Zac Blodget, designer and owner of Portland’s first LEED Platinum home, sent me an email recently.  His smartly designed home lacks the fuss usually associated with LEED Platinum palaces – no pun intended, but it’s down-to-earth – and Blodget has the green house listed for sale at $340,000.  Located two blocks from Concordia University, the 3-bedroom, 2-bathroom, 1680 square-foot residence sits on a tight footprint on a corner lot.  I’ve explained a number of its green elements below, but we also have a one-question poll at the end of the article (scroll down).

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This is the first LEED Platinum home in Vermont, although perhaps more importantly, it’s a documented and legitimate zero net energy home.  From January 2008 to January 2009, the 2,800 square-foot, single-family residence exported 16 kWh of electricity to the grid.  Over the same time period, a Bergey 10 kW net-metered turbine generated 6,286 kWh of on-site, green energy.  Designed by Pill – Maharam Architects, the handsome farmhouse was built for a family of four and features a number of green elements:

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Named for the father of the modern environmental movement, the David Brower Center reflects its namesake's commitment to the environment.  The center is expected to receive LEED Platinum certification and hopes to bring together people committed to environmental and social action under one roof.  The 24,000 square feet of office space will house a number of nonprofits, including the Earth Island Institute, which was founded by Brower in 1982.  In addition, ground level retail space will have a public gallery, a state of the art theater, and an organic restaurant with locally sourced California cuisine.

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Inspired by the likes of Dwell and the 100k House, Deezine.ca and Shift Development came together with an idea.  They thought it would be interesting to have a modern, green, and affordable home designed by an entire community online.  Ideas are posted online and the community can make suggestions for changes.  Their idea became the Shift Home.  You can see how the design has changed in the past few months, but to be clear, this home is not just a thought experiment.  Shift Development breaks ground in late-May, or thereabouts. 

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On Saturday, the world descended upon Omaha, Nebraska for the annual shareholder meeting of Berkshire Hathaway (NYSE: BRKA and BRKB).  Clayton Homes is one of the company's subsidiaries and officially launched the much talked about i-house at the annual meeting.  We mentioned the i-house in January, and since that time, a number of readers have asked about specifics.  Well, the i-house website is now up, and Clayton Homes is giving us details:

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