Wouldn’t it be lovely to live in an energy-efficient home that is powered by sunlight, a garden that is irrigated with recycled rain water and furniture made from reclaimed industrial materials that look identical to pieces pulled from the glossy pages of the Pottery Barn catalog? Your utility bills would certainly be lower, but your coolness factor would shoot through the roof! Thankfully, the green building trend combined with sustainable design has been on the up and up. More and more homeowners are becoming educated about the benefits of green architecture- we are glad to see more solar panels on roofs, more rain recycling barrels attached to gutters and overall- a larger presence of resource-efficient structures in the everyday home.
Green pioneers like
William McDonough have paved the way for sustainable architecture- traveling around the world to design and construct environmentally sound businesses and residences. Local superstar Ross Cann of
A4 Architecture is implementing sustainable design whenever possible in his recent projects as well. It doesn’t have to be a complete overhaul- it can be a gradual process so don’t get overwhelmed. You can switch over to using organic paints, you can research reclaimed pieces of furniture and begin to explore and perhaps slowly transition over to solar panels. Although new technologies are constantly being developed to complement current practices in creating greener structures, the common objective is that green buildings are designed to reduce the overall impact on the natural environment, and more importantly on our own health.
Here are a few of our favorite green designs. The holidays are just around the corner- let’s all be sure to add one green item to our lists!

Green Architecture: Insulated with recycled newspapers featuring underfloor heating powered by solar panels on the roof.

Green home designed by William McDonough- made with locally sourced, sustainable materials.

Rain recycling barrel to water your garden with!

Residential solar panels

Stunning reclaimed teak countertop
