Eco friendly building is all the rage today. The designs featured here are on the cutting edge of
sustainable
home and cabin options!
Writer's Retreat in Jaffrey, NH, USA by Eric Thompson Design (above) (Photo: Nancy Belluscio/On-Site Photography)
As we become more environmentally conscious, we are continually looking for ways to reduce our
ecological footprint
and make our homes and cabins more environmentally friendly, in conjunction with other aspects of our lives.
Only then will we be able to preserve our planet for future gen- erations.
The sleek contemporary design pictured above, right, and below is located on Cape Cod. Designed by ZeroEnergy
Design, a Boston-based architectur- al firm specializing in eco friendly building, the home employs modern
tech- nology to make it as energy efficient as possible. For example, it features
radiant heating
and the wall cavities are sprayed with icynene open-cell in- sulation. In addition, the HVAC zoning is carefully
orchestrated, effectively allowing large areas of the home to be closed off when not in use.
Though sustainability is often associ- ated with modern or contemporary style dwellings, it can be incorporated
in more traditional designs, as well. The lovely log cabin pictured at right and below is a fine example of
this.
Designed by architect Daniel Turvey, the 1,800 square foot cabin is located in Big Sky, Montana. The cabin
exteri- or includes standing-dead timbers and trees collected from the site, as well as from a nearby mountain
range. Tri- ple glazed windows and closed cell spray foam and batt-overlay insulation ensure the cabin is "tight,"
as do the firebox and chimney chase designed to block air infiltration. It also features a closed-loop heating
and cooling sys- tem and an air-exchange system.
The weekend getaway pictured at right and below is located in Healds- burg, California, and was designed by
architect Henry Siegel for his own use. Employing
straw-bale construc- tion,
both the interior and exterior walls are covered with plaster. Due to the superlative insulating properties of
the straw bales combined with inch thick interior plaster and an absense of late afternoon sun forced by
topo- graphy, the owner has not needed to install mechanical cooling.
The eco friendly building pictured at right and below is located in Charlotte, Vermont. Designed by architect
David Pill and landscape designer Hillary Ma- haram for their own use, the angular farmhouse sits on 44 rolling
acres . . . . . . . .
Powered entirely by a wind turbine, the 2,700 square foot structure is built along an east-west axis to
minimize the heat and glare of early morning and late afternoon sunlight. A geothermal radiant system and
triple-glazed windows help to keep the home warm and toasty during cold Vermont win- ters.
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