[Email/RSS - Click to View Images] Every year, the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) sponsors a home project and industry experts team up to create a demonstration home with the newest technologies and products.  This year’s New American Home was unveiled at the 2007 International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Florida last month.  The 2007 New American Home is a 3-story, 4,707 sf urban loft home with a roof plaza.  There’s also a first floor terrace, pool, and a 576 sf suite with the two-car garage.  Designed by BSB Design, the New American Home has a distinct look.  The mission of the home was to illustrate that housing performance can be incorporated into the most simple or complex homes without sacrificing aesthetics.  And as it turns out, housing performance = green home. 

Green Features:
The New American Home is a standout in green achievement: it’s designed with universal design compliance, designated to be Energy Star certified, and certified green by the Florida Green Building Coalition.  The home includes a 2.4 kw solar photovoltaic system; pre-cast, insulated structural concrete wall system; impact resistant, low-emissivity windows; residential automation and home control for all low-voltage systems; air conditioning systems between 15 + 17.8 SEER; four-foot overhangs over most of the south- and west-facing windows; and natural gas instantaneous water heaters.  Nice. 

So you’re saying, "Yeah but, this house is freakin’ huge!"  Yes it is.  It’s huge with Cribs-type amenities such as automated, built-in home theaters, an elevator, and a state-of-the-art security system. It’s a model home with tons of green features.  More precisely, it uses 73 percent less energy for heating and cooling and 54 percent less energy for water heating, compared to a comparable house in a similar climate.  For whatever reason, people build houses this big, so if you’re gonna go big, you might as well go green and energy efficient, too. 

A Fresh Perspective on Urban Living.  Looks like we’re starting to see teasers for the newest, hottest address in downtown St. Louis: 1400 Washington.  With pre-sales beginning in May 2007, Sky House will be a 22-story building with 166 units of residential and 13,000 sf of street-level retail.  The residential units will be about 850 to 2,230 sf (1-3 bedrooms), with prices starting in the mid-$200,000.  Sky House will be built to LEED standards and have Energy Star stainless steel appliances, a green roof, energy-efficient window systems and balcony doors, and computer-controlled, energy-efficient heating and cooling systems.

Residents will also have access to the Sky Club on the 19th floor.  The Sky Club level includes a pool, hot tub, fitness center, green space, and a dog run.  The importance of the dog run can’t be understated either.  With a dog run, there’s less of a reason for vertical living to be at odds with dog lovers.  The project is developed by Chicago-based Metropolitan Development Enterprises and constructed by RileyWaldrop.  Looking good. 

Extra Links:
Eco-Friendly, Mixed-Use Tower to Rise in St. Louis [BDC Network]
SkyscraperPage Forums + Urban St. Louis Forums

::"S2" is short for "Skyscraper Sunday," a weekly article on green skyscrapers posted every Sunday::

[Run time = 26 min.]  I’ve posted about LivingHomes here, here, and here.  Well, Steve Glenn is the company’s CEO and Founder and he has some interesting things to say.  If you’re still unsure about his green cred, he built the first LEED Platinum home in the United States (with the design help of Ray Kappe).  Enjoy…

If you’re going to office in what looks to be the greenest skyscraper in the country, you should also have a sustainable business strategy to go along with it.  One Bryant Park, soon to be known as the Bank of America Tower, is the perfect place for a company that just announced a $20B initiative to support environmental lending.  Designed by Cook + Fox Architects and developed by the Durst Organization, One Bryant Park is shooting for LEED Platinum certification.  It’s a 2.1 million sf, 54-story, crystalline office tower located right in midtown Manhattan and is slated for completion in 2008. 

ABC News recently ran an article on some of the more interesting green features of the building.  Interestingly, it will only cost about 1-2% extra (of a total $1.2B) to include all the green additions, but those are expected to be paid for within a 2-4 year window as a result of saved energy expenses.  That’s the business case for green building.  There will be rainwater capture, floor-to-ceiling windows for natural lighting, advanced double wall technology to allow light and block heat, air cleaned of 95% of its particle matter, a floor duct air system controllable in each room or office, three state-of-the-art natural gas fuel cells to create on-site energy, building concrete made of 45% blast furnace slag for stronger construction, and daylight dimming and LED lights for reduced electric usage.  The result:  these green additions have the anticipated benefits of reducing energy consumption by 50%, reducing potable water consumption by 50%, reducing storm water contribution by 95%, and using about 50% recycled materials in construction.  That’s a lighter footprint. 

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This is the K1 from kitHAUS, which is a prefab company based in Van Nuys, California.  The K1 is 289 sf and costs around $59,000.  kitHAUS has a series of modules that can be paired (or not) to create a small weekend retreat, backyard office or study, or gigantic residence.  Plus, it can be off-grid or grid-tied with the optional solar setup, depending on your tastes.

"F2" is short for "Flickr Friday," a weekly short posted on Friday with an image from Flickr and a quick description.  Feel free to email me your F2 ideas.