Three of the six homes at Madison Street just received LEED Platinum certification, making them the first Platinum certified homes in Tennessee.  Developed and designed by Christian Rushing and built by Collier Construction, this modern green project recently received the award of Green Development of the Year by the American Planning Association's Tennessee Chapter.  Rushing says it doesn't cost more to build green, it just requires better decisions and smarter skills.  Here are a few of the homes' green features:

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This is a guest contribution from Deborah Cameron, a designer / project manager who was on the design team for Cave Avenue Homes.  Deborah also lives in this co-op community.

In Banff National Park in Western Alberta lies a 19-unit residential housing project called Cave Avenue Co-operative Homes.  Cave Avenue was designed by one of the most prestigious architectural firms in North America, William McDonough + Partners.  Completed in 2005, the project was built to LEED Silver certification.  Cave Avenue has a light footprint with some of the following sustainable features:

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The Guardian just published an interesting article about the world's first Active House.  An Active House, as compared to a super low-energy Passive House, is a highly efficient home that captures more energy than the occupants need for heat and power.  In particular, this Denmark Active House should generate enough electricity over 30 years to cancel out the energy costs of building it.  And it operates like a machine: a computer monitors the temperature and climate of the interior and opens, closes, and adjusts windows accordingly. 

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The Animal House Fund is a public private partnership whose mission is to replace St. Louis City's Animal Care and Control facility with one that is more adoption friendly, thereby reducing the number of strays that are put to sleep.  As a public/private partnership, the funds to build the facility are privately raised, and the new facility will then be handed over to the City of St. Louis.  The current building was built in 1941, and intended to stand a mere two years as a place to gather and put down animals that had been abandoned during World War II.  The new building will set a new standard. 

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We've all heard, and sometimes dreamed, about the Modern Shed, which is made by a company based out of Seattle, Washington.  But the company recently expanded into full-fledged homes called Dwelling Sheds.  The images here show an installation of one in Port Townsend, Washington.  These Dwelling Sheds can be used as a small home, cabin, getaway, ADU, or any other use imaginable — and they come with a number of green features:

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