Recently featured in Huffington Post, Chris and Malissa Tack worked in high-tech careers in New York City before relocating to Washington state where they determined to put the Tiny House Movement into place in their lives.

Researching possibilities online, Malissa, a 3-D artist with a specialty in animation, created mockup blueprints of favorite design elements. Desiring to build their home themselves, but lacking in construction skills, they learned what they could from other tiny home builders and looked for financing options.

Financial stresses increased when Chris lost his job, but the reduced overhead of their tiny home, which will be completely paid for in less than three years, kept things manageable.

The couple says that the tiny home lifestyle has even improved their relationship. Chris said in the Huffington Post interview, “We have definitely learned the importance of respecting space; for instance saying ‘excuse me’ when passing each other in the kitchen.”

Chris and Malissa’s Tiny Tack House blog features many images of the couple’s construction progress and the original plans, with more detailed steps recorded on their YouTube page .

“The Q” is an apartment building in the Little Italy neighborhood of San Diego, California (Jonathan Segal FAIA & Development Company), so named after the gadget-inventing character, Q, of James Bond movie fame. A gross square footage of 90,000 houses 29 residential units, between 400 and 1,900 square feet a piece, along with underground parking.

Green features of The Q include rooftop solar panels that power common areas, low-E glazing, and operable windows that allow for light and air to enter the building through “gill slits,” or angled fins, on the building’s north facade.

To lighten the visual impact, the building volumes are transparent and clean-lined, and feature wrap-around glass that, from floor to ceiling, provides residents with dramatic views of the San Diego harbor and downtown skyline.

Rents range from $950 per month for studio apartments on up to $5,200 for two-bedroom duplex units. While these are above the average neighborhood prices, Segal was able to lease all of the units without difficulty. “We offered something different,” he said in an Architectural Record interview, “not boxes punched with holes, not transplanted suburban homes, but places that capitalize on the city experience.”

Jonathan Segal is known as one of the most successful and pioneering residential architectural and development companies in downtown San Diego, with a reputation for building superior housing at competitive prices. His firm focuses on urban projects that range between 80 and 160 units per acre of land. The firm has won twenty-four local, state, and national AIA awards for residential and urban design.

This gorgeous, minimalist Shoal Bay House by Parsonson Architects is a modestly designed, attractive home that is the perfect spot to enjoy a weekend retreat with family or friends. It is located on the east coast of southern Hawkes Bay, a great place to enjoy the beaches of New Zealand.

It is made of two interconnected gabled structures, one for bedrooms and another for living space. The house is lifted off the ground, which maximizes interior space by providing extra room to store kayaks, bikes, and beach equipment. The home is constructed of responsibly-sourced wood, uses a wood-burning stove to stay warm, and heats the water through solar power.

Decks are located at each end of the living space, providing the perfect spot to view both the sunrise and sunset.

This sustainable getaway house was one of HOME Magazine’s Home of the Year Finalists in 2009, and won a NZIA Local Award in 2010. For more photos and details, please visit p-a-co.nz.

Parsonson Architects

This Seadrift Residence home by CCS Architecture in San Francisco may not look out of the ordinary for a modern lakehouse, but this sleek and stylish 1,900 square foot home is as environmentally friendly as it is stylish.

The middle of the living space consists of a rotating fire orb that is designed to distribute warmth equally throughout the room. The generous amount of wood throughout the home gives a natural, inviting look while providing plenty of natural insulation.

Some of the environmental benefits of this home include the photovoltaic roof that provides solar energy, smart heating technology that reduces energy consumption, efficient lighting fixtures that are still aesthetically pleasing, and an innovative low-flow water management system. All of these features turn the Seadrift Residence into a zero-energy home that does not sacrifice the environment for style.

For more photos and information on the architects of this beautiful beach home in Stinson Beach, California, visit CSS-Architecture.com.

Shipping Containers will be used in a luxury multifamily home build; the site of construction is located in Detroit and will start in early 2013. Recycling 93 Shipping containers, this project is thought to be the first in the US and the hope is to easily replicate the build.

Three Squared Inc (environmental consulting firm)  is the company behind the Rosa Parks condo project and it was designed by local architect Steven Flum. The containers will be converted and stacked to make a 4 story dwelling which will make 20 separate liveable units, each with ducted reverse cycle air and tankless water heating. The actual construction time per unit and cost efficiencies make this project attractive, though the total costs will be a test as to the feasibility of future multifamily container home projects.

This is an interesting project, as it will offer a significant price reduction on singular dwelling container home projects. We will follow this closely and keep you updated on the progress when more information is released.

