Prefabulous Small Houses

by Sheri Koones

Overview

In Prefabulous Small Houses, best-selling author Sheri Koones showcases 32 stunning prefabricated homes from across North America, highlighting a new era of construction that combines style, efficiency, and sustainability.

Prefab home construction has finally come into its own, and this book allows you to explore its potential. Not just a collection of homes, an invitation to reimagine living spaces in a way that aligns with our evolving needs and values.

Key Features:

• Stunning Visuals: This captivating book is filled with 250 beautiful photographs and detailed floor plans, showcasing the amazing variety of styles available in today’s prefab housing market. Whether you're a design enthusiast or a prospective homeowner, these homes will inspire your vision of modern living.

• Small is the New Big: As Millennials search for their first homes and Boomers look to downsize, small houses are gaining popularity for their practicality. Ranging from 325 sq. ft. to 2,000 sq. ft., these homes are not only cost-effective to build but also less expensive to heat and maintain, making them an ideal choice for various lifestyles.

• Eco-Friendly Living: Each home featured in Prefabulous Small Houses emphasizes energy efficiency and sustainability. The homes utilize local materials when possible, recycle metals and wood, and are designed to minimize their environmental impact while preserving the natural landscape.

• Addressing Climate Change: With a foreword by actor and environmentalist Robert Redford, the book underscores the urgent need for innovative housing solutions in the fight against climate change. Prefabricated small homes represent a viable path toward more sustainable living, addressing the challenges of modern society.

• Innovative Construction Methods: Discover construction techniques that are adaptable to any climate, offering homeowners the flexibility to create their dream homes while supporting environmental stewardship.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781631864049
Publisher:	Taunton Press, Incorporated
Publication date:	09/20/2016
Pages:	240
Product dimensions:	8.60(w) x 11.00(h) x 0.70(d)

About the Author

Sheri Koones isa bestselling author and expert on small houses, energy efficiency, and prefabrication whose previous books include Prefabulous, Prefabulous Small Houses, Prefabulous + Sustainable, Prefabulous + Almost Off the Grid, and Prefabulous World. She won the prestigious Robert Bruss Real Estate Book Award from NAREE in 2008, 2011, 2013, and 2017. Koones is also a columnist and speaker.

Table of Contents

TABLE OF CONTENTS
Foreward by Robert Redford
Introduction
The Houses

• Casita de Invierno

• eHab Cabin

• Cocoon Studio

• Sandpoint Cabin

• Lakeside Container Cottage

• DesertSol House

• Urban Eden

• Lakeview House

• Little House on the Ferry

• SU+RE House

• Bayview Cottage

• Solar Laneway House

• M2 Cabin

• Whidbey Island House

• Ford House

• Sonoma Residence

• Cousins River Residence

• weeZero House

• Cloverdale House

• Silicon Valley Balance House

• Vashon Island House

• Lake Union Floating Home

• Olde Seawatch

• Hilltop House

• John's Island Home

• Halycon Hill

• Bonsall House

• Westport Beach House

• Alpine Passive House

• Emerald House

• Three Palms Project

• Dawnsknoll House

Glossary
Resources

Preface

Over the last 30 years, I've been engaged in trying to raise awareness on the issue of climate change. I never imagined decades later, I would be fighting the same battle.

After years of talk and political paralysis, we have reached a tipping point, climate change is no longer a problem of the future, we are experiencing the results of a warming planet all around us, rising seas, widening deserts and deadly wildfires. We are losing control of our future. Our civilization is threatened today by changes that have been taking place over decades.

Climate change affects everyone, in every country. Climate change is in everybody's backyard. Only by acting now and standing together can we tip the scales and achieve the results necessary to make the planet a healthy and safe place to live—for now and for the future. At one time energy conversation was only about oil, coal and gas. Now people are talking about renewable energy—how it can result in cheaper and plentiful energy, and the positive role this can play on the environment.

Climate change presents us with a huge challenge, how to move a society that has been dependent on fossil fuels to a future that is cleaner and more sustainable.

While it is easy to become discouraged there is reason for optimism. There is a groundswell occurring and it's rising from the ground up. Leadership is coming from people themselves. We have the opportunity to re-think how we live in this world now and for future generations.

I have great faith in the power of innovation and the ingenuity of people from all walks of life to solve this problem. Technological advances are well under way—renewable energy, increased efficiency and innovation in building practices are gaining momentum.

One way to reduce the need and desire for fossil fuel is to design houses that require less fuel to build, operate, and to heat and cool. When houses are thoughtfully built this way, the energy requirement is vastly reduced. Renewable energy that uses solar thermal panels, photovoltaic panels, wind turbines, and geothermal systems—combined with good design—creates houses that require no fossil fuel.

We know that 38 to 40 percent of the energy in this country is used to heat and cool our buildings-residential and commercial. This old way is expensive, dirty, and a proven danger to life. Yet it's a problem with a solution. But we must decide to apply that solution now.

This book advocates for smaller houses, which is a strong trend in this country. Smaller houses reduce wasted space that most people don't need or use. Smaller, better-built houses teach us to curb our appetite for energy, and lessen our need to build, heat, cool, and maintain that extra space we don't need or even want. Building smaller, along with building houses prefabricated—in the process using less time, fewer materials, and using both more efficiently—is the sanest and wisest recipe for home construction, for now and for the future.

Editorial Reviews

"This book demonstrates the use of materials and techniques from the past to make eco-friendly small-home living more achievable and comfortable."

National Association of Realtors

"Prefab housing isn't a subculture anymore, it's a necessity."

Fast Company

"Presenting the benefits of small-scale, prefab construction, Koones takes us through an instructional and aesthetic journey that's hard to find fault with."

The Boston Globe

"Prefab housing isn't a subculture anymore, it's a necessity."

Fast Company