King County in Washington has about 26,000 acres of parks and open spaces with trails, trees, and streams.  To help people stay overnight in these areas, the county held a design competition — Little Footprint, Big Forest — to create an overnight structure from a surplus, reclaimed, 20-foot shipping container.  The winning design was just announced and it comes from none other than HyBrid Architecture, the firm behind the cargo container-based Sunset Idea House 2011.

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Cascade Built just announced a new single-family home in the Madison Valley neighborhood of Seattle, Washington.  “Alley House 2″ was designed by Seattle-based David Foster Architects and is currently under construction by Method Homes in an off-site factory.  The project team is seeking LEED Platinum certification with completion set for about October 2011.

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This is The Sentinel, a home that went through an efficiency renovation in Seattle.  The work was performed by Seattle-based Green Canopy Homes which takes existing homes in walkable neighborhoods and transforms them with high-performance upgrades and a touch of community design.  They all carry an Energy Performance Score and Built Green certification, and many of them have some geeky features like real-time energy monitoring, a digital homeowner’s manual, and on-site solar power.

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