Green Home of the Year and Sustainability Awards Announced

Green Builder magazine’s annual showcase of the best of the best includes SIP homes, stunning expanses of high-performance glass, and more.

Green Builder’s Home of the Year and Sustainability Awards program, now in its 12th year, shines the spotlight on cutting-edge green products, projects, and people. 

“In a time when getting someone’s attention and holding it for a few seconds is the platinum standard of success, awards are one of the few ways to break through the chatter; to educate our peers without preaching,” notes Green Builder magazine’s Editor-In-Chief, Matt Power. “We need people to pay closer attention to what this year’s winners are demonstrating: how to build more efficiently, reduce the footprint of our cities, and design shelter that’s worthy of future generations.” 

The Sustainability Awards 2020 recognizes projects, people, and companies that are leading by example and solving for our climate emergency. Green Builder Media congratulates the following winners: 

Sustainability Superhero: Peter Pfeiffer, founding principal of nationally recognized environmental building design firm Barley/Pfeiffer Architecture. Pfeiffer’s four decades of building efficient, beautiful structures appropriate for their climates and locales has made an indelible mark on the industry.

Sustainable Cities of the Year: Austin, Santa Fe, and San Luis Obispo--municipalities that are leading the way to a carbon neutral future. 

Green Innovations of the Year: Nine outstanding building products show how sustainability can be enhanced when cloud-based apps and real-world engineering smarts converge: 

• Rheem ULTRA LOW NOx Gas Furnace
• Cosmos Healthy Home System by Panasonic
• LG Multi V 5 Heat Pump System
• Niagara Nano super-efficient toilet
• Noritz America NRCR condensing tankless water heater
• LeakSmart leak detection tool 
• Speck Pumps A91-11 THP priming pool pump
• AMICO Hydrodry self-draining vented wall system
• A.O. Smith Proline Electric Tankless Water Heater

2020 Green Home of the Year Award Winners By Category

Grand Winner 

Monroe Farmhouse, Monroe, Ga.

Builder: Luis Imery, Imery Group

Best Modern Design

Net Zero Retreat, Austin, Texas

Architect/Designer: Alan Barley and Peter Pfeiffer, Barley/Pfeiffer Architecture

Builder: Paul Oliver, Oliver Custom Homes

Landscape Architect: Steve Domigan, SKDLA Landscape Architecture

Interior Design: Sharon Radkovich, Panache Interiors

Mainstream Green

Anacortes Triple Zero Home, Anacortes, Wash.

Architect/Designer: Ted L. Clifton, Zero-Energy Home Plans LLC

Builder: David Wallace, CVH, Inc. dba Clifton View Homes

Small Footprint Living

House of the Horizon, Lajas, Puerto Rico 

Architect/Designer: Abruna & Musgrave, Architects

Builder: Peter Davis Torres, Professional Home Builders

Alternative Building

Palo Alto Apartments, Palo Alto, Calif.

Builder: Greg Koepf, Shell Building Systems

Architect/Designer: David Solnick, Architect

Developer: Prabhas Kejriwal, Sageleaf Forest, LLC

Sustainable Community

Sitka, Seattle Wash.

Architect/Designer: Brian Runberg, Runberg Architecture Group

Builder: Sean Stimac, Exxel Pacific

Developer: Alicia Stedman, Vulcan Real Estate

Landscape Architect: Jason Henry, Berger Partnership PS

Interior Designer: Christiane Pein, Lair Design, LLC

The awards program was judged by architect Nathan Good (last year’s Sustainability Superhero), builder Gene Myers, and builder Tim O’Brien. 

“We are proud of all the winners of this year’s awards program,” says Green Builder Media CEO Sara Gutterman. “These standouts represent the best practices, design, products, and ethics of sustainability in the country today. Most importantly, their innovations and commitment to green will no doubt inspire future individuals, companies, and cities to ramp up their commitment to the environment in the coming years.”