How serious is the building industry about tiny homes and going green?  Well… a giant corporation like Clayton homes is now involved in both building tiny homes and building green homes.

Tiny and green seem like they are both here to stay.  You might not be familiar with Clayton Homes but they are gigantic, one of the Wal-Mart’s of housing construction.  This massive company has built over 1.5 million homes since 1934 many of them mobile homes and modular homes.  They have 12,000 employees, which they call “team members,” and have 35 different home building facilities.  They also have a big hand in the financing of homes as well.  So who owns Clayton Homes?  A guy by the name of Warren Buffet.  Maybe you’ve heard of him.

The i-House is the concept by Clayton Homes which mirrors much of what we have seen with tiny home and green home pioneers in recent years.  The i-House uses solar panels, energy efficient windows compact fluorescent lighting and energy star appliances to cut down on energy cost.  On the health front, the i-House uses bamboo floors and no V.O.C. paint, both a common fixture in the tiny house and green home movement.  They have even incorporated water saving features such as a tankless water heater, low flow faucets and dual flush toilets.  Additional water is saved via a rainwater catching system.  Interesting.

They have several layouts of i-homes to choose from with catching names like “Layout A,” which is 723 square feet, “Layout B,” which is 991 square feet, and yes “Layout C,” also at 991 square feet.  The homes have a very slick and modern look that will no doubt remind many small home fans of other tiny homes and green homes they have seen.

Having a giant corporation like Clayton get in the tiny home game could be a great thing for the planet.  Clayton produces a lot of homes on an annual basis, and if they were to go green it would have a profound impact on the environment and the housing industry.  Let’s hope the ideas of the i-house are for real and not just pr, as this would be great for all involved.

This video is getting a little dated but, as a tiny-houser, I still found it interesting.  Christopher Deam is an architect and designer who drew national attention in 2000 when he redesigned the American icon, the Airstream trailer.  In 2002, he presented an overview of the project to TED.

I imagine Deam’s redesign looks less radical to our eyes in 2009 than it did in 2000.  But it’s interesting to me to see some of the solutions he came up with.  Like most of the architects I admire, he is concerned with purpose, utility, and authenticity.

This video runs only 7 minutes which seemed like a good length for a holiday weekend.  Happy Memorial Day weekend for those of you in the States!

Christopher Deam has also designed for Herman Miller and Target.  For further information on his work, please visit his website.

So all us tiny home bloggers are in a tizzy of excitement right now due to the Tiny House Project.  A group of artists, architects, and people passionate about sustainable living have gotten together on a project to build a mobile tiny home neighborhood that will serve as a traveling art exhibition.

“The Tiny House Project will put out a call for submissions asking artists for tiny house project proposals. Specific criteria for these proposals are being developed with input from members of the Project’s Advisory Committee to ensure that the resulting structures meet artistic, environmental, structural and communication objectives. A qualified selection panel will choose nine tiny house projects from the pool of applicants to receive funding (a more detailed description of this two-stage call follows). Each artist/project team will be given a 7’ x 14’ trailer bed and $23,000 to cover the cost of materials and artists’ fees associated with designing and building a tiny house that will then be incorporated into a temporarily occupied micro-community and a follow-on traveling exhibition.”

So those of you who’ve been dreaming of building your own tiny home but worrying that you simply don’t have the funds–here’s your shot.

I’m really excited to see the designs generated by this project.  In fact, even though I’m already in my own tiny home I’m really tempted to submit my own design I’d just so love to contribute to the project.

In particular, I’d really love to see some designs submitted that would work for the wheel-chair bound or people with other special needs (for example, Multiple Chemical Sensitivity).  In addition, I’d love to see designs incorporating more green materials.

If you’re interested in learning more visit The Tiny House Project . Be sure to subscribe to their RSS feed and sign up on their mailing list.

Modular Dwellings is the brainchild of Edgar Blazona. Blazona is a  furniture designer and builder who is also a San Francisco native.  Modular Dwellings considers itself to be part of the “California new Prefab architectural movement.”  They build custom tiny homes that are focused on being quickly assembled and transported.  They have numerous creative and innovative designs.

