Pre-Built
Brad Kittel believes in living sustainably, in a way that protects the earth for future generations. He also believes we need to live in homes that do not offgas like the mainstream homes being built today. He offers his Tiny Texas Houses to downsize your carbon footprint for about $38,000. to just under $100,000. A Tiny Texas house buyer will need to pay for moving their Tiny Texas House to their lot. Tiny Texas Houses are built in Luling, Texas of 99% recycled materials as well as energy efficient features such as sprayed in isonyne foam.
Pre-Fabricated
Another concept of a similar vein is Specht Harpman’s (Austin, Texas and New York) ZeroHouse™ . The ZeroHouse™ is a prefabricated home that can be easily shipped and quickly erected. ZeroHouse™ operates completely off-the-grid as a net-zero home. Per the architects’ web site, there is no need for any external utility or waste disposal connections. This is because the ZeroHouse uses rainwater collection and solar panels, triple paned windows and a composting waste system. These tiny modern looking homes run about $350,000. and offer 650 square feet with 250 square feet in outdoor covered deck areas.
Tiny or McMansion?
The concepts in Tiny Texas Houses and ZeroHouse™ is the exact opposite of the huge McMansions that have such a large footprint. One article I read on AlterNet.org entitled “Big Houses Are Not Green: America’s McMansion Problem” stated that in Austin, Texas 235 homes were built in a single year that were 5,000 square feet or more. 41 of the 235 homes had between 8,000 and 29,000 square feet. Compared to the rest of the world, the United States is the world champion in the huge sizes of homes.