Green Energy Inspiration | Elemental Green

The Idea Farm: A Custom, Eco-Friendly Farmhouse

This custom home is a sophisticated blend of rustic and refinement. Everything about it was purposefully planned for a couple committed to living close to the earth and following a lifestyle of simplicity. Affectionately named “The Idea Farm,” for its innovation in sustainable building practices, this home was only the 2nd new home in Minnesota to receive a Gold Rating by MN GreenStar.

How to Make Your Home Net Positive on a Budget

John Livermore remodeled his home to make it produce more energy than it used. In addition to the dramatic energy savings, he zeroed out his home’s carbon footprint, stopped paying energy bills, increased comfort, improved his family's health, and became the first renovated home in Massachusetts to produce more energy than it uses. Best of all – you can do it, too!

RavenWindow: Natural Energy Management

RavenWindow smart glass windows respond daily to changing climactic conditions. During summer’s high temps, they darken to automatically reduce heat, glare, and unwanted solar heat gain. In winter, they let a maximum amount of light and warmth in. RavenWindow can also be customized to meet the needs of a climate zone.

Crossway Passive House: An Unbelievable “Eco-Arch” in the Countryside

Architect Richard Hawkes of Hawkes Architecture, renowned for his sustainable designs, built his family home in the English countryside using Passivhaus (passive house) techniques. The iconic feature of this pioneering house is a scarily thin soaring arched roof. Watch this video to see inside and learn more about this magnificent home.

Tour a 4,000 Square-Foot Passive House Near Ottawa

In this video, we meet Casey & Natasha, a conscious couple who built a passive solar home near Ottawa, Ontario. In addition to orienting their house to face south, they installed overhangs that block the sun to keep it cool during summer months and allow the sun to enter and heat the house during winter months. They also installed a 10 kW solar system that sells clean electricity back to the grid.

Tah.Mah.Lah: The Environmentally Regenerative Home

Every aspect of the creation of this house is intended to have a minimal environmental impact and hopes to have a restorative effect, while still providing an environment appropriate for the family and the broader community.

Nest Learning Thermostat for Energy Efficiency

Meet the 3rd gen Nest Learning Thermostat. It’s slimmer and sleeker with a bigger, sharper display. And it saves energy. That’s the most beautiful part. Watch this quick video to learn how brilliant this home automation tool is.

The Secret of Building Super Energy-Efficient Net-Zero Homes

What’s a net-zero home? It’s a home that will generate as much energy as it consumes in the course of a year. They’ve been around for less than 10 years, but these buildings and the thinking behind them are taking North America by storm. In the following...

The Brighton Earthship

The Brighton Earthship was the first earthship built in the UK and was constructed by Low Carbon Trust, a not-for-profit organization that sets up, manages and promotes environmental projects. Earthship Brighton was one of their first building projects and, as they...

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