If you’re fortunate enough to be self-distancing at a residence with a backyard, you’ve probably harbored daydreams of working at home, but also separate from your actual living space ? perhaps something spacious, modern, and sustainable like one of these Node carbon-negative off-grid prefabs outfitted with solar panels and a rainwater collection system.
Photo: Andrew Pogue for Node
The Seattle-based prefab company Node offers flat-pack building designs with USGBC LEED certifications up to platinum, compact as 400 square feet scaling up to full-size homes. Designed by Wittman Estes Architecture, each accessory dwelling unit is engineered to be easily shipped almost anywhere and assembled in days, and focuses upon prefabricated designs with an emphasis using non-toxic materials, an incorporation of solar power with its own energy storage, energy efficiency using a structure-wide systems integration, and a low impact and easy to install foundation system option. Photo: Andrew Pogue for Node
Photo: Andrew Pogue for Node
Photo: Andrew Pogue for Node

Energy efficient kitchen appliances like inductive stovetops were chosen to optimize solar power self-efficiency while also keeping indoor pollutants at a minimum.
The Node Trillium series’ smallest option is a 400-square-foot layout ideally suited as a backyard home office, with the alternative for 800 square feet and even a 1,000 square feet, 3-bedroom layout for more inclusive live-in features. The TrilliumR...