Don’t Stop With Solar Panels And Wind Generators; Get Aggressively Passive
Written by Neal Babcock
It can be simple and easy to be green. You don’t have to exclusively use the highest technology to create and store power in order to maintain an eco-friendly home.
In San Francisco recently, the first ever-fully manufactured version of a pre-fabricated home designed by Michelle Kaufman was debuted. The home is called mkLotus®. As a dwelling, it is coyly understated, yet slick and offers the highest level of modern, sustainable living.
What separates this from the other homes of the future, though, is that it is available right now. After just a few months lead time, a load of technologies and materials will be assembled into one modular unit and delivered to your construction site.
The mkLotus® is a small unit, comprised of one bedroom, one bathroom and a living and dining area. It features water recirculation, a very high energy-efficient foam insulation, LED lighting, a “growing roof” that keeps rainwater from splashing into the gutter and a water storage basin that provides you irrigation for the landscape. It has a 1.5 kW solar panel system that produces enough electricity for most of your needs.
Solar Panels And Wind Turbines Aren’t The Only Way To Save Money
The house is built off-site which reduces construction waste upwards of 70%. Nearly all of the materials such as floors, walls, countertops, doors, and light fixtures in the home are made of recycled, energy-efficient and eco-friendly produced materials. The kitchen sink even has a low flow faucet.
The neat part of this whole thing is that really, not much of the technology is right on the cutting edge. Yes, it is modern, but not necessarily cutting edge. Kaufman says, “We need to look back before the Industrial Revolution, before we had the mechanical means of controlling indoor climate.”
All of this is made into a very livable, though small, space. The only sacrifice seems to be a limit of closets, but I’m sure they will work that out in future designs. This design is extremely sophisticated and makes 700 ft. seem very spacious.
Unfortunately, however, the cost is a bit high. With all the options, the single bedroom more home lists at $249,000. That is about $356 per square foot, and that does not include installation site preparation or the property itself. It is true that you will experience significant savings on your monthly utilities, but that savings comes at over double the building cost of your average home.
Still, though, this is one of the first and no doubt the most expensive. Keep an eye on it and learn from them; you may get some good ideas for your own.
For more information check out Michelle Kaufmann’s site at http://www.mkd-arc.com/.
Thanks for the effort, Michelle Kaufmann et al; you are doing good work.
