Habitaflex Folding Homes
by Lloyd Alter, Toronto on 04.19.06
This does not look like the usual TreeHugger fare, and is not made with particularly TreeHugger materials, but it sure is clever. The Habitaflex is a prefab that, like the EcoHut we showed earlier, has a 3D core with bathroom and services. You tow it to a site and lower the floors, raise the roof, unfold the walls and plant the pink flamingoes. Voila- instant two bedroom house.
Again, not quite to our decorating taste, but it is an easy-to-haul 8' wide by 18'-10" that folds out to 18' x 22' or 396 square feet. Prefinished in natural pine with linoleum floors, wood exterior panels and vinyl windows. Cost? US$33,350 or $85 PSF. We hope some hotshot Quebecois designer contacts them soon and convinces them to make a cool green version- they are onto something here. Put it by the water and get Warren's plastic Kayak and watch your summer unfold. Watch the videos (french dialogue) ::Habitaflex
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pretty cool.. this would be great for groups to donate to needy families and things like that
Very clever. Wonder how they wear over time. Leaks? Creaks? How hard would it be to add an addition? Or another story?
Mainstream prefab (trailer) builders really need to ditch the tacky paneling, though. Looks just like the stuff we had in our trailer in the 70's!
how is the insulation? If you 'heat for the birds' (as we say in Holland) it is not very envionmentally friendly.
seriously, could you possibly find a more environmentally unfriendly home?
Oooh the Palace Corporation's Suitcase House on wheels.
Original article:
suitcase house
circa 1945
A small house is a green house. If you build a huge mansion completely out of 'green' materials and a small home like this Habitaflex, the environmental choice is the small one. I've seen too many ecoenthusiasts with 'green' palaces lambast small homes made of not-so-green materials when the criticism should be directed at themselves. Of course, a small house made with 'green' materials is the ideal. Unfortunately, in the developed world, people who can afford the greenest of materials don't build small homes and those that can only afford small homes don't use typically more costly green materials.
By the way, I find it a little surprising that this is winked at in the article as a possible vacation home. If owning a big house is unenvironmental, owning two houses, no matter what the size, is doubly so. This world does not have the capacity to support such resource use.
If you're interested in building or buying a better home, find a participant in the Department of Energy's Building America program. Partners in this program build and finance homes that use 30 percent to 50 percent less energy and help builders cut back on waste and construction time by up to 50 percent. Or, refer your builder to the free information on Building Science Corporation's website, www.buildingscience.com.
Source: http://www.nrdc.org/cities/building/fwoodus.asp