I’m seriously loving the Rapson Greenbelt here by Wieler.  Wieler was founded by the owner of the Original Dwell Home and offers a nice selection of prefab designs for the modern, green home enthusiast.  Speaking of the Rapson Greenbelt, Inhabitat reports: "Modernist architect Ralph Rapson has managed to reinterpret this 60-year old design with the green panache of a 21st century prefab.  The Rapson Greenbelt, an articulate series of prefab dwellings, is derived from a 1945 design called Case Study #4, which debuted back then as part of Arts & Architecture’s Case Study House Program.  Today, the Rapson Greenbelt is part of the modern home portfolio from WIELER, the award-winning providers of custom prefab homes."

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Prefab company Eco-Infill and architectural services firm Studio H:T designed this modular, green home to be the first LEED certified, factory-built home in Colorado.  The 32nd Street home was built with two staggered modules with the top module jutting out the back to create a shaded patio.  It’s quite the great looking home, and as you can tell with the rendering above, it’s all done (took about 7 months total from start to finish).  A recent article about the home in Rocky Mountain News reports that the home cost about $325,000 to construct and $150,000 for the land, which equals about $176 psf.  Not bad in Colorado. 

The 2,700 sf home is currently in the process of seeking LEED certification.  Maybe I’ll drive down and check it out sometime.  Looks pretty close to the rendering below, too.   

++First LEED Certified Factory-built, Modular Home in Colorado [PDF]

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I received an email today from one of the co-founders of BRIO54, a young, design-driven development firm providing unique homes for a green, modern lifestyle.  Their first prototype is in the final planning stage with construction projected to begin by late spring.  To get an idea of their design capabilities, their website has three different designs:  H1 suburban design, H2 urban infill design, and H3 high ranch rehab design (the most affordable option). 

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I put ‘green’ in parenthesis because the future is green, whether you, I, or anyone else likes it.  That’s where this whole thing is heading.  And several countries rely heavily on prefabrication for construction of homes and buildings.  So I ask, after looking at the photos, does this Magic Box represent what’s to come in the future?  The Magic Box is cubic and versatile and small.  It can go anywhere and be used as anything.  But is this the future of (green) prefab?

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PowerHouse Enterprises is persistently chasing that sweet trifecta of style, economics, and sustainability.  This house here, built in Lawrence, Massachusetts, is en route to get LEED Platinum certification.  Says Quincy Vale, founder and President of PowerHouse:  "Overall, green is good, but the things that work are health and money.  Unless homeowners save money from their investment, I'm not sure it's going to sell."  I think he's hitting it right on the head with that statement. 

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