Prefabricated for performance: incorporating LEED and SITES into modular housing and landscape design

Abstract

The design and construction industries play a critical role in shaping the built environment, yet they also significantly contribute to global emissions, resource depletion, and material consumption. Sustainable design innovation offers an opportunity to rethink these processes by introducing practical solutions that prioritize environmental responsibility. Techniques such as prefabrication and modular design have emerged as transformative approaches, enabling designers to create efficient, replicable systems that reduce waste and energy use. Frameworks like LEED and SITES provide valuable metrics for evaluating sustainability, offering point-based systems to quantify environmental impact and guide its integration across projects. This research centers on the Intuitive Home Prefabricated Package, a modular design strategy that combines prefabricated housing components with modular site and landscape systems. Originally developed as part of Kansas State University’s Gateway Decathlon (GWD) project, the Intuitive Home has evolved into a replicable framework supporting both architectural and landscape architectural sustainability. The package explores modularity at multiple scales—ranging from indoor systems and structural housing components to site features such as a modular deck system, in-ground water cistern, and integrated green wall. These site elements were designed for adaptability, ease of installation, and performance tracking, aligning with both environmental and construction efficiency goals. By organizing its systems around LEED v4.1 Residential Single Family and SITES v2 certification criteria, and developing a custom checklist for evaluation, the project demonstrates how prefabricated strategies can be optimized for sustainability across disciplines. The Salina Implementation of the Intuitive Home further applies these strategies— alongside additional best practices—in a real-world context, achieving LEED Platinum and SITES Platinum scores. These outcomes demonstrate the capacity of prefabricated systems to meet rigorous sustainability benchmarks even prior to on-site construction. Through this study, the integration of prefabrication and modularity with established sustainability frameworks reveals the potential for a broader shift within the design and construction industries—supporting future projects that prioritize long-term performance, environmental responsibility, and cross disciplinary collaboration.