A nationwide design blog recently recognized one of Springfi eld’s own as an industry leader. Last week, Jeff Sommers of Square Root Architecture + Design in Springfi eld was named a “groundbreaker” by Curbed.com for his innovative C3 prefabricated modular home concept. He was one of eight architects across the country to receive the designation. The concept is a compact yet gorgeous cube of a house with plenty of green features. It’s well insulated, and the beautiful, sustainably sourced wood paneling brings warmth to the design. “C3” is short for “Cube, Cut, Copy,” which refers to the homes built at a factory, then trucked to their destinations instead of being built on site. That cuts down on cost and ensures consistent results. Sommers, who splits his practice between Springfi eld and Chicago, has installed a few C3 homes in Chicago, but the complications of getting homes that are already built inspected on site by city offi cials has kept the concept from really taking off. Sommers wants to open a prefab home factory in Chicago or Springfi eld to solve that problem, and he wants to build a prefab “village” with zero net energy usage in Springfi eld. Check out the Curbed article online at bit.ly/SommersC3.