Prefab Sustainable House with Geothermal System, Long Island, New York

About Bates Masi Architects

Architecture	Bates Masi Architects
Location	Long Island, New York
Year	2008
Photos	Ty Cole

Greg and Victoria met on a Montauk beach at first when they were teenagers. After many years they decided to leave Manhattan and to return to Long Island where together they wanted to build a sustainable house. The Hamptons hamlet is a perfect place for children during summer. And when they made a decision to have a dwelling where their family with sons, Lucas and Dylan, could escape from the busy city, they definitely knew where it should be.

Paul Masi of Bates Masi Architects is a Victoria’s brother and they decided to work with him. Masi designed a special house for his sister and for his brother-in-law; the main area of the house has a double-height; kitchen, living room and dining room are located in one space connected with outdoors with a large glass pocket doors. Victoria told that they didn’t want to separate the indoors and outdoors. The project was finished in 2008 after two years of works. The house is environmentally friendly; has a geothermal cooling and heating system and a prefabricated foundation. The family got as a result a beach house with the perfect design.

Passive System for Cooling and Heating

During spring and autumn the space of living room, dining rooms and kitchen can be ventilated naturally as it opens on two sides. In summer the direct sunlight is prevented by an overhang and in winter the house has a lot of light and warmth, because it is time when the sun is low.

There are two layers of aluminum woven-coil drapes outside the south-facing large windows above the living room. Due to drapes the house is kept from the overheating in hot months, but when the weather is cooler they allow the sun to warm the space. The texture and appearance of drapes are similar to fireplace netting; they are produced by Cascade Coil Drapery, an Oregon company, and made of recycled scrap metal. The company also supplies the hearth market.

Geothermal System for Cooling and Heating

The house’s geothermal system is open-loop; this system uses 55-dergee temperature of the groundwater for cooling and heating the house. An exterior condenser was not need, as the needed equipment is in the basement utility room. Masi said that here the salt air corrodes them; so they didn’t want to have the condenser and they wanted use geothermal instead.

There are several types of geothermal systems, to heat and cool house they use the constant temperature of Earth, in winter it is warmer than the open air and in summer it is cooler. What kind to choose and is it necessary to install one, depends on some factors.

In the Pryors’ and in other open-loop systems the pipes draw water from the well into the house, then heat pump extracts heat or transfers excess heat to the water before its return to the ground. And in system, called closed-loop, there is some special solution in the pipes; this solution acts as a heat exchanger in buried under-ground pipes. If there is enough clean water that is supplied to the heat pump, an open-loop system is considered to be much more economical, because there is required less excavation.

A pond-loop system has sub-merged pipes in a water. A horizontal-loop system pipes can be buried six feet in the ground. For not large houses, vertical-loop systems may be suitable, but the price of burying pipes deeper than 400 feet down, is pretty high.

The main advantage of geothermal system is that it is more economical than air-conditioning and gas furnaces systems. And it is much more expensive. Every year the owners can save a lot of money, up to 60 percent. Also the upfront cost can be offset by the tax incentives.

Prefab House Design

The foundation of structure is made of concrete insulated panels, which were produced by Superior Walls of Hudson Valley. They were shipped to the building site, craned and bolted together. There was no need for panels to be waterproofed or coated during building process, as the panels are made of water-resistant, dense concrete mix.

Because of a prefabricated exterior walls could have excessively high price, the architects decided to change their plan. But the panels, produced at Cement Board Fabricators’ factory, were used as the rain screen. The prefabricated panels help the house keep comfort temperature by absorbing and transferring heat through gaps made for ventilation between the siding and panels.




In the house Masi used finishes, which are low in toxic chemicals, such as formaldehyde and benzene, and volatile organic compounds. For painting the interior walls, there was used Benjamin Moore Aura matte paint. Osmo Polyx-Oil was used for sealing the American walnut floors, this finish includes thistle, soybean, and sunflower oils among its components.

Prefab Earth Sheltered Homes by Wonderful Structures (Green Magic Homes)

Prefab Earth Sheltered Homes by Wonderful Structures (Green Magic Homes)

Interior
About Wonderful Structures (Green Magic Homes)

Have you ever thought about living in a beautiful, comfortable and eco-friendly apartment? What about a "house under the hill"? The construction of such an unusual property is a bold experiment, but it is fully justified. Dreams where you can forget about high maintenance fees may come true! Don’t you believe? Let’s check!

