When it comes to wasted energy, Panacea Retreat is a cure-all.

Thrive Home Builders’ Panacea Retreat offers a picture-perfect example of how to optimize energy efficient at every level in a new home.
The company’s two-story, 3,200-square-foot dwelling in Denver carries a HERS score of 8, brought about by the presence of just about every efficiency feature that can be found in a home: 9.76 kW of solar, a Tesla Powerwall, Level 2 vehicle-charging station prewire, 9-1/2-inch thick R-40 double-stud walls, 14-inch raised heel height trusses, a 0.97 EF tankless water heater with a smart recirculating pump, an 18.9 SEER variable speed heat pump, a 98 percent efficient backup furnace, 100 percent LED lighting—and more.

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This giant net-zero-ready community brings geothermal energy to a new high.

To understand the success of the Whisper Valley community in Austin, Texas, one has to look underground: The project’s geothermal loop energy supply system, GeoGrid, reduces each home’s energy consumption by 65 to 70 percent, cutting monthly heating costs by about 80 percent.

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This clever, compact Hawaiian bungalow has a tough side.

When a client asks David Sands to build a bamboo bungalow, it’s a source of joy for him. Sands’ company, Bamboo Living, specializes in housing made from the island’s fastest-growing and most-durable plant. But one request carried more pride than the others. One of Sands’ own employees wanted one of the stylish tiny shacks as a new home to celebrate her return to the Big Island of Hawaii after 12 years on the mainland.

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Here’s a smart home that’s safer, stylish and a whole lot of fun.

When The Mountain Life Companies decided to build green housing in Breckenridge, Colo., there was a key element it knew it had to include: The homes had to be smart.

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With a little bit of green creativity, new easily blends in with old at this Seattle project.

With Dwell Development’s Northwest Net Zero project, it was all about location. The four-bedroom, 2.5-bath house in Seattle’s Columbia City was built on an infill lot with an existing home, sandwiched between older homes in an established neighborhood. This meant care had to be taken to make sure that the new unit could be constructed to meet aesthetic and lot-size parameters, without standing out from its neighbors.

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