FACTORY-BUILT GREEN HOMES FOR HOUSTON 
A reader goes house shopping:
“Do you have any ideas on green modular/prefabricated homes available to the Houston area? There are lots out there, but most of them are so far away that the delivery cost defeats the purpose of low-cost housing and reduced carbon footprint. That even includes the Clayton Homes’ i-House! . . .
Something like Nationwide’s Osprey house (which isn’t available to Texas). Mass produced so they are cheap, but using green materials and finishes. . . . Seems like there are a lot of options out there, but mostly too far from Houston to be economically viable.” [Swamplot inbox] Photo of i-House: Life in the Country
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Might not be exactly what the reader has in mind, but consider the offerings of “Tiny Texas Houses.”
How about Brett Zamore’s kit homes. Do they count? He’s based here in Houston. There are a couple of his houses on Center St., one somewhere over on the East End, and one up in Linndale Park on Woodard (I think). Maybe more around town. his website is here: http://www.zamorehomes.com/main.html
Personally, I love these houses. (And he’s a fellow Rice alum so I have to show school spirit. Go Owls. Ahem.)
The “Osprey Eco-Cottage” isn’t really sustainable when you consider the heat loss through those giant windows during the summer when you’re running the A/C on full blast. Might work in Massachusetts though.
I’m working on a hot new eco-housing concept, I call it SPOOGE: Solar Powered Overpriced Overbuilt Garage for Everyone. Coming to a backyard near you.
Hi! Katie Nichols of Numen Development here. We are based out of Houston and we fabricate housing modules using Recycled shipping containers. We have a library of modules that can be used in conjunction with one of our stock home designs or to create something uniquely yours (obviously that adds some cost). We will be making them public on our website as soon as possible, but if you would like information prior to that, feel free to contact me at katie@numendevelopment.com. We are migrating our website today (04.16.10), so if you receive an error, please try again!
Yeah, if I don’t get a decent job soon I’ll be fabricating sustainable housing modules out of recycled FEMA tarps. If you’d like more information, feel free to contact me on the sidewalk under the Pierce Elevated.
The assumption that a home with windows is automatically not energy efficient shows a pretty staggering level of ignorance about factors like location, orientation, glazing technology, insulation technology and natural lighting. Once upon a time we knew how to build homes to take advantage of thinks like prevailing winds, natural shade, the position of the sun at different times of the day and year. Then we started just smacking them down in a line after clear cutting the entire sub-development and relying on being able to chuck in a bigger AC unit to take the load.
Thank you Jimbo! You could not have put it better. Funny how disconnected people have become from their environment and how to work with it to promote a better quality of life. People need to realize that designing a sustainable “green” home is defined as such with more than simply the materials it is built from.
In regards to most of these home manufacturers not being located in Houston/close to Houston….I did notice that the “IHomes” manufacturer/Clayton has it available in / at the Austin/Ben White Blvd. location, is that too far to be considered worth it economically?