Just a quick jaunt north of Dallas right off of Central Expressway, there's a small community called Urban Reserve.  In Urban Reserve, all the homes are modern and sustainably designed — the minimum standards require Energy Star and a HERS of at least an 80.  This home is just one of several architecturally unique homes in the development.  Referred to as UR 45, the LEED Platinum certified home was designed by Shipley Architects for an executive of the development company, Rick Fontenot.  

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This is the Living Zero Home, which was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy and built by All American Homes.  The home was on display in Chicago last weekend and will move to about fifteen other destinations throughout the year, including Louisville, Greensboro, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Dallas, Phoenix, and Denver, among other cities.  The modern demonstration home features a Smart Living System — both an energy management and home monitoring tool — which helps owners save money and provides an alert for potential problems, such as a water pipe leak.  The home includes a number of other green elements, too:

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One of Hybrid Architecture + Assembly's most recent projects, Remington Court, is quite stunning.  Opting to do everything from start to finish, the company designed, developed, and built the four-unit project — a successful endeavor considering three of the four units sold prior to completion!  The interiors are modern and minimalist, relying on products such as HenryBuilt cabinets, Corian counters, Starck-designed Duravit toilets, and some of the following green features and elements:

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Just last month, these seven, attached, single-family homes received LEED Platinum certification — the first homes in Arkansas to achieve the USGBC's highest designation!  Vertical Modern Urban Lofts is located in downtown Little Rock, and the second phase of the project is under construction right now.  The homes range in price from $299k – $399k, and they're destined to save owners some cash going forward.  They exceed Energy Star standards by 41% and feature a number of green elements:

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Update: See the completed Breezeway House and our owner interview.

There’s a new site called Our Passive House, where the owners are documenting the design and construction of the first Passive House in Utah.  It just so happens that I live in the same general neighborhood, so we’ll try to present a follow up article when the home is complete.  Owners Joe and Rebecca, available on Twitter @ourpassivehouse, hired Brach Design, Utah’s first certified Passive House consultant, to design the home.

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