vancouver-based company designed the homes to consume up to 90% less energy for heating, cooling, and operations. The actual Passive House standard will be the goal, although these homes won’t necessarily be required to satisfy the standard’s rigorous efficiency requirements.