The MD 280 by Modular Dwellings packs a lot of style and functionality into a mere 280 square foot package.  Part of how the Modular Dwellings team pulled this off was to incorporate a nine-foot wall that is made of glass from floor to ceiling.  This gives this tiny house an open and bright feel that is bound to impart those living within with the impression that they are in a much bigger space.  The MD 280 is designed to be a guesthouse and comes with a kitchen, bedroom and bathroom.  Moreover the MD 280 is designed with an eye toward easy shipping as it can be placed on the back of a semi truck trailer.

Another design by the Modular Dwellings team was a custom built 10′ x 12′ structure that is has a steel frame and hardwood exterior.  The entire front of this tiny home is opened up with large floor to ceiling windows that like the MD 280 give the space a much larger feel.  The MD 120 is designed primarily to be a bedroom.

A slightly smaller structure is the MD 100, which was designed in part to be a “do-it-yourself” project.  The parts are all easily fabricated and the entire project can be completed using off-the-shelf materials.  Another aspect of the design is that the MD 100 is easy to assemble, making this a great first time project for someone interesting in building his or her own tiny home.

Modular Dwellings designs and concepts should really be a hit with homeowners looking for a tiny home that can be built easily and quickly.  With work like this, there is little doubt that Blazona’s current concepts are just the beginning.

San Francisco based architect Kyu Che has come up with a design that is sure to captive most of those who see it.  The Lifepod concept is a sleek fusion of white curves and ample windows.  The design concept is to take the very best of 21st century technology from the automotive, aeronautic and RV industries and combine them into what Che calls “high tech mini capsule living.”

The Lifepod has more going for it that cool looks.  Che has realized the importance of transportation and portability in the entire prefabricated, tiny house process.  The issue of portability has thus impacted his overall design considerably.  This tiny house is nomadic in that it is collapsible and lightweight.  In fact, the Lifepod is designed in such a fashion that all of its components can be shipped inside of a standard forty-foot container.  This means that a Lifepod could make its way anywhere in the world in days or weeks.

Che wants the Lifepod to flexible enough that it can be put almost anywhere.  In order to meet this goal, he mimicked our four legged mammal cousins and designed different kinds of resting legs for the Lifepod.  There are four different styles of legs with each being more suited to the contours of the landscape.  These different “legs” will enable the Lifepod to sit in water or perch atop an apartment building.

With an eye towards our coming green future the Lifepod plans to be off-the-grid and free from utilities.  In this way the Lifepod can truly go almost anywhere.  If none of this has sparked your imagination consider this for a moment, one of Che’s Lifepod designs is to suspend the Lifepod from cables so its owners can hangout with the tree tops!

A big part of what makes the Lifepod so unique is that Che took a very comprehensive approach to the total design. He spent time factoring in not only the living space design, but also how that design will interact with the environment.  This is part of what makes Che’s designs not just innovative and practical, but quite fun as well.

Ecopods are modular tiny homes that aim to be eco-friendly.   They are “off the grid” and are made from recycled materials, giving them a very small environmental footprint and impact.  A modular home that is made out of recycled materials?  This should get the attention of all tiny home fans.

Ecopods are taking the concept of turning a shipping container into a home and really running with it.  What they have done is take the already super-tough shipping container, and made it tougher.  They’ve accomplished this by making it weather resistant.  Usage of a shipping container is part of how the ecopod is recycled and eco-friendly, but there is more to come from the ecopod in terms of being eco-friendly.  For example, the floors are recycled rubber from car tires.

The Ecopods are designed to be highly energy efficient meaning that they can be taken off the grid.  The ecopod has a bunch of solar powered options, including a solar-powered refrigerator and roof-mounted solar panels.  They are designed to use a 80 watt solar panel, which should eliminate the need to run power lines.  This, of course, means saving some money as well.

So what does the ecopod look like?  A standard ecopod, they do custom work as well, is a 8′x20′ steel shipping container that has been heavily modified.  Ecopod’s team is particularly found of using steel as a building material. Steel not only has a sturdy nature, but it is “infinitely recyclable.” Steel has always been valuable scrap that makes its way back into the recycling system.

