Green Modular Home Uses Recycled Materials

There’s a new exhibit at the Chicago Museum of Science and Industry. It’s a “smart home,” which uses recycled materials and an open, sunny floor plan with an emphasis on using the outdoors as added living space.

The contemporary, loft-style, sustainable green home — the mkSolaire — was designed by Michelle Kaufmann Designs, based in Oakland, Calif, and uses recycled and green materials. It is three stories, with varying heights, lots of windows and two facades — dark-stained wood-planks (they look like clapboard with spaces in between) and concrete in light and dark shades.

It also has a two-car garage that doubles as a theatre room complete with hemp bean bag chairs to sit in. The common areas have an open floor plan, and the entire home is modular, manufactured in seven pieces at the All American Homes construction facility in Decatur, Ind.

Modular homebuilders insist they can build a home 60 percent faster and in a more environmentally friendly way than traditional site-built construction. Waste is reduced because much of the lumber arrives precut, reducing the need to dispose of “off-cuts.” Drywall scrap is trucked to local farmers to use in preparing soil for planting, keeping it out of landfills.

“It was assembled in one day,” said Anne Rasford, director of temporary exhibits for the museum. “Then it only took several days to button it up — seal the home. We had a local contractor do the interior installing finishings like the limestone floor tiles on the first floor and the bamboo floors on the second and third levels.”

The mkSolaire was designed as a healthy, green-living solution for the city, according to designer Michelle Kaufmann,
who says that conventional buildings account for more greenhouse gas omission than autos.

Looking for a way to make your next construction project smart? Check out our Green Building section.

Got left over construction debris? Use Earth 911’s recycling locator to find out where you can dispose of it properly.