• New guide helps green appraisers.
• Fab idea: designating a prefab steel house.
• LA becomes the largest city to ban plastic bags.
• Old or new houses: which are most energy efficient?
• LEED homes lead the way for green design.
• Build your own eco-friendly house.
• Going green in small ways.

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There’s something about the traditional yet contemporary “house-shaped” form of this design that just resonates with me.  The home was designed by an Alberta-based studio called Bioi pursuant to the owner’s request for something simple, contemporary, and energy efficient with a build cost of less than $100,000.  It turns out, Warburg House received the highest EnerGuide rating available without generating its own energy, according to featured project information at Architizer.

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Continuing the theme of tiny structures this week, I think this office cottage on Bainbridge Island is just awesome.  The compact, 200-square foot space was designed by Russ Hamlet and built by Geoffrey Hobert for the Rolling Bay Land Co. and featured on the recent green home tours presented by the Northwest EcoBuilding Guild.

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Here’s a time-lapse video of one of the first Huf Haus prefabs in the country. Offered through Cleveland-based DotGreen, these homes are precision built in Germany and shipped in containers to the project site. Then, with the help of the local architect, in this case Sage Designs NW, the general contractor, Schmoes Construction, and the structural engineer, Visser Engineering, the timber-frame prefab is assembled.

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This the new Blueair Sense designed by Claesson Koivisto Rune.  It was designed to shatter barriers in the bland world of air purification with a contemporary design, touch-less control, compact size, low energy consumption, quiet operation, and optimal clean air delivery rate.  All Blueair units are Energy Star certified and use “HEPA Silent” technology, and I understand Blueair Sense will be no different.  I’ve asked Blueair for pricing and availability information and will update this article when I hear back.

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Speaking of tiny houses, check out Version.2, which is the second tiny house built by Leaf House and Laird Herbert in Whitehorse, the capital of Yukon, Canada.  Herbert appears to be on a roll because his first home was sold and two more are on the way, provided this second home finds an owner.  In any event, Version.2 is a 20-foot rolling house of luxury with a sofa bed, full kitchen, full bathroom, and dining area.

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