Jackson & McElhaney Architects of Austin, Texas create structures that embody their philosophy of earth-friendly design. We’ve chosen to feature the Blanco Residence – a fine example of their tastefully efficient and unpretentious style.

The 3,200 square foot home retains many of the materials and characteristics of the converted barn that comprises the main residence. The second floor (formerly the hay loft) of the main house features a large open space containing the living room and kitchen. Three bedrooms and two bathrooms comprise the first floor.

Dormers added to the north and south roof walls provide light and ventilation, while also offering expansive views of the surrounding Texas Hill Country.

A gigantic, light-filled screened room connects the main house to the studio, elegantly curving around a large, old oak tree. A catwalk near the tree offers a direct path between living room and studio.

The project is a fitting expression of  Jackson & McElhaney’s goal to “conserve and preserve the earth, water, air and energy as passively as possible.” Their sustainable residential and commercial work has received many local, state, national and international awards.

The Carraig Ridge Passive House is an innovative home designed for those who really want to get away from it all; additionally, the energy self-sufficient prototype has been designed with a potential 300-year, cradle-to-cradle lifespan.

The project is the vision of architects Les Eerkes and Steven Rainville in association with Tom Kundig and Olson Kundig Architects. The prototype calls for nine homes to be developed in a cluster of 3 to 5 acre lots, with the intent that the development of a small portion of the property will partially fund the creation of a 4,000-acre Canadian nature reserve.

Each building is seen meeting the ambitious goal of cutting energy consumption by 90%, with an energy consumption target of 4kbtu’s/SF per year. The home would feature: a large photovoltaic solar array, hot water heat exchange and storage, and other energy efficient components. The building’s design has the additional goal of creating a positive relationship with both its inhabitants and the surrounding landscape.

With multiple design approaches, alternate forms of the building are envisioned as well – either burrowing into the earth and stretching out to the prairie, or hovering above the ground and being sheltered by trees.

Much of the building will be pre-fabricated and assembled on-site to reduce costs, increase efficiencies and reduce environmental impact. The ease of assembly also means the units can be disassembled and removed from the landscape when their lifecycle is complete.

related: more green architecture

This year, New Zealand is happy to be the first finalist from the Southern Hemisphere to make it to the US Department of Energy Solar Decathlon. As New Zealand sees the light of the sun everyday before the rest of the world, they have named the home the First Meridian Light House.

The design concept for the house was inspired by the traditional Kiwi bach, a New Zealand holiday home.

Kiwi culture places heavy value on socializing and being outdoors. 

The Kiwi values have been incorporated into the home so that even in the winter months you can still connect with the outdoors. The floors of the home are concrete slab to help stabilize internal temperatures. The home is insulated with a renewable resource we don’t see in homes, recycled sheep’s wool. They have also come up with a system that not only centrally heats and cools the house but is easy to manage and recovers the excess heat inside to be reused.

The solar power combined with thee other innovations make the home net zero, it produces as much or more energy than its inhabitants will use. There are display pads throughout the home programmed so the owner can manage energy usage. One completely new feature of the home is a drying cupboard. It is a closet built into the home in which air blows through from the ventilation system. The designers are optimistic that this idea could be the innovation to drastically lower our energy consumption for drying clothing.

As a

practice run, before the big move, the house was assembled and opened to the public in Wellington. In the short 18 days it was open nearly 20,000 people toured through this innovative house. The house was then packed up and shipped to the US ready to be reassembled over a short 7 days, fully ready for the start date of the competition, September 13th.

To learn more about the lighthouse visit their site @ firstlighthouse.ac.nz/home/

comes in 2 size @ gaiam

At first glance, the exterior of Blu’s new Lofthouse appears to be a simple box, but that’s just what they were after when they designed this new eco-friendly prefab. According to Maura McCarthy, Blu Homes’ co-founder and VP, sales and marketing, “The charming exterior of the traditional version of the Lofthouse is reminiscent of a New England barn-style home, complete with Colonial-style windows and shutters. The more modern version does away with shutters and expands the windows to provide an uninterrupted view and a true indoor/outdoor living experience.”

