With all the talk about the need for greater sustainability, it’s nice to things actually being done in that direction. Dwell Development has recently completed a small, sustainable home community called New Rainier Vista. (more…)
It has now been a year since the Net-Zero Energy Residential Test Facility (NZERTF) in Washington DC has been built and its energy harvesting capabilities began to be monitored. The home was built on the campus at the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), where scientists and researchers conducted a computer simulation that replicated the energy consumption of a family of four. The results showed the home to be a success, since after a year the home generated 13,577 kWh of energy. This is about 491 kWh more than was needed.
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A Miami Beach home, located at 2020 Alton, has been awarded LEED Platinum, with the score of 120/89.5. The project is a joint effort of developer Matthew Lahn of the Florida Green Home Design Group, architect Ari Sklar of Sklarchitecture, and general contractor Robert Arkin. The project also has an -8 HERS score, has been named an Energy Star Qualified Home, and has received the National Green Building Standard Emerald rating, which indicates that the house saves 60% or more of its energy use.
Marc Rutenberg, the CEO of the Florida company Marc Rutenberg Homes, has recently successfully designed and built a luxury home that complies with and even surpasses all Energy Star standards and is LEED Platinum certified. The Castaway III, as the house is called, measures 4,552-square feet, which is about 3,100 square feet larger than the average zero-energy home. This house proves that there is no need to sacrifice comfort and luxury to reduce one’s carbon footprint.
