Story at a glance: Every aspect of home design and construction, from a building’s orientation down to its fixtures, can be made more energy-efficient. Passive design features, such as building with cross-ventilation in mind, figure prominently in energy-efficient home designs. Multi-paned windows using low-e coatings are an easy way to reduce home heating and cooling […] The post Energy-Efficient Home Designs: Examples & Tips appeared first on gb&d magazine ..read more

Story at a glance: The reuse of reclaimed wood and gently used vintage furniture are just two ways that farmhouse design is sustainable. Typical small and minimalist builds with a rectangular shape, it’s easy for modern farmhouse design to achieve passive house standards. The prefab trend in farmhouse design with highly insulated modular wall panels, enhances its sustainability. Warm, homey, and rustic come to mind when describing the country farmhouse design aesthetic. Traditionally this is true. But modern and prefab farmhouse designs are unique in their own right, all the while still as s ..read more

Story at a glance: This house in a Melbourne suburb was given a bright future with a sustainable design from Ben Callery Architects. The project’s energy-efficient design emphasizes daylight as well as water reuse. A decade after moving into a lovely terrace house in the Northcote suburb, these homeowners realized they needed more space—and more sun. While they considered moving, their connection to the space and the neighborhood held strong. They didn’t want to leave. The existing home—a long terrace house indicative of this area of Melbourne—was south-facing, dark, cold, narrow, and oversh ..read more

Story at a glance: A home in the Berkshires is designed to make as little impact on the landscape as possible—visually, ecologically, and in terms of its larger environmental footprint. Architects Pachano & Vollert designed the home around the existing site, pinning it to existing rock and preserving trees throughout the construction process. External insulation and high-end membranes help the house exceed passive house requirements for airtightness. Tucked among the trees, a house emerges like a shadow in the Berkshires. Architects Amparo Vollert and Pedro Pachano, co-principals of the ..read more

Story at a glance: An ADU—or accessory dwelling unit—is a small self-contained secondary housing unit located on the same property as a single-family residence. Sustainable ADU design prioritizes the use of green building materials, passive design strategies, renewable energy, energy- and water-efficient systems, and more. ADU laws and regulations vary considerably at the state and municipal level but are becoming increasingly streamlined as the popularity of ADUs grows. An estimated 1.4 million legal accessory dwelling units—or ADUs—exist in the United States, with that number growing stead ..read more

Story at a glance: Most modern brick homes feature brick cavity walls or single-layer brick veneers rather than solid brick walls. Brick-built homes are durable, weather resistant, long-lasting, and help improve energy efficiency. Thin brick veneers are an affordable alternative to traditional whole-brick construction that also offer improved air and water barrier technology. Bricks are among the world’s oldest man-made building materials, with the earliest known examples dating before 7,500 BCE. While the oldest mud and clay bricks look a bit different from our modern bricks, but they’re st ..read more

Story at a glance: Montgomery Sisam Architects designs Chelsea Gardens as a model for high-quality, sustainable affordable housing. The cost of living many places in North America is on the rise, while demand exceeds development. The team had to be very efficient in terms of gross floor area and layout to deliver 200 units, including many larger family units. In Canada the challenge of providing sufficient affordable housing is pressing. As the costs of living have increased, demand has outpaced development, and cities are seeing the fallout in their shelter systems. To redress this deficit ..read more

Story at a glance: Architect Aaron Schiller reimagined a dilapidated 1870s carriage house in Brooklyn as his new home to test mass timber construction methods. Piggybacking onto a larger project for materials and partnering with local providers, Schiller Projects was able to streamline construction while minimizing its carbon footprint. Designed for longevity, the converted Brooklyn Mass Timber House has been nominated for an American Architects 2023 Building of the Year Award. Aaron Schiller—founder and lead designer of the New York City-based architectural design firm Schiller Projects and ..read more

Story at a glance: Sustainable housing projects are designed to be socially equitable, affordable, accessible, and to have a reduced or positive environmental impact. Casa Adelante, the DADA Distrikt, and the Urban Frontier House are all examples of recent housing projects that address both environmental and social sustainability. Housing may be a human right, but affordable housing—and perhaps even moreso sustainable affordable housing—has become increasingly difficult for the average person to access. This is true both in terms of the private residence as well as public housing, as house p ..read more

Story at a glance: The Acton Passive House was designed by ZeroEnergy Design (ZED), a green architecture firm based in Boston, for a client looking for respite from city life. The vision was unwavering: The client wanted a modest primary residence with two bedrooms and two bathrooms that felt like a retreat in nature. The project meets rigorous standards for energy efficiency and includes solar panels that produce more energy than the home needs throughout the year. Set in a clearing of evergreens is a sleek, modest home. A low profile, strong horizontal lines, and modern style put the Acton ..read more