The prolific Michelle Kauffman's own prefab career came out of a search for affordable and green homes, so she decided to make prepackaged versions that answered both. At Dwell on Design today, she revealed that a similar desire for affordable, green neighborhoods led her to a new endeavor: prepackaged communities. Like her many house designs, the modular community systems will soon be spread out all over the country.

A new community in San Leandro, CA is made up of 24 townhouse units, sustainable materials and shared gardens; Lotus is a sustainable community in Northern California on a lake; and she's also working on a planned community in Denver. She's also releasing the MK Solair, prepackaged modular townhome units for urban environments.

Why build modular communities like this? To push the green agenda: The more they can prepackage the features, the more likely developers will be to adopt it. We'd also imagine the cost-cutting angle would appeal to stingy development companies.

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