Prefabrication is how every home should be built now and into the future, claims Sheri Koones, author of Prefabulous Small Houses and Prefabulous + Sustainable: Building and Customizing an Affordable, Energy-Efficient Home. Still, prefab homes made up just two percent of new single-family houses in 2016, according to the U.S. Census Bureau. We're hoping this list of five fabulous prefabs, our favorites of 2019 thus far, can help remedy that situation.

Think Swiss knife with Cocoon9's prefabs: The furniture, appliances, and storage areas open up and fold away into walls, floors, and ceilings to maximize space. As for sustainability, the models incorporate such sustainable materials as F.S.C. certified bamboo and insulated glass with thermally broken aluminum frames. (The term "thermally broken" refers to the window's construction: The aluminum frame window is fabricated with a barrier in between the inside and outside window frames, which prevents the thermal energy loss.) All of the models are also equipped to accommodate solar panels and roof gardens.

2. Deltec: Renew Collection 

Deltec has been designing and constructing prefabs across the U.S. since the late 1960s. Currently, the Asheville, NC, company is being recognized for its energy-efficient prefab models. It's also a certified B Corporation. Deltec’s new Renew Collection is getting a lot of buzz. The models are prefabricated, panelized homes with a passive solar layout that can be net-zero ready. Homebuyers receive energy modeling based on the weather in the homeowner's region, and the company will customize the construction based on-site, climate, and homeowner needs. The Renew prefabs are certified as Zero Energy Ready, Indoor airPLUS, and as ENERGY STAR homes.

For this company, "Energy efficiency and sustainability are at the heart of our design philosophy," according to the website. Stillwater Dwellings' fabrication system utilizes prefabricated panels produced from high-quality, manufactured timber. The company says the timber "is superior to solid, sawn timber from which traditional homes are built." In this way, the construction process doesn't rely on wood from old-growth forests and uses 50 percent fewer materials compared to traditional building methods.

The prefabs are also highly insulated and tightly sealed to reduce energy costs and environmental impacts. Exterior walls are rated at R28 and roofs at R50. Low-VOC paint is used throughout the homes, and kitchen and bathroom countertops are made from recycled glass and porcelain. The homes also come ready to accommodate photovoltaics and electric car chargers.

4. P.A.T.H. by Starck with Riko

Also across the pond, French architect Philippe Starck, in collaboration with the Slovenian building company Riko, has innovated a Prefabricated Accessible Technological Homes (P.A.T.H.). A P.A.T.H. prefab uses an FSC certified wood-frame exterior; the interior walls are filled with cellulose thermal insulation around floor-to-ceiling glass windows and doors. The all-wood shell allows clients to maximize energy efficiency and insulation. The framing thickness and insulation can be adapted to fit even the most stringent Passive House standards.

P.A.T.H. utilizes renewable energy sources for heating, cooling, and ventilation. P.A.T.H. homes come renewable-energy ready to install solar panels, heat pumps, wind turbines, rainwater collector systems, and other essential elements of sustainable design. Clients can opt for packages that turn the P.A.T.H. home into a zero-energy or even positive-energy home.

As Starck told Rise, "Building your own house can be extremely risky: we know when it starts, but not necessarily when it ends, or how much it will cost. With P.A.T.H. and thanks to the industrial production of prefabricated components, in six months and for a defined budget, anyone can access a home." 

5. Alchemy Architects: weeHouse

In 2003, Geoff Warner, founder of Alchemy Architects in St. Paul, Minnesota, started with a seemingly simple idea: To design a sustainable prefab home that clients could buy in an easy, off-the-shelf way. After the first award-winning weeHouse in Wisconsin was built, things didn't go as planned. "With the weeHouse, we originally thought clients would choose a plan, and we could execute it with a factory partner in about three months," Warner says. "It didn't work that way. The weeHouse modules we showed were just starting points for customized homes."