Our Rating: 5/5 (See: How Leaf Score is calculated)
[leaf_rating_five]
If you live in the eastern U.S. or Canada, and you’re sick of me talking about all the amazing companies making eco-friendly prefab homes in the Pacific Northwest, you’ll want to check out EcoCraft. Based in Pittsburgh, this company uses prefabrication techniques to create custom designed homes.
What makes them green?
EcoCraft incorporate smart home technologies, high-performance insulation and mechanical systems, water conservation and energy conservation systems, and passive and active solar systems into their designs to make homes eco-friendly. This means that they focus on creating an air-tight building envelope, include high-performance windows and doors, using energy recovery ventilation systems, passive solar orientation, thermal-bridge-free construction and other methods to construct a home that meets Passive House requirements.
EcoCraft use FSC certified wood, eco-friendly cellulose insulation, recycled carpet products, and other sustainably sourced construction materials. They also use other renewable and recyclable building materials where possible and recycle 95% of the small amount of construction waste that is produced.
Any downsides?
EcoCraft are a smaller outfit than Deltec, Unity Homes and Living Homes. This may mean your project takes a little bit longer and not have quite so many cost efficiencies. If you live in Pittsburgh, or close by, EcoCraft could well be the right company for you, but if you’re planning to build outside of Pittsburgh, you’re probably better off with a larger or more local company.
For customers outside of the North East region of the U.S., EcoCraft only offer consultation services. For those in the North East but not in Pittsburgh, EcoCraft offer a Direct Buy option where you can work with them to design your home and arrange for the prefab pieces to be constructed, but have your own General Contractor and team in place to work through all other aspects of your project.
What kind of eco-friendly prefab homes do they build?
A wide range of floor plans are available from EcoCraft, in modern and classic designs, all of which can be customized. The base price for an EcoCraft prefabricated, eco-friendly home is just $175 per sq. ft.
EcoCraft offer floor plans as a springboard from which to design your dream home and then figure out how to prefab your home to make the construction process as eco-friendly and efficient as possible. Their prefabricated construction approach allows them to build virtually any home plan in as little as 90 days.
Who are EcoCraft and why should you trust them?
It’s easy to tell that EcoCraft aren’t just paying lip service to ‘green construction’, because they also offer consultations to help designers, architects, and other professionals create green buildings. They have also partnered with Phipps Conservatory to run an EcoClassroom where kids learn about environmental sustainability. Start them young, I say!