Alternative housing for uncertain times

Be the first on your block to break through the white-picket-fence barrier with creative new housing alternatives that can save you money, save energy, recycle existing materials — or even float.

Save money: Yurt

Average cost: $9,785 for 706 square feet

Cost savings: $55,527 over a comparable-size home, based on the average U.S. price per square foot of $92.51

Description: A weathertight, tent-like circular structure used by Asian nomads for centuries. Today’s yurts come with bombproof 100-percent woven polyester fabric, vinyl windows, heating options like wood stoves, and plenty of room for creature comforts like a king-size bed. If you’re a nature lover, the yurt’s sound transmission is an added bonus: Its membrane structure amplifies outside noises like wind and rain.

Downside: Sound transmission: Yurts aren’t ideal for cities unless you love the amplified sounds of a garbage truck rumbling by at 6 a.m. (and some cities don’t allow them).

Contact: Pacific Yurts Inc.

Runner-up: Get back to the land for even fewer dollars with an Earthworks Tipi. A 28-foot-tall, 615-square-foot shelter covered in flame-resistant fabric and machine-powered poles costs $2,928.

Save energy: The Oko modular house

Average cost: $170,000, plus land

Cost savings: Variable. The average U.S. home price is $252,900.

Description: A carbon-neutral, eco-friendly, three-story prefab house assembled from biodynamically grown wooden panels. The Oko allows for natural ventilation, maximal daylight (read: passive solar, which saves you heating costs), and can be reconfigured from its standard size of 1,055 square feet to accommodate growing or shrinking families.

Downside: It might be hard to get your hands on one. The London architectural firm Youmeheshe is busy constructing three homes for South London and 26 for Stavangar, Norway, as well as working with U.S. manufacturers to produce the house here.

Contact: Youmeheshe Architects

Runner-up: Try an Irresidence, an off-the-grid, solar-and-wind-powered cottage with an indoor/outdoor composting toilet, fireproof steel siding, a 9 x 120-watt solar array, insulated shutters, and grey- and black-water soakage pits designed by Toronto architect John Bowron. But think about it for the five-year plan. The architect is so busy that he hasn’t had time to actually build the protoype.

Recycle: The Quik house

Average cost: $184,000, plus shipping, and land

Cost savings: None. Average square foot price is $125 to $165, quite a bit higher than the $92.51 U.S. average. Plus, land is not included.

Description: A 75 percent recycled, 2,000-square-foot, three-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath shipping-container-cum-house that takes only three months to throw together. Bonus: For an added fee, have your Quik House sprayed by local grafitti artists.

Downside: Since shipping-container houses are all the rage, there’s a six-month waiting list for this one. Plus, once you finally get the kit, it’s up to you to assemble it.

Contact: Quik Build LLC

Runner-up: Buy your own new or used shipping container from TRS Containers and fix it up yourself. Or for the ultimate in custom shipping container design, consider Addis Containers, a New Zealand-based architectural firm that can turn a half-dozen stainless steel boxes into a beautiful modern fortress.

On water: Portable floating home

Average cost: Custom-priced, but considerably more expensive than a land-locked house.

Cost savings: Zero

Description: Considering 80 percent of the world’s population lives near water, it’s no wonder that architectural firms worldwide, especially in Sweden, Germany and the Netherlands, are turning their attention to designing high-quality, exquisitely deisgned floating homes. The futuristic Jetson houseboats designed by Germany’s Förster Trabitszch Architects come in four sizes, from 1,227 to 2,421 square feet, are built on a reinforced concrete pontoon system, and have lightweight walls, with varying room configurations. Link as many as 12 together for a floating neighborhood, or be the first to own one in your neighborhood.

Downside: Don’t expect to pull up anchor and take these houseboats out for a spin — they’re portable, but are designed to accommodate sewage, electricity, wireless internet and a water supply system, which makes them tough to move.

Contact: Förster Trabitszch Architects

Runner-up: For true mobility, invest in a future museum piece that doubles as a wonder of the open road: the $49,737 Design Within Reach Airstream Trailer. The 16-foot, 7-inch classic aluminum trailer comes with Italian laminate countertops, a Sony sound system, a flat-screen TV and beds that will allow you to get 10 hours of zzzzzzzs no matter where you park.