Maybe you’ve never considered living in a cohousing* situation, but some of the greenest neighborhoods in the country are trying to use this pattern of living for their communities.  The images in this article show a peaceful, cohousing condominium community called Nubanusit Neighborhood & Farm.  Nubanusit is located in Peterborough, New Hampshire, and all the homes will be super green — that is, if they’re all not LEED Platinum certified.  Imagine that: 29 homes on 70 rolling acres and all of them are LEED Platinum certified!

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So here’s the deal.  The Harbinger SG Blocks Showhouse was bad out.  Everyone I talked to loved it.  You might think that a shipping container home would feel closed-in and constrictive, but this home certainly wasn’t.  At 1700 sf, everything felt just right to me.  I was able to sneak into the Exhibit Hall early enough to get some killer images (in case you couldn’t be there), so let’s talk a walk through the Harbinger House below.

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Weatherford Place is a small community of eight town and country homes in Roswell, Georgia.  It’s seeking LEED for Homes Platinum certification on all homes, as well as Platinum certification for the community under the LEED for Neighborhood Development Pilot Program — a goal that could make it one of the first all Platinum communities in the county.  But beyond certification, Weatherford Place homes will be 100% more energy efficient than typical houses and 50% more energy efficient than houses built to the 2006 Energy Code.

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Country Living Magazine’s October issue highlights an eco-friendly, modular home constructed in just 60 days by New World Home.  The home’s design is traditional and used a 19th century home as a model.  The highly energy efficient home uses 50% less energy than the average home and their modular process allows them to use less wood in the building process. 

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I’m starting think that maybe, just maybe, the modern farmhouse could be a gateway to contemporary for many of you.  What do you think, pretty clean design, right?  The BrightBuilt Barn was designed by Kaplan Thompson Architects, factory built in components by Bensonwood (mentioned by Josh Stack in comments recently), and is being built by Gibson Design/Build as we speak.  It was designed to be net-zero and super green — the home will participate in the Living Building Challenge and, in all likelihood, qualify for LEED Platinum certification.  Geez!  So what’s in store for this 700 sf studio home:

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