Published by Martha Danly under Green Building

Is it possible for a structure to be pre-fabricated, hand built, AND green?  It takes genius, but guess what—we have geniuses!  In the past two weeks I’ve encountered two companies that create portable buildings built with the genius of ‘AND’.  Let’s take a look.

A week ago I toured The Little House on the Trailer, pictured above.  It was on show at our local community center as part of a green home tour.  It’s a jewel of a house, complete with wainscoting, recycled fir flooring, a mantel, 10-foot ceilings, all-in-one kitchen, and an incinerating toilet.

Inspired by 19^th-century farmhouses, the Little House is a new way to add a permanent or temporary room to your property.  Stephen Marshall of Inverness, California custom builds each one in six weeks, then rolls it to your site. The Little House I toured costs $60,000.  If you live in Northern California, this is an option to consider.  Even if you’re not within spitting distance, take a look anyway—it’s inspiring to see this creative solution to a time-honored problem.

At the West Coast Green expo in San Jose on Friday, I saw another portable structure made by The Reclaimer called PLOGS^TM.  Like the Little House, it’s an alternative to adding on to your house or creating an instant weekend getaway.

PLOGS (which stands for Portable Living/Office Green Structures) run the gamut from well-appointed guesthouses to simpler offices, yoga studios, and tea houses.  As you’d expect from a company called The Reclaimer, PLOGS are made with 99% reclaimed old growth lumber harvested in the Los Angeles area.  When I stepped inside the PLOG on the show floor, it felt warm and inviting—a refuge from the noisy scene beyond the door.

Of course, the other components are ecologically sound too, such as no or low VOC paints and recycled roofing materials. And like the Little House, every PLOG is built to order; pricing begins at $9,498.  Keep it simple or add amenities like skylights and custom wrought iron hardware (my personal vices).

What a great combination the Little House and PLOGS offer: good looks AND quality workmanship AND green.  If you know of any other portable structures like these, let us know, and help us spread the word.

P.S.  Just an aside: whether it’s apocryphal or not, Andy Grove, the former CEO and Chairman of Intel Corporation, was supposed to have said to someone asking for an extension on the deadline for a new product:  “I won’t stand for the tyranny of ‘OR’; I want the genius of ‘AND’.  Come back with a better answer!”  It doesn’t really matter if the story is true, because the concept rings true, anyway.  Be a genius!

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