I really like the homes featured on Zero Energy Designs’ portfolio page.  One home in particular, the TechVille Concept Home, caught my eye.  It’s strikingly modern and absolutely incredible.  It’s the kind of you home you see in movies … except it’s off-grid, healthy, water-efficient, and super smart.  ZED designed this 4500 sf concept home as the first of two thousand planned residences in a modern village in Akodo Ise, Nigeria.  TechVille has passive and active cooling, PV system, on demand hot water, air exchange system, dehumidification system, low- and no-VOC materials, abundant natural light, rainwater capture, greywater system, and smart home technology.

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Check these urban townhomes out.  They’re pretty interesting.  The design here is part of a development called Sky Hill, a twelve townhome community in Midtown Atlanta.  Designed by Kuo Diedrich, Sky Hill is clustered into four buildings with three townhomes each.  They’re all 3 bedroom, 3 bathroom units of ~3000 sf and have been LEED registered (not certified).  Each home has a rooftop terrace and equipped with a plant-growing system by LiveRoof.  Apparently the end units have an elevator option, which most would agree is kind of, well, you know.  But being located in an infill location with pedestrian friendly design opens up the possibility for living a greener kind of lifestyle.   

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The Margarido House is on its way to being the first home the nation that's both LEED-H certified and GreenPoint rated.  It's also aiming to be the first custom home in Northern California to be LEED-H Platinum certified.  The ~4600 sf home is still waiting on Platinum certification, but it's important to note that because of it's large size, the homeowners had to pursue drastic green measure to get into Platinum territory.  And they did quite well, actually, building a home that's 55% more efficient than California's Title 24 energy standards.  Check out this list of green features:

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It’s fun getting weeMail … we’ve just learned from Alchemy Architects about some new weeHouse announcements relating to affordability and sustainability.  First things first, everyone wants to know about prefab pricing, right?  You can now get a 2000 sf weeHouse with so called Good Stuff for around $125 per sf, give or take.  Second, weeHouse has teamed up with The Fusion Companies to offer off-grid and supplemental Energy Kits for weeHouses. 

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Earlier this month, the USGBC awarded LEED Silver certification to the Resonance House, a project designed and built by the collaboration of Design Lab Inc. and University of Kentucky College of Design.  Of note, the Resonance House is the first and only Kentucky home to be certified by the USGBC at the time of certification.  It’s a 4,400 sf home with contemporary finishes and energy efficient elements.  Located at 151 Old Georgetown Street in Lexington, the five-star plus Energy Star home has a small operating cost of 2.8 cents per sf, or ~$125 per month.

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