Green Options

Follow the process of designing and building a green home from the homeowners’ perspective in the recently released “Green Beginnings” book and video.

Follow Philly’s Postgreen as they attempt to build a modern green home for $100,000.

Just over a year ago, Philadelphia developer Postgreen undertook an ambitious project, to build a modern green home for $100,000.  Not only are they seeking to shatter the myth that green homes are unaffordable, but they are documenting every step on their site, 100KHouse.com.  Located in the New Kensington area of Philadelphia, the house will be a roughly 1,000 square foot two bedroom one and a half bath modern style home - and will not be a prefab; rather it is being built from the ground up according to LEED for Homes guidelines using such affordable energy saving materials as SIPs (structurally insulated panels.)

Documenting the progress of the 100K House are Postgreen President Chad Ludeman and PR Director Nic Darling.  Both are convinced that affordable green building is not only possible, but necessary to bring about true environmental change.  Their blog posts are not limited to the progress of the 100K House; they write about a range of interesting green topics.

In my post of February 26th, I looked at how builders and developers are tackling the challenge of building green for the residential market. A good case study from the Pacific Northwest is the company of Pryde + Johnson, whose Ashworth Cottages were the first homes in the state of Washington to achieve LEED for Homes Platinum Certification (in August of last year).

Ashworth Cottages offers traditional, craftsman-style homes grouped around an outdoor commons. Somewhat different in feel are two condominium projects which Pryde + Johnson currently has underway. Florera (in Greenlake, like Ashworth Cottages) and Hjarta (in the historic town of Ballard) are located in two of Seattle’s best-known urban neighborhoods. And as some of the first homes in the country to be designed according to LEED principles, these projects give us a glimpse at the changes that green design — and green living — will bring to our daily lives.