Show Us Your Sustainable, Green and Energy-Efficient Homes
Share your earth-friendly home or project. It could be featured in an upcoming article
Annie Thornton
March 30, 2019
Houzz Editorial Staff
A lot has changed in the time we’ve talked about going green, being sustainable and the many other terms that describe efforts to reduce a home’s impact on the environment. New products and technologies continue to make it easier and more cost-effective to be energy efficient at home, and the revitalization of early earth-friendly building practices minimizes our footprint and connects us to the planet even more. But instead of talking about more ways to be sustainable at home, we want to hear what you have done in your own home or in your designs.
Homeowners and professionals: What sustainability features have you incorporated into your home and designs? Share photos and details in the Comments.
Homeowners and professionals: What sustainability features have you incorporated into your home and designs? Share photos and details in the Comments.
Did You Get Your Home Green-Building Certified or Equivalent?
There are a number of green-building certifications that can be pursued during a remodeling or new-build project, and each comes with its own list of considerations, benefits, costs and more.
Here, architect Jeff Stern of In Situ Architecture followed the core tenets of Passive House design when building his own home in Portland, including the home’s shape, climate control and solar orientation as a way to more holistically approach energy efficiency. Later in the design process he decided that getting the house certified as a Passive House according to the international standards (PHIUS+) was essential. It’s “confirmation that everyone has done their job,” he says.
Tell us: Have you pursued any green-building certifications with your home or designs? Share in the Comments.
There are a number of green-building certifications that can be pursued during a remodeling or new-build project, and each comes with its own list of considerations, benefits, costs and more.
Here, architect Jeff Stern of In Situ Architecture followed the core tenets of Passive House design when building his own home in Portland, including the home’s shape, climate control and solar orientation as a way to more holistically approach energy efficiency. Later in the design process he decided that getting the house certified as a Passive House according to the international standards (PHIUS+) was essential. It’s “confirmation that everyone has done their job,” he says.
Tell us: Have you pursued any green-building certifications with your home or designs? Share in the Comments.
How Did You Incorporate Sustainable Building Practices and Energy-Efficient Materials in the Architecture?
When designers and architects think about the functionality of their home, they often want to ensure that the home will remain airtight and maintain a tight “envelope” through high-performance windows, insulation and more. Sustainability can start even before then, when deciding how big to build the house and where to place the house for optimal solar gain, shading and breezes.
For this home in Lincoln, Massachusetts, the architects at ZeroEnergy Design kept the house only as large as was necessary for a family of four. Extra-thick insulated walls, high-performance windows and south-facing solar panels are just some of the resilient architectural features they used in order to make it a net positive home (meaning that it produces more energy than it consumes.)
Share: What energy-efficient and sustainable elements have you included in the design and architecture of your home? Share in the Comments.
When designers and architects think about the functionality of their home, they often want to ensure that the home will remain airtight and maintain a tight “envelope” through high-performance windows, insulation and more. Sustainability can start even before then, when deciding how big to build the house and where to place the house for optimal solar gain, shading and breezes.
For this home in Lincoln, Massachusetts, the architects at ZeroEnergy Design kept the house only as large as was necessary for a family of four. Extra-thick insulated walls, high-performance windows and south-facing solar panels are just some of the resilient architectural features they used in order to make it a net positive home (meaning that it produces more energy than it consumes.)
Share: What energy-efficient and sustainable elements have you included in the design and architecture of your home? Share in the Comments.
What Energy-Efficient Appliances and Interior Materials Did You Use?
Creating a more sustainable home also comes down to the elements used inside it, including appliances, furniture and other interior finishes. This is also an opportunity to add smaller sustainable elements to the house if you aren’t tackling a major remodel or new build.
In this duplex in Calgary, the designers at Lighthouse Studios Residential Design employed a number of sustainable features in the interiors. They used Energy Star-rated kitchen appliances, which can be more expensive upfront than conventional appliances but can lead to more than 70 percent energy savings (and long-term cost savings). They also installed long-lasting materials, hung LED fixtures and incorporated vintage furniture — an easy sustainability move.
