As the world descends upon Las Vegas for IBS 2009, undoubtedly, many will be walking through a stylish and posh idea house designed for the show.  The New American Home is a running tradition and every year brings another one.  I guess you could say it's a real life exhibition of the latest and greatest trends in home design.  This year, as mentioned by BusinessWeek earlier, the trends include indoor/outdoor living, basement inclusion, the home office, wireless technology, less ostentation, and having a green badge of honor.  The New American Home 2009 is claimed to be net-zero energy (based on the combined efforts of super efficiency and on-site power generation), and is definitely technologically advanced.  Let's look further …

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The good news for prefab keeps coming.  We just received word that the very first KieranTimberlake LivingHome, you know, the one being assembled over the next four days for IBS 2009, will make a second stop in Long Beach, California for TED 2009.  That's right, a prefab is going to be front and center at TED for the world's most influential thinkers.  So after a brief stint at IBS, KT1.5 will be transported to Long Beach, where it will become the Kohler LivingHome from February 3-7, 2009.  The home will feature the latest thinking in green design, and I'm sure it will add fire to this smoldering revolution in home design and construction.  LivingHomes CEO Steve Glenn will introduce the Idea House, and after TED, it will stay on display from February 8-20.  After that, apparently, the home will be sold to the first buyer that's ready to put it on some land. 

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I want to shout out to a project one of our contributors, Sarah Roe, is working on.  If you’re interested in helping out, please make sure to get in touch with her as outlined below. 

Green Hope Community is a newly-formed non-profit organization whose goal is to establish an eco-friendly community for internationally orphaned children.   This community will be based in the United States; sites in North Carolina, Georgia, New Mexico, Arizona and Oregon are currently being considered.  The goal of the Green Hope Community is to give orphaned children a chance not only to survive, but to thrive, and to give them the tools to become leaders in the fields of environmental progress and social justice.

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Last year I talked about five green building trends and most of that, generally speaking, was spot on.  This year's going to be a little tougher nut to crack, however, because things are changing every day.  After a week or two of new information, it could be that everything below will not make sense any more.  I don't believe that will happen, but it could.  Anyway, to cut to the chase, all of this is informal and anecdotal.  I'm making these predictions based on approximately thirty years of seeing, studying, reading, working, and observing as a human being.  You will certainly have a different perspective, but hear me out.  When you're done, make sure to tell me what you think below. 

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Hey, Happy New Year!  It’s hard to believe an entire year just flew by, but it did.  On this day last year, we identified Five Green Trends to Watch in 2008 — actually, the trends were specifically related to green building rather than the environment in general — and you’ll probably agree that we were right on.  I guess that means we’ll take another stab at predicting the future in these unpredictable, turbulent times.  Keep an eye out for our next green trends article for 2009 … update, here it is:

See Seven Green Trends to Watch in 2009. 

Image: Times Square LED Ball.