The Box Factory: A Prefab Off-grid, Zero-Energy and Carbon Home
Last Updated: Apr 9, 2025Climate change — in particular, the severe conditions faced by poor and ocean-side communities as sea levels and temperatures rise, and the weather becomes more erratic—has long concerned architect Hafsa Burt, principal, HB+A Architects, San Francisco. "It's difficult to understand why the developed world isn't taking more responsibility for the damage it's causing," she says.
"Nations south of the equator, especially poorer countries, will suffer the consequences of the west's energy consumption and consumption of resources in general. Among those countries, some have a carbon footprint per capita of 0.2, and we have an overwhelming goal to reduce GHGs by 65% by 2030 to meet the goals of the Paris Climate Accord!"
Burt is also concerned with the effects of indoor air quality on building occupants' health. Her involvement in initiating green building ordinances, mandates, and design standards has made Burt and the firm pioneers in healthy buildings and environmental sustainability. For years, while working on projects in the Bay Area, Burt recalls, she began noticing a lack of efficiencies in production and construction that she wanted to address and rectify.
"Experimentation and innovation are the backbones of our company," she says. "We're constantly looking for new ways to solve old problems." So, through Box Lab, the development company Burt founded, which focuses on research in product and space design and zero energy/zero carbon buildings, the team designed and built the Box Factory.
Table of Contents
- Energy Independence: Siting and Solar
- How Did Box Factory Achieve Net Positive Energy?
- Patent-Pending Custom Prefab
- A Demonstration Project
A single-family housing structure (with a patent pending), Box Factory "was created as a spec project to see if an off-grid, zero energy, zero carbon, prefab structure could work given the timeline and goals we hoped to achieve," she says. "We also wanted to create a fully integrated structure that would maximize efficiencies in energy and construction and manifest a different way of thinking about how people live in and use space."
Energy Independence: Siting and Solar
The Box Factory, a 1,750-square-foot single-family home, is located on nine acres near Jackson, California. In siting the structure, Burt studied the topography to maximize drainage, views, and orientation.
The main purpose of the Box Factory was to create a functioning model for our concept: energy and water independence, with a minimalist design aesthetic. We successfully achieved those technical and functional goals.
Camille LeFevre
Camille LeFevre is an architecture and design writer based in the Twin Cities.
