Seattle-based custom prefab manufacturer Method Homes displayed a 722-square-foot prototype of its Paradigm model -- which it says will be certified as LEED Platinum -- at

last month in San Francisco.

, which designed the prototype, is working with Method Homes on the Paradigm series.  Current designs range from 656 to 1,868 square feet.

The prototype, which includes a slew of sustainable features, qualifies for 4 out of 6 petals in the

(a fifth, for site selection, is also possible).

Method Homes is offering "sustainability options packages" to build Paradigm models to meet Living Building or Passivehaus standards. Read more about

or take a look at it on

When Northwesterners think of Lindal Cedar Homes, we think of, well, cedar and steep roofs and a foresty look. Not so the petite

at Taliesin, the Frank Lloyd School of Architecture, which is now available through Lindal dealers,

The original Mod.Fab installed on the grounds of Taliesin West will live again thanks to a new endeavor between Lindal Cedar Homes and both the Frank Lloyd Wright School of Architecture and Frank Lloyd Wright Foundation. Thus, Mod.Fab will be available anywhere there's a Lindal dealer, except the plan is also available in an additional exterior finish and in two larger sizes ...

The Mod.Fab design is made available through the Lindal Architects Collaborative in which architect designs are matched with Lindal's building system. LAC now has over thirty designs from architects around the country with more added every quarter or so.

You can read more about the three models available --  470, 700 and 800 square feet --

When it comes to sharing a home, there's more than one way to arrange for privacy.

Architect Terri Chiao knew she couldn't afford the rent on a 750-square-foot Brooklyn loft without a roommate, but she didn't want to divide it up with walls. Instead, she built a cabin and a treehouse inside the space to be used as private living quarters, leaving the remainder of the space free for dinners, parties and art salons.

A kind of "urban lawn" separates the two mini dwellings -- Chiao says she was after a feeling of living in the country while living in Brooklyn. And there's a video by Dirksen to show the cozy arrangements -- all built by Chiao and friends for about $2,000 in materials.

Chiao now shares the treehouse with her partner, fellow artist Adam Frezza, and they use the cabin as a guest room.  She describes her approach to designing the space as "being open to really thinking about what is the essential that you need, and then starting with that."

-- both passive and active solar -- that has solar panels not just on the roof but also used as an awning -- a clever idea. The 8-by-15-foot house was built by the

and uses SIPs (structural insulated panels).

Also on Tiny House Talk are photos of

including a rather interesting tiny, igloo-like structure that

says "appears to be built by a homeless person from scrap found in the area. It is tucked in between two abandoned factories on Erskine Street and looks to be well made."

Ever dreamed of hitting the road in a camper van and not returning?

in a Ford Transit Connect cargo van, which she converted for camping over the course of three weeks, with help from friends. There are photos of the interior, which has a portable camping stove, a sink and a water pump, but no toilet. The van doesn't look like a camper, she says, so she can park it "almost anywhere" at night.

Her "mortgage," she writes, putting the word inside quote marks, is only $300 a month, and she goes wherever she pleases -- she favors warm climates -- and works out of her van.

Tiny house blogger Laura LaVoie picks her

by people who built their own tiny homes.

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