The world of prefab — off-site fabricated homes shipped as panels, modules, kits — is doing well these days.  Some companies are shipping more homes every month.  Indeed, prefabrication offers several potential benefits that the housing industry cannot ignore: accelerated construction, controlled construction, construction without the elements, and minimal waste.  It all depends on the designer and manufacturer, but these homes can be ultra green, too.  Take these 20 green prefabs that we mentioned this year:

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In the past year, we’ve discussed several certified green projects but here’s the creme of the crop, 19 LEED Platinum ones.  These projects, mostly homes, all vary — new, old, big, small, modern, traditional, single family, multifamily, certified, pending.  Long story short, LEED Platinum, although difficult to attain, is where it’s at.  If you’re going to pay for certification, why go for anything less than the best?!

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Technology and design are inextricably intertwined in the world of green building.  During the last year, we’ve seen some fascinating technologies and clever designs that have the potential to reduce the environmental impact of the built environment in a new way.  I hope you enjoy this review of innovation culled from our archives of the last year.

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I thought there would be a slowing of container projects, but I’ve been wrong.  They’re popular and some are well done.  That said, as mentioned last year, containers are difficult to work with — here’s a list of considerations — and some folks don’t like how they look like.  Perhaps some of these will change the general perception of that, though.

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Amazon is expected to sell more than 8 million Kindles this year, according to Bloomberg.  That’s a lot of people and millions more will use Kindle apps for the iPad, iPhone, Blackberry, etc.  As a Kindle 3 owner and avid reader myself, it’s nice to have a good book lined up ready to go.  So for all you new Kindle owners and app readers, here are five green books to pick up for your new gadget:
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