Imre Kovacs, a reader of Jetson Green and architect/builder of this weekend getaway cabin, shared his project with us recently, saying it cost $4,350 to build, including labor for one worker.  Located in Pomaz, Hungary, the 107-square-foot cabin was built with mostly materials reclaimed from demolition sites (timber, bricks, roof tile, rocks, etc), as well as new roof insulation, two pieces of glass, and linseed oil to treat the wood.  Kovacs owns the cabin with his wife, and they use the place to escape the city.  There’s a composting toilet, but water is provided from a well downhill and lighting is from candles.

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This is the first Passive House residence to be certified by PHIUS in Virginia.  Located at 229 Lankford Avenue in Charlottesville, Virginia, the project was designed by Giovanna Galfione-Cox and built by Jobes Builders in conjunction with Passive House consultant John Semmelhack of Think Little.  Lankford Passive House has three bedrooms, two-and-a-half bathrooms, and about 2,250 square feet, according to a local real estate listing, and is for sale at $598,000.

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• The new anti-LEED.
• Will the plastics industry kill LEED?
• Choosing and using your fridge efficiently.
• Where’s the money for energy-efficiency financing?
• Study: energy-efficient homes command higher prices.
• Willowdale Passive House among greenest in Canada.
• Affordability and livability in small spaces.
• Today’s Energy Star home is better.
• Climate change idiots.

NOTE – I’m a little behind last week from a flu bug that knocked me out but will be on track this week. Meanwhile, subscribe to our weekly newsletter for updates, article summaries, newsworthy links, and other site news.

You may recall the Aktiv prefab by Ideabox that we mentioned a few months ago.  The media picked up a thread on this modular home thinking it was an IKEA prefab but the reality is the home was built by Ideabox with a ton of IKEA products on the inside.  Ideabox is running what it’s calling “Ideabox Summer in the City” with an Aktiv on display at Cascade Station in Portland (down the road from IKEA Portland).  It’ll be on display through the first week in August with solar from Sunmodo and Solar World, a ductless heat pump from Fujitsu and The Heat Pump Store, and furnishings from IKEA.  Aktiv is priced from $87,000 with one bedroom, one bathroom, and 745 square feet.

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This is a rendering of a new form of sustainable development that will manifest itself in San Francisco in an infill project called SmartSpace SoMa. SmartSpace will have 23 micro-dwellings each with ~300 square feet of living area, 300 cubic feet of storage along a wall, and nine-foot ceilings. The project, which will be built with off-site fabricated modules from ZETA Communities, will also aim for LEED Platinum certification and near net-zero energy.

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