Proximity Hotel seems to have found a way to deliver a comfortable, luxury-type experience and still be one of the greenest hotels in the country.  It was built to use roughly 36% less energy and 30% less water than a comparable hotel.  Proximity Hotel also heats over half the building’s water with roughly 4,000 sf of solar thermal panels on the roof.  In the video embedded below, Dennis Quaintance, Chief Design Officer of Proximity Hotel, mentions that the savings from the solar thermal investment is about $20k per year. He also talks about the hotel’s innovative elevator, which is the first Regenerative Drive Otis Gen2 elevator in North America — it captures energy while going down and uses it while going up.

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In her Teardown Diary, Wall Street Journal columnist Nancy Keates forgoes the common practice of demolition and instead opts for "unbuilding."  Usually referred to as deconstruction, unbuilding is when you disassemble an old structure piece by piece and salvage the usable parts.  Ms. Keates found that the deconstruction of her home will cost about $4,000 more than straight demolition, but costs can vary project to project.

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I call dibs on this prediction: to the extent that banks can keep themselves from drowning financially, we’re going to see a huge proliferation of green branches over the next five years.  The guy on the video uses the word "fad", but I think we all know it’s more than that.  This branch here, First Federal Savings Bank, is located in Mishawaka, Indiana and just opened last week.  The local press gave the retail pad some pretty positive coverage, as you can tell from the images, video, and diagram.  The LEED Registered, $2.5 M branch relies on a wind turbine, solar panels, energy efficient windows, Agriboard compressed-straw panels, permeable pavers, and geothermal heating and cooling.

++A Different Green for Banks [South Bend Trib]

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I’ve got 3 super-fresh, green prefab videos for your viewing leisure.  Two videos are of MKD’s Glidehouse, which is factory-built in roughly 10-14 months at a cost similar or less than traditional site-built homes.  The other is of the Sunset Breezehouse, which has the butterfly roof and central breezeway that blurs the interior with the exterior.  Pretty cool videos — it’s nice to have Michelle Kaufmann herself blogging these prefab experiences. 

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You've probably already heard of BedZED, but have you seen it?  Feel free to watch a short little video about the cutting-edge community. 

BedZED is a 100-home, sustainable community in Beddington (UK) that's designed to be a Zero Energy Development.  Hence the Bed and the ZED. 

The colorful wind-driven ventilation system gives it a quirky, kind of playful look — but don't be fooled: This joint is all business.  Most of all, residents appear to enjoy the sense of community and quality of life.