Earlier this year, the World Record Academy awarded a home in Dillingham, Alaska with the record for the Tightest Residential Building.

In a video that documents the blower door test, the home’s owners and residents, Dr. Tom Marsik and Kristin Donalson, who designed and built the extremely insulated building, explain their motivation to push the limits of green building methods. The blower door test, which used a special attachment to get the most accurate reading, pressurized the building and then measured the flow that was needed to maintain the difference in pressure from the outside.

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Earlier this year,  the U.S. Department of Energy and Environmental Protection Agency held their annual ceremony to honor 118 companies on its list of 2013 Energy Star Partners of the Year and included Grayhawk Homes, the home builder based in Columbus, Georgia, whose production and construction standards consistently meet Energy Star guidelines. Last year, Grayhawk Homes was awarded the Energy Star Leadership in Housing Award.

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This week in Jetson Green Energy News, Australia has a new addition to its list of carbon neutral cities, the Indian state of Gujarat will reduce water evaporation and produce energy from solar panels over canals, a new shower head from New Zealand engineers reduces water flow by fifty percent, Wisconsin is reducing pollution from a coal plant, New England is getting new high-performance housing communities, a new solar panel reduces cooling costs, a report shows the United States is the largest wind power market, and a Clean Energy Manufacturing Initiative aims to improve the U.S. manufacturing sector’s energy productivity, and we have new upcoming green events.

Melbourne Achieves Carbon Neutral Status

Low Carbon Australia, an independent carbon offsetting authority for the Australian Government, has certified the City of Melbourne to join Sydney, Yarra, and Moreland City as having met the National Carbon Offset Standard (NCOS) for carbon neutral status.

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Bright Beads lighting pendants by Marz Designs are handcrafted from American Ash, American Oak, American Walnut, Rock Maple, and Smoked Ash (FSC-certified timbers), and come with E27 screw-in lamp holders that are suitable for LED and EE bulbs.

Six configurations are available, dubbed Abacus, Africa, Aleenta, Alice, Art, and Aztec, which can be hung individually or in clusters to create chandelier arrangements. Five feet of electrical cord facilitate their installation from ceiling hooks or through less obtrusive methods.

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Scott Bergford is a custom builder in Olympia, Washington, who is managing to keep his company afloat during the housing slump by building green, cottage-style homes that are affordable and use high-performance technologies and products. His Scott Homes are known to be “some of the most energy efficient houses in Washington State.”

The recently built 2,020-square-foot Inspiration Home is certified to Energy Star 3.0, EPA Indoor airPlus, and Built Green Level 5, and sold for $450,000.

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