Prefab "green" house hoisted into place in Newport

November 5th, 2009, 2:01 pm · 4 Comments · posted by Pat Brennan, science, environment editor

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Photo by Michael Goulding

When the day began, the lot sandwiched between two homes in Newport Beach contained nothing but a foundation.

By midafternoon, the space was filled with a two-story, three-bedroom home — and an ultra-green home at that.

The prefabricated house, its four modules hoisted into place with a giant crane, is only the third of its kind ever built; builders and promoters hope it’s a sign of things to come.

Homeowner Greg Brown, a Newport Beach resident who will use the structure as a kind of beach house, says the interior should be ready in about four weeks.

“Now we’ve just got to bolt it up together, get it all finished off and then we’re good to go,” Brown said minutes after the last module was lowered into position.

Brown, who sells promotional products, said he and his family saw the home at a builders’ show in Las Vegas. They were already interested in living “green,” and thought the idea of an ultra-green house — made of recycled materials, filled with low-flow water fixtures, topped with solar panels — seemed a good fit.

Brown and the builder, Steve Glenn of LivingHomes, say they hope the home will be the first in Orange County to achieve the highest possible “green” rating — a platinum LEED certification.

It’s a title at least two others in the county are also hoping to be the first to receive.

“I’m not worried about being the first,” Brown said. “But I think it would be kind of cool.”

The construction job created quite a stir on the narrow street in Newport Beach, with neighbors coming out to watch and snap pictures.

“It’s amazing,” said neighbor George Nevin, who has lived on the street for 40 years. “I’ve never seen anything like this.”

(Register photo of prefabricated module being raised by crane by Michael Goulding.)

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