modular

The 'Sonoma House' is a gorgeous, barn-style, 1200sqft granny home with a modern interior that is healthier, more energy efficient, and better for the environement! Additional environmental products featured with the home are: reclaimed local wood installed for floors, PV solar system, rainwater catchment system, built in recycling system, ICF foundation forms, smart vents, cool metal roof (as seen in example photo), lime plaster, and more! In 2002, Nichoel Farris founded American Home Sales, a local prefab home design company specializing in factory built custom homes and cottages. Because of the lack of affordable green building options available to the average family, she worked with the EPA's Energy Star New Homes program to design and develop the first Green Manufactured Model Home. The Sonoma House will be open daily for tour at the Spring Auburn Home Show. May 16- - May 18 For more info or to tour the other Green Model Homes on display: American Home Sales 530.885.4555. Custom Home Design Services and Full Construction Available Serving California and some neighboring states.

I am a home designer and builder who wanted to make a global difference at a local level. So I created the first HUD label affordable Eco Home priced under $60 sqft. After much research and development, the model home was built and brought to my display center. It is fantastic and includes the five important GREEN elements for building green! And still remaining affordable! We have created quite a press frenzy: CBS 13 Live coverage Good Day Sacramento, Auburn Journal, Sacramento Bee, Wheatland Citizen. At the open house on Jann 12, we had over 200 people tour the 1600 sqft eco home in a three hour period! I am so proud of what we have accomplished, but realize there is more to do. And it is vital to let the public know there IS an affordable option to building green!
-Nichoel Farris

Here is a copy of our press release:

AUBURN - Calif , American Home Sales, Inc. a provider of quality manufactured homes has announced the unveiling of a new HUD Green Home! The Eco Home is now open for tour Mon-Saturday at 1450 Grass Valley Hwy, Auburn Ca. 5308854555 American Home Sales is a proud partner of the EPA Energy Star New Homes Program and has made a commitment to building all Energy Star qualified homes. "These homes are built to meet the strict standard set by EPA and DOE for energy efficiency and superior performance and are 25 - 40% more energy efficient than the average HUD or conventional home! Our homes also incorporate other "green" features including: water conservation, using and promoting recycled materials, improved indoor air quality, built-in recycling center, trash compactor, solar ready, high efficiency appliances, and more! We have found that there is demand by consumers for a green , energy efficient home. And the cost factor is nominal. Most our homes average $50-65 sqft .. This home will be the springboard for affordable, healthy green living! " -Nichoel Farris

Each Energy Star qualified home can keep 4,500 lbs of greenhouse gases out of our air each year. And because homes have such long life-spans, this environmental benefit lasts for many, many years. - (Source: EnergyStar.gov)

The market for manufactured homes is exploding! The homes can be built faster and less expensive than conventionally building, and on a more predictable schedule. Our state-of-the art lean building manufacturing process enables us to design and build an Energy Star efficient home in almost any size and style. The factory constructed homes are built in a controlled environment where material management and painting techniques are highly efficient and regulated with the added benefit of reducing waste by 50-75%.
"We feel a collective urgency as individuals and as a company to make strides toward a more ecologically responsible future, a common future. We are proud of what we have accomplished, but realize there is more to do! That is why American Home Sales will continue to research and develop our product with new innovative ways to increase efficiency while maintaining affordability."
The New Eco Home is now open for Tour Mon-Sat at 1450 Grass Valley Hwy, Auburn CA 956030. The home will feature kids "save the planet art" and will be furnished, and stocked with organic, biodegradable, and sustainable alternatives for home building and maintenance to help educate our potential new home owners on environmentally conscious choices. HUD Green Designers are on hand to answer any green building questions. American Home Sales is also a member of the US Green Building Counsel.
Some facts about the Green Home market:
-- The value of new Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) registered projects has grown from roughly $792 million in new projects in 2000, to about $10 billion in new projects in 2006. (Source: United States Green Building Council)
-- The residential green building market is expected to grow to between $19 billion and $38 billion by 2010, up from $7.2 billion in 2005. (Source: McGraw-Hill, 2006)

Nichoel Farris
American Home Sales
1450 Grass Valley Hwy
Auburn, CA 95603
530-885-4555
pntfarris@msn.com

Once upon a time, most homeowners in suburban America were thinking about building a small apartment behind their house ... or, perhaps, converting their detached garage into a studio apartment for Grandma (hence the term granny unit).

Today that tradition has become much less common; thanks to inflexible city building codes that won't allow such a thing.

However, in areas where granny units are smiled upon, green homeowners can begin considering them again, as an alternative to new construction or major remodeling.

Need more space? Why not put a prefab kitHAUS module out back? Ranging from 289 to 187 sq ft, they're perfect as a pool house, office or playroom. And, if kitHAUS doesn't work for you, there's no need to worry: The world of small, modular, green prefab seems to be growing by the minute.

Want something larger? How about 350 sq ft of miniHome Solo SE 2008? It's technically an RV, so you can take it with you if you ever sell. Check out all the details in this PDF.

Or, perhaps a weeHouse is more your style? If one isn't big enough, you could always just stack another one on top.

Hive Modular's B-Line Small home is 990 sq ft -- a little larger than your average granny flat, but really cool nonetheless.

Seems like a lot of prefab to digest; but we've only scratched the surface. With all of these companies offering customization and add-ons, the options are nearly endless.

Image via weehouses.com

It's here!

We got to take a sneak peek at Michelle Kaufmann's new green prefab creation, mkLotus, on Wednesday evening. It's sitting right on the lawn in front of the Civic Center in downtown San Francisco as part of West Coast Green and it will be there through Sunday.

If you live in or around SF, we highly recommend that you swing by and take a look. It really is quite stunning. (Just remember, to tour the inside of the house you will need a West Coast Green Conference pass).

It's 700 sq-feet but manages to feel spacious. And, best of all, it has just about every green material and green technology you can imagine incorporated into the design.

Solar panels, a green roof, rainwater catchment, LED lighting -- you name it. Oh, and there's a PG&E-provided plug-in hybrid out back.

Check back here today and tomorrow for more on all that's happening at West Coast Green.