Marmol Radziner Prefab To Install Green, Modern Luxury Home In Hollywood Hills, Los Angeles

Marmol Radziner Prefab (marmolradzinerprefab.com), the award winning architecture and construction firm that creates modular, prefabricated homes, has announced the upcoming installation of a sustainable, modern prefab home, the "Hollywood Hybrid", in the heart of Hollywood, Calif., on Tuesday, June 30, 2009, from 8am to 3pm. The installation event offers unique photo and video opportunities, and highlights the home's low carbon and ecological footprint. The Hollywood Hybrid represents Los Angeles' first prefab home located on the steep slopes of the Hollywood Hills, http://marmolradzinerprefab.com/custom_prefab_homes.php

Prefabricated Structures: Focusing on Regulations, Advantages

What is a container? What are prefabricated living container modules? And what are their pros?

The first advantage of prefabricated living container modules is of course its cost. Generally speaking, prefabricated houses are cheaper for a number of reasons.

In addition to being cheaper than brick houses, prefabricated structures – let it be a house or an office – offer two more advantages: they can be customized from the early design phase and easily transported.

And what are the laws about prefabricated structures?

One section of the website of the High Council of Public Works (Consiglio Superiore dei Lavori Pubblici) is dedicated to prefabricated structures. The Central Engineering Service (Servizio Tecnico Centrale, or STC) is a supervisory body in charge of complex and delicate functions in the civil engineering field as per security of the public and private buildings.

These functions – which are mentioned in article 9 of law no. 1086 of 1971 about prefabricated structures – can be summarized as follows: qualification of mass-produced prefabricated structures, certifications of suitability for unconventional building systems, and authorizations for use of unconventional building aggregates.

The expression “unconventional building systems” indicates building systems other than masonry, or frameworks made of Reinforced Concrete (RC); pre-stressed reinforced concrete (PRC); steel; or a combination of the above, for four or more-storey buildings, either above or partially below ground and for structures with bearing panels.

The expression “unconventional building aggregates” indicates those building aggregates not envisaged by the Engineering Regulations for Building Works (Norme Tecniche sulle Costruzioni), whose use is subject to ad hoc directives issued and certified by the STC.

Documents such as the “Qualification of Prefabricated RC and PRC Frameworks”, the “Body of Regulations”, the “STC Guidelines about the Ministerial Decree of 3 Dec 1987 concerning prefabricated structures”, the “Guidelines for RC and PRC structures”, and the “CE Certification of Conformity for prefabricated RC and PRC Frameworks”. On 4 March 2008, the Tax Office (Agenzia delle Entrate) issued Resolution no. 76/E that applies to (a) construction of buildings whose elements are assembled at the building yard and (b) the production of the aforementioned elements using concrete. Both of the above are applied the so-called reverse-charge principle.

How Prefabricated Houses Work

Manufactured houses often get a bad rep. There's nothing like getting stuck behind a truck hauling half a house to get the jokes rolling. And "trailer-trash" is part of the modern vocabulary. However, just as Starbucks redefined coffee and "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" redefined game shows, "prefab" modules are redefining assembly-line houses. Those who favor them tout benefits like smaller price tags, better construction, increased environmental benefits and quicker move-in times. Prefabs are growing in size, too. They're no longer two-room cottages without indoor plumbing; modular houses can grow to thousands of square feet with multiple stories and basements. The prefab industry is expected to top $10 billion in 2007, according to money-zine.com. Plus, since Hurricane Katrina, prefab houses have gotten a boost as more attractive and sturdier alternatives to FEMA trailers.

The assembly of a prefab house is based on the same concept as that of a car. Just as Henry T. Ford's production method for the Model T made cars affordable for the average consumer, assembly-line production and bulk buying drive down the cost and construction time for prefabricated homes. Prefabricated homes have evolved over the years and now come in many varieties and with lots of extras. Just as you can add a satellite radio or heated seats to your car, you can add hot tubs and crown molding to your modular home. Welcome to the world of prefab.­

But what exactly is a prefab house? How are the pieces constructed and assembled? How much money does it take to get a house on a plot of land? And what kind of instructional manual comes with the ultimate model kit?

What is Prefabrication?

Prefabrication is the practice of assembling components of a structure in a manufacturing site or in a factory, and transporting complete assemblies or sub-assemblies to the construction site where the structure is to be located. The term is used to distinguish this process from the more conventional construction practice of transporting the basic materials to the construction site where all assembly is carried out.

The term prefabrication also applies to the manufacturing of things other than structures at a fixed site. It is frequently used when fabrication of a section of a machine or any movable structure is shifted from the main manufacturing site to another location, and the section is supplied assembled and ready to fit. It is not generally used to refer to electrical or electronic components of a machine, or mechanical parts such as pumps, gearboxes and compressors which are usually supplied as separate items, but to sections of the body of the machine which in the past were fabricated with the whole machine. Prefabricated parts of the body of the machine may be called 'sub-assemblies' to distinguish them from the other components.

Advantage of Prefabricated Houses

1. Prefabricated houses are constructing more quickly according to the concrete houses.
2. Suitable for everything and everywhere.
3. You can dissassemble and assemble it everytime you want.
4. You can design and build every model you want.
5. Its very environmentalist.
6. Its more resistant against earthquake than concrete buildings.
7. Its more economical than concrete buildings.