While surfing online green style guide Sprig, we found a slideshow of an adorable Airstream trailer that reconfirms one of our favorite reasons to live in a small space: surrounding yourself with beautiful things. When you're limited to just a few items, it's important (and less expensive) to invest only in things you love. This trailer is a perfect example of a carefully curated home...
posted originally from: AT:Chicago
If you've ever looked into building your own prefab paradise, you know that getting a grasp on the realistic possibilities can be difficult. Despite all the information out there, prefab housing remains on the margins of the market. Michelle Kaufmann jokingly compares the current generation of prefab housing to the first iPhones: cool, full of potential, but expensive and in need of tweaking. This month's Conscious Choice talks to 5 prefab homeowners about whether or not their homes have lived up to their dreams...
posted originally from: AT:Chicago
Ken Dunn—the Tribune's pick for the "Chicagoan with the lowest carbon footprint"—doesn't own a solar home, nor does he have wind turbines on his roof. He lives on the top floor of a two-flat in Hyde Park, where he dries his laundry on a line, heats his home with a wood-burning stove, grows vegetables in his backyard, and bikes to work...
posted originally from: AT:Chicago
A 2008 report by the Urban Land Institute includes information from several studies that predict, among other trends, a significant decrease in the demand for McMansions by 2025. The report is part of a larger 2008 ULI publication called "Growing Cooler" that explains how compact development and small-space housing are integral to improving energy efficiency and reducing carbon emissions...
posted originally from: AT:Chicago
Builder Brad Kittel makes these Texas "Tiny Houses" from 95% recycled materials. The only new elements of the home are electric systems, plumbing, and insulation. Unlike modern prefab mini-homes, each one is unique and reflects the style of its salvaged parts...
posted originally from: AT:Chicago
As the housing market tanks and the cost of energy rises, the Economist predicts a boom for green homes. By 2010, studies have foreshadowed that green residences will account for 10% of new American construction. To meet increasing demand, new technologies and standards are starting to emerge that help define what exactly constitutes a green home...
posted originally from: AT:Chicago
German architect/engineer Werner Sobek's R128 and H16 homes are prefab with a twist. These structures aren't available through a manufacturer; they're custom homes designed using lightweight, modular parts. The "prefab" part of these homes lies in their skillful engineering. R218 (shown above) is made from 100% recyclable, easy-to-assemble mortise and tenon joints and bolted joints, while the H16 is made from prefabricated architectural concrete...
posted originally from: AT:Chicago
Through November 1, 2008, Minnesota-based weeHouse is selling their solar-powered SMALL prefab homes (350 square feet) for $99,000 ($109,000 for states west of Colorado). The house comes with an "off-grid solar package" made by Fusion Modular. Click below for details...
posted originally from: AT:Chicago
At the bookstore the other day, we checked out Boho, a new green lifestyle publication billed as "a bohemian's guide to style." It focuses more on fashion than home design, but there were a few blogable notes we made while flipping through the magazine...
posted originally from: AT:Chicago
We found the Cartesian House through Dwell's Green Home contest last month. It stuck in our head ever since for its super-smart use of natural ventilation as well as its relationship to a beautiful wooded site. This home, built on a slope in the woods of North Carolina, uses good design to circulate light and air through the space and significantly cut down on energy consumption...
posted originally from: AT:Chicago
Our friends Ed and Jess were married over the weekend in Massachusetts, at the foothills of the Berkshires in farm country. On the morning of the wedding, we all set out to pick flowers for the ceremony and reception. Ed and Jess belong to a farm co-op, where we gathered buckets full of coneflowers, spider flowers, and sunflowers...
posted originally from: AT:Chicago
Conscious Choice 08.2008
Although we don't go too often, spas can be great getaways. Yesterday we picked up a copy of Conscious Choice while drinking our coffee and found a few articles on natural spa treatments. As customers start to seek out chemical-free treatments, green salons and spas are springing up around the city...
posted originally from: AT:Chicago
A few months ago, we wrote a post on How To Read Design Blogs and Resist the Urge to Buy. In the post, we mentioned that researching and writing about design gives us a buzz that cuts down on our need to actually consume, and fellow bloggers commented that they've had similar experiences. Turns out our blogging buzz might be due, in part, to a dopamine release in the brain...
posted originally from: AT:Chicago
"Vintage Modern" shop the White Attic is one of our favorite Chicago stores. They're experts at giving furniture new life through paints, stains, and finishes. When we recently stopped by, we made mental notes of ideas we'd like to try on some pieces in our own home that need a little lift...
posted originally from: AT:Chicago
At age 16, I left the U.S. for the first time, visiting Ireland with my family. We stayed with relatives on the Western coast who line-dried their clothes and wore the same pants, skirts, and sweaters for several days in a row before adding them to the laundry heap. It made us realize that we tend to overdo it with laundry here in America. Recommendations for lightening up your laundry load below the jump...
posted originally from: AT:Chicago
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