Some of the students of tomorrow will have the opportunity to learn in incredible, well-designed buildings.  Take for instance this $28 million building designed by Ross Barney Architects with the assistance of The Sheward Partnership.  Commodore John Barry Elementary School was designed to LEED Silver certification but ended up obtaining LEED Gold (at no extra cost to the School District of Philadelphia).  The District has obtained certification for two other schools and committed to build all future schools to LEED Silver certification.  Four such schools are on the boards right now. 

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JG covers all sorts of innovative homes, but to be entirely honest, we prefer the affordable.  So Caleb Schafer nabbed our interest when he emailed us about his efficient, modern home.  Four years ago, after graduating from architecture school, he and his wife moved to Texas and began building the home on a 1.5 acre site due north of San Antonio.  They built it for ~$70,000 — it's a 1400 square foot home — we're talking about $50 psf.  Not bad!  Here's how they did it:

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Remember when we mentioned project7ten?  We were probably one of the earliest to mention the wildly popular home, so we were interested to notice that some of the same folks behind project7ten just finished another green home called 737conserve.  Located at 737 Milwood Avenue and designed by Patrick Tighe, 737conserve has the same warm and modern feel that project7ten has.  Here are some photos and a list of of its many green elements:

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I’ve been talking with LABhaus, a new prefab company, about their affordable modular homes.  LABhaus set out to create a progressive, modern home that mainstream consumers could actually afford.  In the process, they ended up creating not just one home but three: Slide, Stretch, and ecoVilla.  The models range in size from 1693 to 5071 square feet and in price from $199,900 to $649,000.  Here’s what you can expect from a LABhaus home:

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The latest Dwell has an article by Geoff Manaugh on the Dwell Home II.  After four years in "home design and permitting," homeowners Glen Martin and Claudia Plasencia have broken ground.  They're moving forward with construction.  The homeowners are building this design from Escher GuneWardena Architecture, which they chose because sustainability was presented as "an integrated system," as opposed to as an afterthought.  Here are a few of the home's green elements:

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