What Makes MK Solar Homes Green?

The following is excerpted from the National Building Museum description of their "The Green House" exhibit.

The website for MK Solar Homes: http://www.mkd-arc.com/index.cfm

The Glidehouse™:
A prefabricated house you can build anywhere

Rendering of GlidehouseTM, 2004
Michelle Kaufmann Designs

One of the most significant recent developments in housing has been the effort to improve the reputation of prefabricated, or modular, housing. Using powerful design software, a number of architectural firms now combine the cost savings of factory-built homes with the benefits of customized designs. The result is sophisticated architecture that can be offered at remarkably low prices and assembled faster than traditional buildings. The Glidehouse™, designed in 2004 by Northern California architect Michelle Kaufmann, represents this new breed. Working with builders in Toronto, Vancouver, Portland, and Southern California, Kaufmann has begun selling several variations of the house. A total of 10 have been built, ranging from one to four bedrooms and from 672 to 2,016 square feet in one or two stories. The price, including the cost of the design, trucking materials to the site, and construction, but excluding the solar panels on the roof and the kitchen appliances—begins at about $132 per square foot for a house on a level lot. This translates to around $200,000 for most variations—that’s $83,000 less than the average cost of a new American home in 2005.

What Makes the Glidehouse™ Green

The prefabricated nature of the house results in comparatively little construction waste, particularly on the building site.

The house can be positioned on its site to minimize solar loss in the winter and solar gain in the summer.

The house’s design layout has a narrow footprint, facilitating cross ventilation in all rooms.

The roof is sloped to receive solar panels and create a clerestory window that brings in natural light and minimizes the need for artificial lighting.

Windows are placed to maximize solar benefits and natural ventilation.

Sliding panels of wood louvers cover the long glass façade and can be adjusted to control the level of sunlight entering the house while maintaining air flow.

The walls and roof are made of structurally insulated panels, or SIPS, a system that is well-regarded for its resistance to mold and soft foam insulation, which fully fills each panel.

Wood-to-wood wall joints are precisely caulked to make the house airtight, minimizing the vulnerability to mold and lowering heating and cooling loads.

Floors are bamboo, a fast-growing, easily renewable material.

Lightweight concrete countertops are made of recycled newspaper and fly ash.
Kitchen cabinets are free of toxic formaldehyde.

Kitchen appliances are energy-smart.

Bathroom fixtures, such as the toilet and Tankless water heater, save water and are energy efficient.

Walls are finished in non-toxic paints.

Energy-efficient fluorescent lighting is used throughout the house.