More land for less money

The American company Green Magic Homes can offer you such a unique chance with modest prices – houses, made of high-quality materials and covered with vegetation. For example, a four hundred square foot earth-ship will cost you just about $14,000 US that is approximately $35 US per square foot. The company also proposes cheaper variants – belvederes that will cost a buyer only $25 US for a one square foot area. Though, this is a less viable option because of its open conception. But this variant also can be considered when choosing a suitable home for you.

Possibilities to expand your living space over and over again

The modules of these Prefab Earth Sheltered Homes are made of lightweight and durable material – a composite laminate. It is easier than ever to compile your home because the modules are assembled from prefabricated panels, mounted on a flat surface. And then with the help of a drill they are linked together through special holes on the edges. You will be pleasantly surprised to find out that the modular structure of such houses allows home owners to assemble at first a small house and then successively expand your living space when it is needed. Green Magic Homes assures its clients that such facilities and equipment as sewer system, plumbing and wiring channels as well as air channels can be added at any stage of construction and the external coverage is wholly waterproof.

Why not to plant greenery on the roof?

When all modules are assembled, the walls of your house will be covered up with soil. Sooner, grass or flowers will grow out in that place. But there is also another variant of such houses. Walls and roof are built into the earth at the very beginning, so that there will be no need to cover the house with vegetation.

The well-known company from Florida and Mexico, Wonderful Structures (Green Magic Homes), offers everyone to feel themselves like hobbits. You need only to purchase there a modular home, resembling a "house under the hill", assemble it and cover up the top layer with soil. This bears not only an aesthetic burden, but also gives you a chance to save your money on utilities costs. Even in colder climates it plays a big role in reducing the cost of Prefab Earth Sheltered Home heating because soil and grass covering gives the excellent heat insulating properties.





Infinite Design Possibilities

Wonderful Structures (Green Magic Homes) prefab technology allows you to generate varios spaces ideal for: permanent houses, camps, cabins, offices, hotel rooms, clinics, classrooms, health centers, lounges for meetings, covered parking, deposits, Gazebos, among many others more.

Circular Housing Retrofit Strategies and Solutions: Towards Modular, Mass-Customised and 'Cyclable' Retrofit Products

Circular Housing Retrofit Strategies and Solutions: Towards Modular, Mass-Customised and 'Cyclable' Retrofit Products

A van Stijn and V H Gruis 2019 IOP Conf. Ser.: Earth Environ. Sci. 290 012035

https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/290/1/012035

A van Stijn^1,2 and V H Gruis<sup>1

1</sup> Department of Management in the Built Environment, Faculty of Architecture and the Built Environment, Delft University of Technology, The Netherlands;
² Amsterdam Institute for Advanced Metropolitan Solutions (AMS), Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

a.vanstijn@tudelft.nl

Abstract. 

The building sector consumes 40 % of resources globally, produces 40 % of global waste and 33 % of CO2 emissions. Creating a circular built environment is therefore of paramount importance to a sustainable society. The housing stock can be made more circular through circular retrofitting. However, strategies and solutions integrating circularity within housing retrofit are lacking.

This paper focusses on developing a circular housing retrofit strategy and solution for Dutch housing constructed between 1970 and 1990. Through literature study, potential circular retrofit approaches are identified and translated into a general strategy. By developing a concrete retrofit solution, we illustrate how this general strategy can be applied in practice.

It is found that in the Dutch context ‘all-in-one’ sustainable retrofits are difficult to realise. By applying modular (allowing component-by-component retrofit), ‘mass-customisable’, and ‘cyclable’ retrofit products, natural maintenance moments can be employed to gradually create a circular housing stock. As an example of such a product we describe the Circular Kitchen (CIK), which was developed together with industry. The CIK applies a plug-and-play design, separating components based on lifespan. The CIK supply-chain arranges ‘relooping’ of the CIK in a ‘return-street’ and ‘return-factory’. The CIK business model applies financial arrangements such as lease and ‘sale-with-deposit’, motivating the return and ‘re-looping’ of the CIK after use.

In conclusion, the strategy presented in this paper has the potential to support circular housing
retrofit in the Dutch context and for housing with similar characteristics. However, development
of more circular retrofit products is necessary to create a fully circular housing stock over time.

