Green Building : Jetson Green

International Shed of the Year 2009

Shed spaces of all sizes are popular these days.  Sure, you may run into zoning laws and ordinances, but given the legalities, a well-designed shed space could work perfectly as an affordable office, workshop, or anything else.  So we were interested to learn that We Love Sheds just held an international competition to find the best International Shed of the Year 2009.  Maryland-based entrant Chuck Witmer beat out roughly 186 other shed entries to take this year's prize for THE_SHED.  He built it himself, and it's beautiful.

A Smart Green Living Zero Home

This is the Living Zero Home, which was commissioned by the U.S. Department of Energy and built by All American Homes.  The home was on display in Chicago last weekend and will move to about fifteen other destinations throughout the year, including Louisville, Greensboro, Atlanta, Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Dallas, Phoenix, and Denver, among other cities.  The modern demonstration home features a Smart Living System -- both an energy management and home monitoring tool -- which helps owners save money and provides an alert for potential problems, such as a water pipe leak.  The home includes a number of other green elements, too:

Stunning Passive Solar Remington Court

One of Hybrid Architecture + Assembly's most recent projects, Remington Court, is quite stunning.  Opting to do everything from start to finish, the company designed, developed, and built the four-unit project -- a successful endeavor considering three of the four units sold prior to completion!  The interiors are modern and minimalist, relying on products such as HenryBuilt cabinets, Corian counters, Starck-designed Duravit toilets, and some of the following green features and elements:

Platinum Vertical Modern Urban Lofts

Just last month, these seven, attached, single-family homes received LEED Platinum certification -- the first homes in Arkansas to achieve the USGBC's highest designation!  Vertical Modern Urban Lofts is located in downtown Little Rock, and the second phase of the project is under construction right now.  The homes range in price from $299k - $399k, and they're destined to save owners some cash going forward.  They exceed Energy Star standards by 41% and feature a number of green elements:

Efficient Modern Passive House in Utah

There's a new site called Our Passive House, where the owners are documenting the design and construction of the first Passive House in Utah.  It just so happens that I live in the same general neighborhood, so we'll try to present a follow up article when the home is complete.  Owners Joe and Rebecca, available on Twitter @ourpassivehouse, hired Brach Design, Utah's first certified Passive House consultant, to design the home.

New LEED LivingHome for Los Altos

Architect Ray Kappe designed the first (and now iconic) LivingHome in Santa Monica, and now, he has a new multifamily design that LivingHomes will prefabricate for a site in Los Altos, California.  The project includes three attached units, of which, two units will have three bedrooms and three bathrooms and one unit will have one bedroom and one bathroom.  One of the units will be owner occupied, one will be low-income, and the other will be a standard rental.  All of them will be green. 

14 New Green Duplex Designs [NOLA]

You're probably familiar with Brad Pitt's juggernaut project, Make It Right -- back in December 2007, we talked about thirteen single-family designs planned for construction in the Lower 9th Ward.  A number of these have been built, and the progress has been interesting to watch.  In addition, Make It Right just announced fourteen new duplex designs from top international architects.  The designs emphasize community, affordability, flexibility, and sustainability, and starting in mid-August, Make It Right expects to break ground on two of these.  Check out a preview of all fourteen and the firms behind the designs:

Georgia Manufactured Home Gets LEED Platinum, Skips Costly Green Gizmos

When you think of manufactured homes, you might think of the ranch house with vinyl siding that you gingerly pass on the interstate as it travels on the back of a wide-load truck.  You might also think about a LEED Platinum home and imagine a roof spotted with photovoltaic panels, windmill in the front yard, and geothermal dug deep into the ground.  The newest offering from New World Home turns both of these ideas on their heads.

Maison IDEKIT Quebec Container Home

Using seven recycled shipping containers, architect Bernard Morin and wife Joyce Labelle built this contemporary residence in St. Adele, Quebec.  The home is the first of many to come for their new company, Maison Idekit, which will help homeowners turn containers into architecturally unique, and inexpensive, homes.  The company has two more residential projects set to break ground in the next couple months using a total of twelve container modules.

Reclaimed Prefab Auctioned for $75k

After nine bids on eBay, some lucky duck ended up with a reclaimed prefab for $75,100.  The prefab was built by Reclaimed Space for Dwell on Design and the proceeds went to both Habitat for Humanity of Greater Los Angeles and Hollywood for Habitat for Humanity.  Ecofabulous created the interior using a number of stylish, green products.  According to the eBay listing, this 400 square foot home included the following: