The Vento Residences has earned North America’s first LEED Platinum* certification for a multi-family residential project.  Located in Calgary, Alberta and built for a price of $8 million, this multi-use urban infill project has 20 two-story townhouse suites that are situated above retail space.  Interestingly, the development was coming online at the same time as several other developments in the area and sold out quickly at a slight premium in price (compared to the competition).  Purchasers identified with the dark green units and bought them up in a heartbeat.

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Previously we wrote about High Street Philadelphia, which is a super-green, mixed use community being developed by home(scale).  They sent me some new renderings pictured above and below, and the hope is that they’ll be able to see this project to a reality.  High Street is aiming for LEED Platinum certification, the highest designation bestowed by the USGBC, and will feature 51 carbon-neutral residential units, 3 commercial units, a cafe and organic grocery, and underground parking. 

Units will feature high design and contemporary materials from such brands as Duravit, Hansgroghe, Schiffini, and Fisher Paykel.  They will be offered at affordable prices, or "work-force pricing," too.   It’s going to be an excellent, net-zero energy development with courtyards, photovoltaic power, solar hot water, LED lighting, efficient systems, green roofs, bio-mass filtration, and access to the Philly CarShare program. 

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To identify the best articles of 2007, I’ve only used traffic figures from January 1, 2007 – December 30, 2007.  And some of these articles bumped to the top by virtue of some mondo Digg or Stumbleupon traffic, or both.  I appreciate all the readers and emailers and hope to provide better, more relevant content in 2008 (although, well, it’d help if Typepad could paginate archives). 

The danger with using traffic to decide what content to provide in the future is that traffic stats may not be aligned with true reader interest.  So, if you’re interested in reading more of something in 2008, shoot me an email or drop a comment below.  I’ll find a way to do it.  Here’s one last list for the year:

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This is the miniHome DUO SE, which is basically the combo of an add-on and the SOLO 2008 version that was recently announced.  Starting at $149,900, it’s a well-designed home of 475 sf.  The DUO uses 1/10th the water, fuels, and materials, and 1/100th the electrical energy of a conventional home: it’s a net-zero energy home.  And as you can tell from the renderings, you can outfit your DUO with a stylish green roof and contemporary wrap-around decking.  Really, anything is possible with this little treasure home.  Small.  Stylish.  Green.  Affordable.  Looks like Sustain MiniHome is offering financing now on their homes, too.

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[RSS - Click Here to View] I found this video on YouTube of Jason Steele’s vision for a shipping container building.  The idea in the video shows two sides being taken off to expand the floor area by 50%.  He also has bamboo landscaping to create shading on the sun-exposed southern part of the home (Phoenix, Arizona).  Looks pretty cool, but let’s see if it gets made, because in the world of container and prefab design, reality counts for something