MINIMOD: Off Site Construction Technology by MAPA

Floor plan

About MAPA

Architects: MAPA
Project: MINIMOD
Area: 27 sq.m.
Location: Porto Alegre, Brazil
Year: 2013
Photography: Leonardo Finotti

Description from architects

MINIMOD proposes an innovative, intelligent and sustainable alternative for dwelling, enjoying the benefits of the off site construction (OSC) technology, with no waste and no mess. The house has a modulated structure and design, which allows multiple configurations and customizations. Starting from a minimal module, MINIMOD invests in customization, design and sustainability.




The production is carried out in a prefabricated manner and enjoys the steel frame system technology, which allows the client program definition needs and choice of finishes, as well as automation options. Depending on the composition of the modules, the MINIMOD offers different possibilities – ranging from a compact weekend retreat, a small show room for events up to larger programs and elaborated as hotels and inns, combining a larger number of modules. The modules are 100% prefabricated. MINIMOD than is take to any site by truck or disassembled into smaller pieces and taken to the ground for final assembly. This allows for a clean work without harming the natural environment.

Importantly, the expansion and addition of new modules can be performed either at initial installation or in the middle of the process, according to the needs and budgets of the client.

MINIMOD is more than a product of design, is more than a house. It’s practicality combined with comfort, it’s economy allied to nature, and it’s a unique experience of housing and contemporary living.

Prefab Desert Two house in Palm Springs, California

About Jim Jennings Architecture
About Blue Sky Building Systems

Architect: Jim Jennings Architecture
Construction: Blue Sky Building Systems
Area: 2,200 sq.ft.
Location: Palm Springs, California
Year: April 2013
Photography: Nuvue Interactive

Walls for the three-bedroom 2,200-square-foot prefab house were framed in just three hours. Using 42 prebuilt steel panels from Blue Sky Building Systems, the crew started at 8:30 a.m. and had all the walls up by 11:30 the same morning. All the rough framing, including the roof, was finished in three days instead of the usual three to six weeks. Total elapsed time, from pouring the foundation to showing off the finished design: just 4.5 months.

3000 sqft Modern Prefab Home, California, TobyLongDesign

About Toby Long Design - Clever Homes

About Cipriani Studios Design

Architecture	Toby Long Design - Clever Homes, Cipriani Studios Design
Project	Burlingame Residence
Location	Burlingame, CA
Area	3000 sqft
Bedrooms	4
Bathrooms	3
Floors	2

This 3000 sqft modern prefab home replaced a dilapidated cottage on this beautiful street in Northern California. Located in Burlingame, CA, the house is a showcase of contemporary style and eco-friendly living. The design of the 4 bedrooms home includes a living roof, a myriad of recycled materials and energy-efficient features including electric car hook-ups. Developed by TobyLongDesign, the Cleverhomes process for constructing modern prefab homes is now easier and more efficient. Prefab evolved.

P.A.T.H. manufactured homes by Riko and Philippe Starck

The desire to do good, better and fairer has long driven the work and production of internationally acclaimed creator Philippe Starck, as well as the work of Riko, one of Europe’s leading manufacturers of sustainable prefabricated wooden buildings. These joint values have brought them together to create Prefabricated Accessible Technological Homes – P.A.T.H., industrially manufactured houses tailored to meet the individual dwelling needs and expectations of people worldwide.

Each of the 34 models of houses from the P.A.T.H range is distinguished by Philippe Starck’s signature timeless design. Yet how you choose to create your own compelling living space is completely up to you – P.A.T.H. offers a wide range of house sizes, numbers of rooms, floors, and multiple open floor plans that best fit your lifestyle and needs. You can choose between different facades, a range of roofing types, a variety of interior finishes and fixtures, such as light fittings, floor finishes, bathroom tiles, and many other possibilities to personalize your P.A.T.H. Make the most of a wide palette of renewable energy producing equipment such as photovoltaic solar panels, wind turbines and heat pumps, and rest assured that P.A.T.H model houses are rapidly built and offer their owners full long-term assistance.

http://www.starckwithriko.com/

Krubiner Residence - Custom Made Prefab Home, California

Construction Process

About Swatt Miers Architects

Project	Krubiner Residence
Design	Swatt Miers Architects
Manufacture	Simpatico Homes
Year	2012
Location	Emeryville, California
Photos	Russel Abraham, Kate Carboneau

Designed by Swatt Miers Architects, built by Simpatico Homes the The Krubiner Residence is a modern custom made prefab home situated in Emeryville, California. Factory costs are typically around $150 per square foot for standard prefab homes by Simpatico Homes.

