Long gone is the notion that a prefab home is nothing to brag about. Sheri Koones' latest book, "Prefabulous World," spotlights three artful, architect-designed manufactured larger homes in Oregon and Washington that are helping to revolutionize the way dwellings of all sizes are constructed around the world.

knows his way around prefab. His modern design, affordable ideabox houses are in vineyards and coastlines, from the San Juan Islands to Palm Springs, Calif.

and his most popular prefab is a two-bedroom, two-bath less than 900 square feet. Here is the way he explains the building options:

Whether they're boxes, triangles or another shape, modular units are built in the factory and trucked to the site complete and ready to attach to one another. Houses can be created from any number of modules that are craned into position on-site. Construction is typically built to the local residential building code, making prefab modular homes considered by banks and appraisers to be the same as homes built on site.

If you think about an old barn raising and picture the wall going up, that's a panel in its simplest form. Today, panels can be built in the factory using standard residential framing construction or a more advanced system of structural insulated panels, or SIPs. A SIP consists of a layer of foam insulation sandwiched between sheets of plywood or other material and shipped to the site ready to erect. SIPs' panels are often stronger than conventional framing and offer tremendous insulation values making them a consideration for those looking for super-efficient thermal shell.

At first glance, timber frame construction seems quite traditional. But these days, the frames are fabricated in factories and shipped to the build site, eliminating any site waste.

Although both materials are used less frequently than others for residential construction in the United States, both can be used to construct prefabricated walls and frames in factory settings.

Once the trucks, crews and cranes go away, clues that these homes were pre-built in factories are erased. But the benefits linger.

Ultra-insulated walls and windows mean future heating and cooling expenses are slashed. Work and waste on the site is reduced as modular or panel pieces are constructed in a factory miles away. In the meantime, foundation and pipes are laid on the lot.

The biggest breakthroughs since Foursquares and farmhouses were built from kits purchased through Sears Roebuck and Montgomery Ward are these sophisticated designs – from cottages to cantilevering moderns with expanses of glass – are energy efficient and about as green as they can be. Owners intentionally use locally sourced and sustainable materials.

As Robert Redford says in the book’s foreword, “I hope these examples will inspire you as they have inspired me.”

Pages in the book are devoted to Seattle-based prefab builder Method Homes and Portland-based Skylab Architecture, which partnered to create a triangular module that can be used as a 100-square-foot structure for a food cart or tiny house or the modules can be linked to become a large house or even larger commercial building.

The partnership’s prototype, a private residence called Portland HOMB, was open to the public one day in 2010 and more than 1,000 people flooded in to see it.

The complex, two-story house was built at the Method factory in three months and completed in three months on a 50-by-100-foot lot in Northeast Portland. Twenty-eight modules joined to shelter a double-height, vaulted living room, a kitchen with Energy Star-rated appliances, four bedrooms, three bathrooms and a large, subterranean space.

What visitors didn’t see: toxic stains and paints. Only non-toxic materials were used along with certified wood and easily renewable granite and bamboo. Exterior vertical blackened cedar siding was locally sourced.

Photovoltaic panels on the roof generate most of the energy for the house and a mini-split heating and cooling system also saves on electricity costs. The air-to-water heat pump is used to heat both the domestic hot water and the water for the hydronic radiant heating system.

The book also includes the Everett House by Jonathan Davis with Davis Studio Architecture+Design of Bainbridge Island, Wash. The panelized prefab house is part of a small enclave of net-zero homes arranged in micro-hoods around community gardens on the eight-acre Grow Community on Bainbridge Island.

The exterior is sheathed with low-maintenance fiber cement panels and corrugated steel siding. Windows were positioned for optimal solar gain and privacy. Plantings are all regional or edible, and paving is permeable. Inside, floors are made of fast-growing bamboo, recycled rubber and cork.

Also included in the book, the Island Passive House by Tessa Smith and Randy Foster of Artisans Group of Olympia, Wash., was built to withstand high winds, hungry bugs and the harsh marine climate of the San Juan Islands.

The design was inspired by the owners’ appreciation for “the sunny patios and sense of the outdoors of houses in Mexico, the small, aesthetic spaces of houses in Japan and the prefab options of houses in Scandinavia...”

Walls were prefabricated in a factory in Satsop, Wash., and transported by truck and ferry to the site.

A tight envelope combined with well-placed, triple-glazed windows and large overhangs, and Energy Star-rated appliances limit the need for mechanical energy in the low-pitched, shed-roof house

Inside, the living room has maple floorboards made from wind felled trees. Cabinetry is made from FSC-certified NAUF (no added urea formaldehyde) plywood and there are GreenGuard–certified quartz counters.

Koones’ 300-page hardbound book, "Prefabulous World: Energy-Efficient and Sustainable Homes Around the Globe" ($35, Abrams) is being released on Earth Day, April 22.

Join the conversation at Homes & Gardens of the Northwest on Facebook or in the comment section below at www.oregonlive.com/hg

Note to readers: if you purchase something through one of our affiliate links we may earn a commission.

Registration on or use of this site constitutes acceptance of our User Agreement, Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement, and Your California Privacy Rights (User Agreement updated 1/1/21. Privacy Policy and Cookie Statement updated 5/1/2021).

© 2022 Advance Local Media LLC. All rights reserved (About Us). The material on this site may not be reproduced, distributed, transmitted, cached or otherwise used, except with the prior written permission of Advance Local.

Community Rules apply to all content you upload or otherwise submit to this site.