All Entries in the "Green Updates" Category
MK Design, we are sad to see you go
mkSolaire, photo: michelle kaufmann design
Article submitted by Johnna Barrett, Barrett Design Inc.
Michelle Kaufmann is an architect whose career we have followed over the past couple of years, as it seemed she was very close to making the acquisition of modern pre-fab homes a reality. There are 40 of her homes now being lived in by individuals and families, primarily on the west coast. Unfortunately, at least for the time being, there won’t be any more.
MK Design has become yet another victim of America’s credit woes. Buyers were there, but the lenders were not. The tightened credit market meant MKD had to close its own factory where the homes were fabricated. Then, with the dramatic decrease in business the two other factories that had taken over production were forced to close as well.
Is this a lesson about the pre-fabrication of homes? Is it really possible to make pre-fab cost-effective, and at the same time profitable for architects and production companies? It is a difficult balancing act, and thus far the answer has been no. Let’s think about the factories that produce the homes. As long as the volume of homes being produced is large enough the factories can operate efficiently. But when volume drops the operation cost alone to maintain these enormous facilities can be overwhelming, not to mention the cost to keep the factory workers employed. The production costs therefore have to be based on all the operational costs of the factory before a profit margin is added in for the architects, engineers and fabrication facility. MKD homes averaged around $250/s.f., not including site prep, foundations, permits, etc. Will people pay more for good design? Absolutely. But at that price the homes were roughly double what a similar “built at the site” home would cost. And in times like these there was no room for inflated costs.
Pre-fabrication in various forms is alive and well, and there is no doubt it will continue. Software is available that will take drawings from any custom home design and engineer wall, floor and ceiling “panels” that can then be shipped to the jobsite and assembled, saving materials and reducing waste. After an economic catastrophe like the one we are in, companies are inevitably looking for ways to increase efficiency and reduce costs. We predict great advances in pre-fab over the next few years. And Michelle, we have no doubt we will be hearing great things from you as you move forward in a new direction.
Will paperless mail ever catch on?
If you are like the majority of American consumers you receive at least one paperless bill via email each month. It’s much more convenient, environmentally friendly, and it saves money which theoretically reduces your expenses as well. I recently stumbled upon a paper free mail system called Zumbox. The company states they have created a paper-free mail address for every street address in the United States.
Intrigued, I wondered if I could upload my mailing list and somehow all the paper mail I would have sent could be delivered directly to the email of the intended recipient. As we are constantly looking for ways to minimize our environmental impact that would be fantastic. Unfortunately however that’s not the way it works. Let’s say you send out newsletters or invitations/postcards to 500 people on a regular basis. If you can get in touch with all 500 of those people and direct them to sign up at Zumbox then the paperless system would be successful. But if they don’t know that a “mailbox” has been set up for them (and how would they unless you contact them first), how would they know to check it? The question I have is, what is the likelihood that every single person you want to send mail to will actually go to the website, submit all their information, and complete the process ? And how much time does it take to pursue all your clients and/or prospects to add yet another thing to their daily list of things to do? I think Zumbox’s idea is brilliant. The problem I see is that it requires recipients to subscribe to it. It’s great for businesses who mail out regular monthly invoices. They can put a blurb on the invoice directing their customers to the Zumbox delivery system. But for those of us who just want to get a message out the delivery system isn’t going to work.
It does beg the question if at some point we will all have set email addresses based on our permanent residences or if the concept could ever be feasible. Hmmm, I wonder what the US Postal Service would say about that . . .
Peace Lily may be bad for you . . .
It is a well-known fact that keeping plants indoors is a good way to improve indoor air quality. They release carbon dioxide and assist in removing harmful volatile organic compounds (VOC) from the air. But certain varieties of seemingly harmless and very common indoor house plants have been found to release VOCs. The top two offenders? The peace lily and the areca palm, both of which are common plant varieties in homes and office buildings. Researchers at the University of Georgia discovered that these species along with a few others that were tested release VOCs in varying levels. While they don’t recommend throwing out your plants they do feel that further study is in order to determine if there are any risks. You can read the full report at http://hortsci.ashspublications.org/cgi/content/abstract/44/2/396