Description from Swatt | Miers Architects

The partnership with Simpatico Homes represents an opportunity for our firm to bring custom-quality architecture to a broader audience through the cost advantages of prefabrication. The Krubiner Residence, the Simpatico Prototype, is located in Emeryville just a few blocks from our office and was completed in January 2012. Simpatico Homes represents a unique opportunity to help transform housing by combining modern design with off-site prefabrication and LEED-certified sustainability.

Prefab House, Guest House and Sauna, Sweden

About Claesson Koivisto Rune

Project: Folded Roof House
Design: Claesson Koivisto Rune
Year: 2008
Location: Muskö island, Sweden




Folded roof house is CKR second house for Swedish kit house manufacturer Arkitekthus. A one-story house with an asymmetric folded roof plan. The bedrooms are positioned at the gable ends and the living room and kitchen is between, with an open main facade.

For the site on Musko island the separate guest house and sauna building were specifically designed for the the client.

Description from architects

In Sweden, as in many other countries, much of the market for new private houses is provided for by kit house manufacturers. In their catalogues you can pick your prefab house from a selection of styles and sizes to put on your lot. The advantage is that the price is more or less fixed and that the construction process is handled by the company. Unfortunately, these prefab houses carry little or no architectural ambition, as they are often designed by company engineers or sales people. The idea behind the new company, Arkitekthus, is to provide kit houses designed by leading architects at prices competitive with these other manufacturers.

Folded Roof house is our second house for Swedish kit house manufacturer Arkitekthus. It is a one-storey prefab house with an asymmetric folded roof plane. The floor plan provides for separation between private bedrooms and a communal kitchen and living room. The bedrooms are positioned at the gable ends and the living room is between, with an open main facade. The openings are fully glazed and inset into the house volume so that roof-covered terrace spaces serve as continuations of the interior. Another important visual feature is the framing of these insets by the thin wall and roof edges. This was possible because no insulation is needed in the sections located outside of the actual prefab house.

For the site on Muskö island, shown in the images here, the separate guest house and sauna buildings were specifically designed for the client.

The D*Haus - Dynamic Prefab Modular House

Video

About The D*Haus Company

Description from architects

Conceived for the harsh, climatic extremes from ‘Lapland to Cape Horn and Aleutians to Auckland’ The D*Haus concept can respond dynamically to its environment by controlled adaptation to seasonal, meteorological and astronomical conditions.

The modular flexibility of the D*Haus allows adaptation from winter to summer, and day to night by literally moving inside itself. The thick heavy external walls unfold into internal walls allowing glass internal walls to become facades. Doors become windows and vice versa.

Dynamic Architecture
Like a Rubiks Cube

In the winter time, the prefab modular house is in a square formation, with small windows and high thermal mass. It literally hugs itself. As the season’s change and the climate warms, the house opens up, like a flower opens up to allow light and air to penetrate the inside of the modular building offering full panoramic views of the surroundings.

D*Dynamic literally unfolds itself like a Rubiks Cube. The internal walls become external walls, doors become windows and windows become doors. A prefab modular house like this has never been done before in the history of architecture and we believe that creating buildings that can adapt and change is a much more sustainable way of living.

It Mimics Nature
Ecological Haus

Solar radiation from the Sun can have a significant impact on a building’s performance. Whilst often a source of overheating due to inadequate controls, with thoughtful design it can provide a cheap and abundant source of energy in your building. This energy can be utilised to heat spaces in winter, provide hot water, and even generate ventilation for cooling in summer.

Winter Haus / Summer Haus
How It Works

Over the course of the year, D*Haus changes form to respond to its environment. It mimics nature. The modular prefab house opens up to respond to the environmental conditions, much like a flower opening over the course of a day.




A Kit Of Parts
Eight Houses In One

The modular prefab house is a product of an applied mathematical realisation. Thus from a manufacturing point of view, the design deploys only one set of materials to achieve the flexible possibilities which its design invites. This means that less waste is produced during the manufacturing process, and from a mass-production point of view, D*Dynmaic offers savings in both time and materials.