I realize that by blogging about this, I’m risking some criticism as to whether a parking structure can be green.  I think it can, but I’ve heard mention from others that the term "green parking lot" is an oxymoron of sorts.  After giving it some thought, I just can’t imagine a world, or a city for that matter, with absolutely no parking lot.  They’re going to exist, so they might as well be super green and zero energy, to the extent possible.  This building, which is the Santa Monica Civic Center parking structure, has a solar array that provides all the building’s energy needs.

But it’s not just energy efficient, it’s green, too.

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So I stumbled upon the iT House construction blog and was completely blown away by the documentation they’re posting.  It’s an incredible little home that was designed by Taalman Koch for a five-acre lot in the high desert.  It’ll be a model home and completely off-grid.  There’s an on-site septic tank, 2500 gallon domestic water tank, and eight solar PV panels by Evergreen — and the home is just the right size, too.

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Something about this project is just too compelling to not blog about it.  Designed by Iosa Ghini Associati for the distant island of Cyprus, the plan calls for four family houses in the residential district in Nicosia.  The fluid, organic shape of the project ties each unit together.  When complete, Cyprus Full Circle will have a number of green design elements, including low-E glass panels, adjustable solar panels, rainwater capture and recycling, and heating storage for the winter.  The external walls also will be treated with photo catalytic concrete, which will transform harmful organic and non-organic matters into harmless compounds.  Anti-VOC architecture?  Incredible.

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The topic pops up every month or two.  Last month, the issue of big green homes came up in the context of eco-terrorism.  Five luxury homes priced over $2 million each were set on fire with a sign left behind saying: "Built green?  Nope Black!  McMansions + RCD’s R Not Green – ELF"# #  The luxury homes were advertised as green, but clearly the eco-terrorists disagreed.#   The burnt homes were about 4200 to 4750 sf in size, which isn’t that bad, when compared to some so-called luxury green homes we’ve seen (this one being 9800 sf).  The incident highlights the tension between big homes and sustainability.   

Today the NY Times resurrects the issue in the context of a new development in Connecticut.  As you can tell from the image above, the homes are built in a style meant to evoke 19th-century English country houses.  I’m not really interested the style, but some people are and I understand that.  The above home is the model home — the first of at least twenty-four, extravagant "green" homes.  It’s 7,000 sf.

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In this interview, G Living sits down with Peter DeMaria to talk about his work using containers in modern home design and construction.  I was really impressed with DeMaria — he tells you everything you ever wanted to know about container architecture and talks about scalability, sustainability, mold, termites, insulation, design, etc.  If you're thinking about using containers in your project, the ones mentioned in this interview cost about $900 – $2500 and are about 320 sf per unit.  Great video!

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