Archive for January 8, 2006

Prefrab rising in Australia

January 8, 2006 at 6:25 pm · Filed under Green Stories, Smart Home Building

We love this story from www.inhabitat.com so much that we posted it here. Please visit inhabitat and put the site in your bookmarks!

Prefab is on the rise down under. With tremendous climatic variation and a relatively slow housing market, homebuilders in Australia have more than one challenge to surmount. In these conditions, prefab designers may have the greatest advantage, due to their highly accommodating manufacturing process. One of the leading new Australian designers, Andrew Maynard, puts it simply: “How can the housing industry make exciting, well designed and cheap housing? Easy, mimic the car industry.”

Like the car industry, these little houses are being churned out en masse. When asked about the impetus behind the recent prefab explosion, Giles Newstead of eHabitat cited three possible reasons:

  • 1. [Australia is] just at the end of a 3 year residential building boom which has meant that there have been long waits for procuring buildings using traditional building contracts and they have generally been more expensive. People are now demanding alternatives.
  • 2. Up until recently, we have been slightly behind regarding prefab/ modular buildings compared to the rest of the world and are probably just catching up.
  • 3. [Australian] planning regulations are still non-prohibitive towards prefab buildings. The ‘movement’ does not seem to be organized, it just seems to be the right time. It mainly seems to be driven by architects who want to give people alternative ways of getting good design.”

Affordable Designs

This is one important thing about the recent Australian prefab projects that distinguishes them from some U.S. and European designs is the price. These designers are quite up front about the cost per square foot of their homes, and that’s because for the most part, they all consider affordability to be a fundamental characteristic of prefab housing. Since customized design comes easily with industrial fabrication, those who wish for more lavish and spacious surroundings can put up the cash, but modest, compact options remain within the reach of aspiring homeowners who lack the funds for luxury.

Read the rest of the article to find out more information about six Australian prefabs that represent a wide range of styles and functions.

[tags]blogs,blogging,daily,news,pre-fab,housing[/tags]

Leave a Comment

Solar-heated communities

January 8, 2006 at 6:19 pm · Filed under Heating and Ventilation, Smart Home Building

Via canada.com.

Here’s an interesting story from the Edmonton Journal about two solar-heated communities being built in Alberta, one being dubbed the largest of its kind in North America. I’ve got a sense that at least one of these projects is heavily supported by government funding, so it’s difficult to analyse the economics, but even as demonstration projects I think they’re important for showing that communities in the future can — should! — be built from the ground up with renewable energy in mind. This is particularly true if there are creative ways to spread out the upfront costs over the operating life of the systems.

[tags]solar, heat, communities, green, eco-friendly, canada, north america[/tags]

Leave a Comment