Old Greenwich Home Project Reveals Surprising Benefits of Building with Styrofoam
While Styrofoam may be just about the last thing that comes to mind when it comes to eco-friendly materials, it turns out that it can be used to build a…
The British ModCell is Taking Prefab Homes to a Whole New Level with Straw Bale Construction
Straw buildings have come a long way from the days when all it took was a huff and puff to blow them right down. 21St century straw homes are not…
Crabill Modern – Award-Winning, Fascinating Home Combines Creativity with Comfort (Inspired by a Simple Acorn)
Believe it or not but the Crabill Modern, the environmentally-friendly home whose design earned N.C. State architecture professor Vincent Petrarca the Faculty Design Award from the Association of Collegiate Schools…
Cutting-Edge Contemporary Design Flirts with Energy Efficiency in Portland’s Skidmore PassivHaus
Portland architect Jeff Stern had a vision – he wanted to construct a home/workspace that would blend cutting-edge contemporary design with the highest possible degree of energy efficiency. The type…
2014 New American Home is the Greenest One Yet, Snubbed by Critics “Too Monstrous”
The 2014 New American Home, which served as the model home for this year’s National Association of Home Builders International Builder’s Show, is the most sustainable home in the show’s…
An Innovative Lightweight Living Roof Design – Planter Box and Trellis Retrofit System
Green roofs are one of the hottest concepts in sustainable living today, but they are not without problems – one of the most serious being, if you try to add…
Portable Prefab Cubes Shipped Via a Truck or Freight Helicopter Near You
German architect Werner Aisslinger has come up with a revolutionary new concept – a tiny (420 square foot) prefab cubic building that can be delivered anywhere via truck or freight…
Ehlers’ Earth-Bermed Home in North Carolina so Bizarre but Energy-Efficient
It all started out as an idea that came to David Ehlers, a North Carolina do-it-yourselfer, as he was working on the basement of his old home, a traditional brick…
The Ultimate Urban Recycling Project – Bay Bridge to be Reborn as a House
Ashes to ashes, dust to dust, metal to… a new house? When the city announced plans to demolish the eastern span of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge, many mourned the…
Radiant House Opts for Bamboo as the Renewable Source of Material
A team of students from Santa Clara University designed the 980-square foot Radiant House which was entered in the U.S. Department of Energy’s 2013 Solar Decathlon. While their entry did…