This contemporary home just hit the market about a week ago and comes with Earth Advantage Gold certification and a 2.4 kW photovoltaic system expected to save the future owner about 30% on utilities.  With three bedrooms, two and a half bathrooms, and 1,836 square feet, the speculative home at 5110 NE 17th Street also has bamboo flooring, tankless water heating, and energy-efficient appliances for $419,000, illustrating the fact that in progressive cities like Portland, stylish green homes are becoming the standard. 

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I thought the ECObitat concept from Felipe Campolina was worth a look.  ECObitat, a modular system capable of being applied to emergency or relief housing, features drop-down telescopic legs and a steel skeleton covered in OSB, thermoacoustic insulation, and greenery.  Water and solar power is collected on the roof, while an Energy Ball captures on-site green energy.  The set up is spartan but interesting nonetheless.

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Sunset has the story on this off-grid, low-impact, affordable shelter built in the wilderness near Joseph, Oregon.  The modern structure of 130 square feet, not counting the deck, was designed by Ryan Lingard and built in a couple weeks for roughly $10,000.  Signal Shed has a wood stove, metal roof, cedar rainscreen, reused windows, portable toilet, and operable shutters.

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This is the first certified Passive House in the “South,” and it’s located in Lafayette, Louisiana. What’s interesting about the home – other than that it illustrates the use of the Passive House standard in a hot and humid climate – is the fact that the low-energy home, with the help of rooftop solar laminates, is a net zero energy prototype for the future.

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I imagine you've seen some of the 10 "insanely" green sheds in a recent publication of Popular Mechanics.  I read the article and was captured by the Eco-Shed, a structure that cost owner and author James Glave about $100,000 to build.  With the help of Dan Parke of Salal Architecture, Glave put together an incredible low-impact writing studio. Check it out. 

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