A couple months ago I mentioned the launch of Unity Homes, a new brand of prefab homes by Bensonwood, and this is the first Unity home.  It’s located in Brattleboro, Vermont and the on-site assembly took just three days — with a weather-tight shell in two days.  The Xyla plan has factory-built wall and roof panels that are wrapped and shipped vertically.  The walls are guided in place with a crane and anchored, and then the roof panels are set.  After that the crew works on taping seams, installing trim, and finishing the siding.  It’s quite the process!

[+] More about the first Unity Home in Brattleboro, Vermont.

Credits: Unity Homes.

This week the father of tiny housing and founder of The Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, Jay Shafer, resigned from Tumbleweed and started a new company called Four Lights Tiny House Company. Shafer started Four Lights for “more freedom and more manageability,” according to a statement published on The Tiny Life. At Four Lights, Shafer will roll out building workshops, a tiny house village, and portable house plans ranging in size from 100 to 500 square feet.

The tiny house village is a concept in need of execution, if the tiny house revolution is to continue forward. Shafer refers to his clever village as “Napoleon Complex: Cohousing for the Antisocial,” and is in talks with the Sonoma County to make it happen.

Other than the village, which is expected to be complete by 2015, Shafer will introduce additional house plans over the next several months. Four Lights will also have Shafer’s designs for compact furnishings.

Currently, Four Lights has three traditional tiny house plans called The Gifford (112 square feet), The Weller (112 square feet), and The Marmara (284 square feet), which is pictured above. These plans range in price from $199 – $399, not including any discounts for specials or sales, etc.

[+] More about Four Lights Tiny House Company by Jay Shafer.

These are Greenway Townhouses designed by Arbor South Architecture and built by Arbor South Construction (the same group behind The Sage, a high-scoring LEED Platinum project in Eugene). Construction just barely finished, and Arbor South will now focus on renting the 11 units of about 950 square feet each. Greenway Townhouses have been certified Earth Advantage Platinum, according to Bill Randall, principal at Arbor South, and will target LEED Gold certification.

Here’s a list of some of the “green” features in these eco-friendly townhomes:

• Previously-developed site;
• Existing bike path through the site to the river path system;
• Transit bus stop right in front and a Walk Score of 77;
• High fly ash content concrete and locally-sourced lumber;
• LED parking lot lighting;
• EcoBatt used for all of the batt insulation;
• Exterior walls closed cell “flash” for air sealing and insulation with blown-in-blanket system in the rest of the wall cavity;
• Blown-in-blanket in common fire walls and extra insulation throughout;
• Rain garden captures and keeps all of the rainwater from the roofs and parking lot for percolation back into the soil;
• Landscaping needs no irrigation once established;
• Energy Star appliances (refrigerator, dishwasher, washer);
• High efficiency package terminal heat pump for heating and air conditioning;
• Durable finishes with laminate cabinets, plaster walls, and commercial grade carpet;
• Energy Star/CFL/LED lighting (total lighting wattage in each home is under 300 watts);
• WaterSense faucets/low flow and dual flush toilets;
• Zero VOC paint; and
• A small Panasonic Whisper-Quiet bath fan running a continuous 30 cfm with an occupancy sensor to kick it up to 80 cfm for 20 minutes when bath is occupied (for fresh air ventilation without the expense of a ducted HRV).

Randall told Jetson Green in an email that blower door tests came in between 2.1 and 2.6 air changes (Energy Star has to be 4.0 or less). These figures aren’t quite as strong as, for example, Passive House, but dwellers will certainly benefit with energy savings from a higher performing enclosure.

Greenway Townhouses are located at 785 River Road in Eugene, Oregon. The homes have a two-bedroom, townhouse style and each bedroom has its own vanity and alcove with a shared toilet and shower. There’s also a half-bath downstairs with a full-size washer and dryer in each home. Rent starts at $975 per month.

[+] More about Greenway Townhouses located in Eugene, Oregon.

Credits: Michael Dean Photography.

Here’s a cool renovation project recently featured on NBC’s Today Show in the sub-$250,000 spotlight. Originally built in the 1950s, the home was redesigned by The Ranch Mine, one of the firms behind the NAHB’s Green Remodel of the Year last year, and is located historic North Encanto area in central Phoenix.  The exterior has bold, yellow accents mixed with a low-maintenance and low-water desert landscape, and the interior is finished with existing saltillo tile, contemporary white and grey paint, and an open layout.

[+] More photos of the “Revival” renovation by The Ranch Mine.

Credits: The Ranch Mine.

Little House on the Trailer is a Petaluma-based company that provides affordable, energy-efficient, and “substantially constructed” houses for today’s mobile home buyers.  For example, the company currently has a “Barn Siding Studio” available for immediate delivery for $24,000.  The 200 square-foot studio was built on wheels and finished with reclaimed redwood planks.  Marin County treats the structure as a shed, according to Little House on the Trailer, but it can be used as an office, backyard retreat, etc.

[+] More about this reclaimed Barn Siding Studio in Petaluma.

Credits: Little House on the Trailer.