Published by Calvin Ahlgren under Green Building, Sustainability

The notion of the FlatPak house seems so simple that it strikes me, as first-time observer, with forehead-slapping “what-took-so-long?” wonder.

Let’s say you’re a FlatPak homebuyer. You take a basic unit of dimension—eight-by-nine wall panels—and use it to co-design a sustainable house with a FlatPak expert. Your building is formed, panel by panel, in the Midwest, and shipped unassembled to your designated site. A crew brings the pieces on a truck, assembles your home in a short period of time (measured in days, not months), thanks you, then leaves.

It may sound like cartoon construction, but this is more than Lego-For-Adults. The advantages of the FlatPak system are far subtler and greener than they appear on the surface.

The panels, for example, are formaldehyde-free engineered wood MDF produced from waste from the lumberyard cutting-floor. The wood comes from “their scrap dumpster to your beautiful house,” as the FlatPak ad copy asserts. And a bonus that these wood scraps are from sustainably managed forests.

FlatPak calls its manufacturing process “a zero-cut/high-yield system”—meaning they produce very little waste of their own. The materials are chosen for sustainability in terms of low energy use, waste, and toxins; plus durability and the potential for reuse.

Each house is put together as a packaged project that includes walls, roof, cabinets, bathrooms, kitchen, and built-ins, all gathered with an eye to low-water, low-energy usage for appliances, and R42 windproof materials for roofing. They use high-performing thermal glass windows; soy-based, high performance insulation for the walls; and water-based, low VOC finishes on wood and concrete materials. It is a point of company pride that a FlatPak house uses no materials that rust, weather, or decay, so longevity is built-in, reducing the total cost of ownership.

FlatPak homes are assembled with screws and bolts, so they can be disassembled, carted off, and reused for another purpose. FlatPak will even post your photos and building plans on their website, in the event you want to auction your house on eBay and ship it to the aftermarket crowd.

All this thought-through design integrity is the work of FlatPak originator/owner Charlie Lazor, a Yale School of Architecture graduate. Lazor begs to differ with those who might characterize his houses as simply contemporary pre-fab. In his role as designer, Lazor takes responsibility for the overall sustainability of the house, not just its good looks. A tremendous amount of lifecycle thinking has gone into the FlatPak house concept, which works at being green from the inside out.

From my point of view, it’s key that the FlatPak design process engages the home buyer deeply in sustainability issues. FlatPak’s design flexibility requires participation, leading to ownership of the house on all levels, not purely financial, but environmental as well.

That nudges us closer to the goal. I like that.