The RainShine House — designed by Robert M. Cain, Architect, AIA, LEED AP and built by Pinnacle Custom Builders — has received LEED Platinum certification.  According to a recent press release, it's the first modernist residence in the Southeastern U.S. to achieve such a lofty green certification.  The Decatur, Georgia home will be featured in the Modern Atlanta Home Tour on May 16-17, so if you're in the area go check it out.  It's beautiful, and I have a feeling a media wave is about to hit.  Here are some of the green products and elements of the home:

• 500-gallon rainwater harvest cisterns;
• Butterfly roof designed to collect rainwater;
• Locally-sourced, 100% recycled steel framing roof;
• Water-based insulation materials;
• Reclaimed heart-pine flooring;
• Energy recovery ventilator (for tight homes);
• Low solar heat gain coefficient windows;
• Abundant interior natural light;
• LED lighting system;
• Geothermal heat pump;
• 3.1 kW rooftop, photovoltaic system; and
• Deciduous plantings to provide efficiency benefits. 

The owners moved in and professional interior photos are coming soon; both interior photos in this article show the home prior to completion. 

The RainShine House is expected to consume only 43% of the energy normally consumed by a similar home built to standard code.  It's also nearly 100% non-toxic — practically everything is no- or low-VOC and formaldehyde free. But probably more important is how the design provides a connection to the outside world.  After moving in, the owners sat in the front room looking through their floor-to-two-story ceiling windows: "We sat there for four hours, just watching the moon pass by.  It was wonderful."

Also, Lynn Saussy was the landscape architect, and the Southface Institute was the LEED provider.  Read more at RainShine House Atlanta.  

Photo credits: Paul Hultberg, Photographer.