Plant Prefab’s 3 green passive homes for families

• Plant Prefab unveiled three models in its new Passive House LivingHomes starting at $ 586,300.
• The houses have at least three bedrooms and smart home features using Amazon’s Alexa.
• The prefabricated plant became so popular in 2020 that it had to refuse business.
• Visit the Insider Business section for more stories.

Plant Prefab, a manufacturer of prefabricated houses that grew dramatically during the COVID-19 pandemic, launched Passive House LivingHomes, a line of three environmentally friendly homes for families.

Currently, there is a wide variety of prefabricated units available on the market, from small bulletproof concrete houses to smart houses with integrated artificial intelligence programs. Plant Prefab is now adding new products to the growing list: three prefabricated houses that follow strict ecological protocols.

Read More: Developers have zero incentive to fix the affordable housing crisis. Here’s what a real estate executive thinks can change that.

In general, prefabricated houses are often considered the solution for the creation of sustainable and affordable housing units, and the space has recently received increasing public interest.

“Our focus is on building homes that are as sustainable and healthy as possible,” said Steve Glenn, founder and CEO of Plant Prefab, in an interview with Insider. “We had more LEED Platinum certified homes than almost any other design company, far more than any other prefabricated one.”

What is a “passive house”?

Prefabricated plant

Plant Prefab, based in California, has partnered with Pennsylvania architect Richard Pedranti for the Passive House LivingHomes project. According to Glenn, Passive House certification has stricter energy standards than any LEED certification.

Plant Prefab tries to “combine profit and purpose” and has always been interested in building according to the passive house standard, Glenn told Insider.

Meeting these standards involves optimizing a unit to be energy efficient. To be certified by the Passive House Institute US and Passive House International, homes need to use 80% less energy for heating and cooling than a typical building and must be “healthier and more comfortable” to occupy, according to Plant Prefab.

To do this, domestic manufacturers need to implement the correct solar orientation, good insulation and ventilation and “performance” windows and doors.

As a result, all new Plant Prefab homes have a fresh air system, efficient water heaters, an energy or heat recovery fan, insulation and strong windows and doors.

The houses are also built using Plant Prefab’s “Plant Building System”, which uses company-owned panels and modules to create an entire home in a flexible and efficient way.

“By building in a remote controlled environment, we can build more efficiently in terms of time and cost,” said Glenn.

The tremendous growth of the prefabricated plant during COVID-19

Prefabricated plant

Plant Prefab started designing new passive houses in 2020 during COVID-19. This also coincided with the company’s best year on record, when people moved from bustling cities to quieter areas or a “second residential community”.

In the beginning, during the coronavirus pandemic, Plant Prefab never went through a downturn, even when other companies started fighting. Interest was so high during the year that Plant Prefab had to start refusing business.

Ultimately, the company’s revenue grew 17% from 2019 to 2020, while its gross margin increased 23%, according to Glenn.

Now Plant Prefab is looking to expand its factory space.

Take a look inside the three Passive House LivingHomes

The public has shown great interest in Plant Prefab’s new passive homes since its launch about two weeks ago, although Glenn predicts the company will not see many contracts in the coming months, as “houses are not an impulse purchase”.

Now, let’s take a look at the three units.

RPA’s LivingHomes 1 and 2 have sloping roofs for solar panels, while LivingHome 3 was inspired by California and mid-century homes. All units feature Amazon Alexa smart home technology and at least three bedrooms, providing more space than a small apartment in the city for a family.

RPA LivingHome 1 has 2,218 square feet with four bedrooms, three bathrooms and an optional two-car garage.

Prefabricated plant

Like many modern houses, the kitchen, the dining room and the living room are all in an open space. The first floor also has a laundry room, two bedrooms and two bathrooms.

Prefabricated plant

Above, the elevated space of RPA LivingHome 1 has two bedrooms, a bathroom and an extra room that can be transformed into a home office or children’s playroom.

In total, the house starts at almost $ 586,300.

Now moving on to the second model. The largest $ 614,400 RPA LivingHome 2 has three bedrooms, 2.5 bathrooms and a garage, totaling 2,316 square feet.

Prefabricated plant

The house includes a front foyer, mudroom with laundry and an open kitchen and dining area. After the kitchen and the stairs, there is the living room of RPA LivingHome 2, which gives way to the patio and the home office.

Prefabricated plant

The master bedroom with the master bath and closet is upstairs. There is also an extra room for a home gym, an office or an additional closet.

In the corridor of the master bedroom are the two additional sleeping spaces and the other full bathroom.

Finally, the largest RPA LivingHome 3 has 3,182 square feet with its four bedrooms, 3.5 bathrooms and a garage. According to Plant Prefab, the unit has a “distinctly Californian design” and was inspired by homes from the 1940s to the 1960s.

Prefabricated plant

Going inside, the third model has a foyer and an open plan kitchen, dining room and living room that leads to the patio. There is also a home office for all remote employees who are still stuck at home.

The laundry and toilet, the bathroom and the two bedrooms are in the hallway of the living area. The master bedroom with bathroom, closet and access to the pool is at the end of the corridor for a little more privacy.

Prefabricated plant

The garage and spa of the house can be transformed into a larger home office or a gym with kitchen, bathroom, sauna and steam room.

Leaving the city to get more fresh air? You are lucky. The nearly $ 877.00 home has the largest outdoor space of all three models with a pool and some extra space for a fireplace and a dining and living area.