Your turn: What sustainability features have you incorporated inside your home? Upload your photos in the Comments.
Creating a more sustainable home also comes down to the elements used inside it, including appliances, furniture and other interior finishes. This is also an opportunity to add smaller sustainable elements to the house if you aren’t tackling a major remodel or new build.
In this duplex in Calgary, the designers at Lighthouse Studios Residential Design employed a number of sustainable features in the interiors. They used Energy Star-rated kitchen appliances, which can be more expensive upfront than conventional appliances but can lead to more than 70 percent energy savings (and long-term cost savings). They also installed long-lasting materials, hung LED fixtures and incorporated vintage furniture — an easy sustainability move.
Your turn: What sustainability features have you incorporated inside your home? Upload your photos in the Comments.
What About the Landscape?
How have you incorporated sustainability in outdoor spaces? Have you added a rain garden in order to reduce stormwater runoff and cleanse water before it returns to the soil? Have you converted your high-maintenance, resource-intensive garden bed into a native flower meadow that supports local wildlife? Maybe you’ve reduced your conventional lawn or converted it into a no-mow native lawn.
Show us: What have you done outdoors to reduce your impact on the environment? Share your best photos in the Comments.
More on Houzz
Read more green building guides
Work with a green building professional in your area
Shop for home products
How have you incorporated sustainability in outdoor spaces? Have you added a rain garden in order to reduce stormwater runoff and cleanse water before it returns to the soil? Have you converted your high-maintenance, resource-intensive garden bed into a native flower meadow that supports local wildlife? Maybe you’ve reduced your conventional lawn or converted it into a no-mow native lawn.
Show us: What have you done outdoors to reduce your impact on the environment? Share your best photos in the Comments.
More on Houzz
Read more green building guides
Work with a green building professional in your area
Shop for home products
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Whimsey Queen ~ Fabulous, simply magnificent! Thankyou for sharing.
Thank you. We just repainted the interior of our house which was a huge (and dangerous) undertaking. My husband is 73 now and I don't like him on tall ladders but he's still spry enough to manage it. I'm glad we finished today and can say...it will be the last time to do in...in our lifetime. Getting old isn't all bad. LOL
Well now I'm amazed...had never heard of FugelCulture! Looked it up and - Wow! Makes TOO much sense. Altogether enlightening! Feel as tho I simply must do it.
Alas, I am a gardener and have been all of my adult life. Now, tho, because muscular dystrophy stepped up, I can no longer even stoop to cut the beautiful flowers, let alone, plant them. Butt...I do have help come several days a week and see no reason why we can't plan a FugelCulture setup. Exciting. Big challenge, but 'twould be worth it.
Went also to your website - fantastic job. My Mom was Austrian-German [Eva]; Dad full-blood Swede. I am 68, so fully understand "getting" older; I, too, would still be painting as your husband were it not for MD. It is what it is and we do what we can. Thankful for any of it.
I moved three years ago to my forever home after 30 years in the 1906 one and having restored a half dozen others in that small rural town. Now I am at the end of a dead-end dirt road on 5.5 acres. A large creek and wetlands border the South and West [backyard], woods border the North and East and a small pond in front of the house. Paradise. For all of those 30 years, I planned "to end up in the country"; looked for the right place for years. What are the odds I would find the right house on the perfect setting! I had nearly given up that prospect and figured I would have to build. Then came what I lovingly refer to as, "the swamphouse". : ))) Even has a handicap ramp, and built inside to accommodate a wheelchair, which I do not need yet, but do now use a walker. The women who built the house designed it so one of their grandsons in a wheelchair could stay and visit them. What are the odds!?! I'm a lucky girl.
Glad you happened along this posting. Forever glad to now know of FugelCulture. Best to you, Heide!