But it’s what’s inside that may impress the most:

• proprietary structural steel frames allow for high ceilings
• gorgeous open spaces and generous natural light
• steel construction’s strength withstands high snow loads, seismic activity and high winds
• also fire, mold and termite resistant
• 50% energy savings over comparably-sized existing homes
• homes are put up on-site in 1 day and completed in just 2 weeks

The Lofthouse prefab design can be built to suit – either 2, 3 or 4-bedrooms and 3 baths.  All come with dramatic 2-story living room. Up for it? Be prepared to plunk down a minimum of $355,000 (plus lot).

I prefer the aesthetics of either their Glidehouse or Breezehouse eco-friendly prefabs, designed by Michelle Kaufmann of mkDesigns, whose work is available exclusively through Blu Homes.

Related: green building previously on altCon.

KEMROK is cement that is composed of 5% renewable materials and 95% cast-off ash. This is doubly helpful because the cast-off ash would typically end up in a landfill and it also prevents the need for new raw materials to be used. By using these materials, KEMROK is virtually carbon neutral, whereas typical cement production creates one ton of CO2 for every ton of cement produced. It also does not require the decomposing of limestone, which produces CO2, nor the use of fossil fuel burning machines for heat. KEMROK should be the cement of choice for any company intent on meeting regulations for “Green” status or LEED certification.

more articles on green building

additional source: azobuild.com

Sustainable living is becoming a top priority for more and more people these days. Advancements in solar technology have allowed for economically efficient ways to save energy. Harnessing the sun’s energy is clean, renewable, and free. So why not?

Investing in green upgrades in your home can pay off in both the short and long run and solar water heaters are among the most economically beneficial improvements you can make. They don’t cost as much as solar panels and they can cut water-heating bills by up to 80 percent. Solar water heaters are very easy to install and they allow for free hot water for years to come.

Federal and state governments across the nation are doing their best to encourage green living by creating aid and incentives for green building.  If you’re looking to improve the energy efficiency of your home, take a look at the Database of State Incentives for Renewables and Efficiency to find out how your state can help you.

related: solar and alternative energy products

The construction of modern buildings and houses has contributed vastly to our collective comfort, health, employment opportunities and overall quality of life. Even considering these highly positive effects, the reality of modern construction is that it also lends to environmental degradation. CompoClay, an eco-friendly company in Alameda, California, realizes these negative effects and is working to do something about them.

Whether it’s through deforestation, resource extraction, chemical usage or metallurgical processes, our environment pays a price for our need to create houses, buildings and products. CompoClay aims to offset these damages through the use of abundant and natural building materials.

Be it anything from wall panels and sculptures to mirrors and fireplace mantels, all of CompoClay’s products are fabricated from basic natural ingredients like water, sand grains, sea salt and minerals. The long-term goal of CompoClay is to find a sustainable and healthy alternative to large-scale resource extraction and the use of toxic materials in traditional construction and product design.

We’ve all heard of this idea of living off-grid, but what kind of person would be interested in living in this way? A number different people turn to living off the grid for varying reasons:  Off-grid living can be motivated by anything from a general distrust of the government and corporate monopolies, to a sheer desire to quit the rat race we call modern living. As it turns out, one of the biggest reason why so many people start living off the grid is to lower their personal impact on the environment.

Some feel that the best way they can preserve the environment is to forego using public utilities like power, gas and water.
This may result in going without, what many would call, the “basic necessities” of life. Living off-grid could include buying a plot of land and building a house that is not connected to public utilities in any way. It also may not be necessary to go as far as building a house, as many people have used campers, trailers or pre-fab units for off-grid living. This kind of living typically requires a location near a natural water supply, digging a well and/or the use of a cistern to collect water.

Many of these homes utilize solar and wind power as an alternative to using fossil fuels and nuclear energy. There is also such a thing as living partially off-grid, which can include anything from the use of solar panels for power to gardens for food, while still retaining some connection to public works and other services.

top photo: taalman koch architects “itHouse”

reference: Nick Rosen’s Off the Grid

Young designer, (she’s an undergrad at Western Washington U.), Kristen-Lehua Barcheski has come up with some innovative designs for shipping container housing. Her EIGHTx8 series features concepts that utilize the ubiquitous cargo container as the basic building unit.

The compact, modular nature of the container units makes them an ideal living solution for crowded urban communities.

The prefabs would also be readily assembled and disassembled for moving and transport, particularly in the case of disaster scenarios when emergency housing and pop-up medical facilities would need to be erected quickly.

The tiny footprint of each living space could be expanded by designing multi-functional rooms and furnishings, like a Murphy Bed that also serves as a work station, and a dining room that also serves as storage space.