Many people may not get excited when thinking about interior walls, but ecopod is incorporating some really interesting technology for their interior walls.  Magnesiacore technology uses magnesium oxide compounds and natural silicates to create a non-conbustible and versatile building material.  In fact, the ecopod team believes that Magneisacore is superior to “gypsum, cement, clay, wood and paper particles.”  Magnesium oxide is  very commonly found in nature, and Magnesiacore has been given a thumbs up by LEED for all uses.  No wonder ecopod is excited about it.

So while I wasn’t able to make the small home get-togethers in either San Diego or Sebastapol that happened a few months back, the small home movement seems to have decided to come to me.

Tammy from RowdyKittens.com and Amanda from Greenaerie are both going to be in Portland this week.  Tammy is actually intrepid enough to be willing to crash with me at the floating home for a night.  (I’ve warned her it’s pretty much going to be like camping except with slightly better facilities and most likely more sawdust.)

Tammy and I are currently trying to coordinate a get-together with Amanda.  I also know she wants to get some photos of my little floating home.

So don’t be too surprised if pictures and video footage of various degrees of silliness show up in the next week or so.  (I’m sure Rumi will get in on the act with at least Tammy.  He can smell a cat lover a mile off.)

It should also be a good opportunity for the three of us to meet face to face and discuss a couple of ideas we’ve been kicking around informally.

As part of the materials Greg Johnson provided to the writer for Flyp Media, he created a new video introducing the Small House Society.  I’m really impressed by how well it’s put together and the amount of information Greg was able to cover in under ten minutes.

This is the best introduction to the tiny house movement I’ve seen.  You can check it out below.  The video is also available on Blip.tv, Vimeo.com.

Additional information on the Small House Society can be found on ResourcesforLife.com.  If you are interested in becoming a member, the annual cost is $5.

As part of their most recent issue Fly Media has just released an interactive article on the Small Home Movement by Amy Van Vechten.

Greg Johnson from the Small House Society and ResourcesforLife.com and Tammy from RowdyKittens.com are both featured  in the article.  (I spent several hours being interviewed as well but apparently landed on the cutting room floor.  Them’s the breaks.)

This is the first interactive article I’ve seen on tiny homes and I think they did a wonderful job putting it together. It includes some wonderful photography and media content.

Please take a moment to check it out and also forward it on to people you think might appreciate it.

Over the next week Coming Unmoored will be featuring a series of articles focused on shipping container homes…

There are a lot of architects and builders that are beginning to wake up to the idea of using cargo containers for building. There are a lot of reasons that this idea’s time has come. I thought I would take a moment and outline why I like cargo container construction.  Sure, I don’t exactly feel “girly” discussing this topic, but the more I learn about cargo container construction, the more I like it!

First, due to the current economic slowdown, there are a lot of cargo containers piling up.  By a lot, we are talking about tens of thousands of them just sitting at docks all across the world.  A very large percentage of them are in Asian ports.  It may now be possible to get a better deal than ever on a cargo container.

In terms of prices, cargo containers can be found as cheaply as $1,000, or may cost as much as $6,000 or more.  Using a cargo container that has already been manufactured and is currently on a dock somewhere getting rusty, seems like a great eco-friendly idea.

The second reason to consider building with cargo containers is that they are very strong and durable.  After all, these containers are designed to be stacked on top of one another, while full of goods.  This fact speaks volumes about the strength of these containers.

This durability translates into other benefits as well.  Insects, vermin and mold have a tough time with steel.  There are few insects that find steel worth the time. Therefore, if you live in a termite populated area, your termite problem is basically solved.

Safety is another major point in favor of using cargo containers.  Due to the material from which they are constructed, cargo containers are going to be very safe.  Since the cargo container is built out of steel, it gives a homeowner an additional layer of physical safety from storms (and potentially intrusions as well).  Replacing wood and brick with metal also makes container homes resistant to fire.

Transportation is a big plus in favor of cargo container construction.  The largest piece of your housing puzzle can be delivered on a truck directly to your housing site.  This compares nicely to having to bring out every single piece of wood and brick that you will use for your project.

If building with cargo containers sounds like something you might be interested in doing, we recommend that you find an architect that has already tackled a project in your area.  Every year more and more architects are “taking the plunge,” and building with this strong yet flexible building option.