This is a post and beam house in the Echo Park neighborhood of Los Angeles owned by Elaine Wakeland and Eric Garcetti, President of LA City Council.  As you may have previously read in this Dwell article, they’re both environmentally- conscious and highly active in their community.  As a result, they wanted to update their 1950s home and retained the help of Scrafano Architects to suss out its modern traits.  They also wanted to make the home as energy efficient and healthy as possible.  So they removed walls, took out an extra bathroom, and found ways to draw in more natural lighting.  They installed a tankless water heater and solar panels on the roof — a move that now provides 50% of the home’s energy. 

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I received an email from Modern Dwelling in relation to this contemporary, green pad and pretty much had to share some details.  First things first, if you’re in the Seattle area, there’s going to be an art showing at the home this Thursday, July 31, 2008 at 7 pm, so make sure to check that out.*  Otherwise, the Mount Baker Residence, as it’s known, is perched on a slope with views of Rainier Valley to downtown Seattle.  With tons of natural lighting, four bedrooms, two and a half baths, and 2470 sf of living space, it’s tough to go wrong in a home that looks like this.  Here are some of its green features:

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At the tail end of last week, Shirey Contracting broke ground on the Zero Energy Idea House located at Bass Cove near Bellevue, Washington.  The house is intended to be kind of an inspirational structure that can help homeowners move toward energy independence.  As a zero energy house*, the goal is to generate all the necessary energy from on-site power and efficiency measures.  Specifically, the Idea House will have rooftop solar, solar hot water, and a vertical-axis small wind turbine, judging by the rendering.  In addition, the 1700 sf home will have a large, 1200 sf green roof and a host of other green features, such as:

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This is an interior shot of the new Vivavi Pop-Up Store at The Riverhouse in Battery Park City.  I was emailing with Josh Dorfman, founder and CEO of Vivavi, about the store prior to the giveaway last week and he’s pretty excited about the designers slated for the store.  You may notice the Girado chairs, Signature 2.0 console, club chair & ottoman, and Spring Chairs, but probably one of my favorite designs in the store is the artwork by Sandy Schimmel.  I’ve included a few images below — they’re made from junk mail scraps. 

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Geos is a community located in Arvada, Colorado.  With homes starting in the low $200,000, it is an affordable green community seeking status as the first fossil fuel free community in the United States.  The homes combine the benefits of both geothermal and solar energy.  Homes range from 850 to 3500+ square feet and include a variety of living options from live/work townhomes to single level flats. 

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