INHABITAT INTERVIEW: Prefabulous + Sustainable Author Sheri Koones

Combine our love for <a href="../architecture/prefab-housing/" target="_blank">prefab homes</a> and <a href="../sustainable-building" target="_blank">sustainable building</a> into one book and you get <a href="http://www.sherikoones.com/Site/Homepage.html" target="_blank">Prefabulous + Sustainable</a>, by Sheri Koones. Full of the gorgeous images of beautiful homes, Koones's new book sent to us by <a href="abramsbooks.com" target="_blank">Abrams</a>, explores how home owners from all around the US designed and built their dream homes sustainably using prefab construction. Besides beautiful pics, we liked how the book is laid out, giving easy to follow explanations of the different levels of sustainability - Green, Greener and Greenest, leaving the most sustainably built homes for the end.

<h3>Modular Home by Architect: Chris Haley, Project Architect: Looney Ricks Kiss Architects, Inc.</h3> <br> Manufacturer: Haven Custom Homes <br> Photo © Jack Gardner <br> The view from the front of the house, which looks out over the golf course.

<h3>Panelized Home by Manufacturer &amp; Designer: Connor Homes</h3> <br> Photo © Jim Westphalen <br> You can’t see it from the front, but the house was positioned just so to take advantage of the sun: The metal roof on the back side contains two types of solar panels. From a design standpoint, the house is similar to many in the rural Northeast, where house and barn eventually become one space thanks to generations of additions. The house looks so authentic, people sometime ask Sarah if she renovated an old house.

<h3>Modular/SIPs Home by Architect: Michelle Kaufmann Designs</h3> <br> Manufacturer: XtremeHomes <br> Photo © John Swain Photographer <br>An angled view of the mkLotus house with the native garden and NANAWalls, a glass wall system, which opens up to expand the living space of the house.

<h3>Modular/Steel Frame Home by Architect: Ray Kappe</h3> <br> Manufacturer: LivingHomes <br> Photo © Tom Bonner <br> Front trellises deflect sun, keeping the house cooler and conserving energy. All deck wood is FSC-certified tigerwood, a very dense South American hardwood that is smooth and splinter-free. Siding is beautiful FSC-certified cedar, which is extremely weather resistant.

<h3>Modular Home by Builder: University of Maryland</h3> <br> Photo © Jim Tetro <br> Plentiful windows and aero-gel-filled polycarbonate skylights provide views to the surrounding landscape and abundant daylight. All appliances in the kitchen are ENERGY STAR-rated. The dining table, made of the same sustainability forested veneer as the frames around the big sliding doors, can be transformed into two full tables, each sitting six. The kitchen island includes a concrete countertop that contains 6 percent recycled fly ash and 30 percent recycled glass. The maple sections were salvaged from naturally fallen trees in nearby Thurmont.

<h3>Timber frame/straw bale home by Architect: Brian Fuentes, Fuentes Design</h3> <br> Builder: Jon Rovick Construction, Inc. <br> Photo © Roger Wade Studio <br> Positioned in the center of the great room, the masonry heater quietly radiates warmth and comfort that reaches throughout the densely insulated house. Massive timbers offer reassurance of strength. The concrete floor provides dense thermal mass, which absorbs heat and gently radiates it even when the heating is turned off.