This is a partnered guest post.
Over the last decade, individuals as well as international corporations have started to think outside the box with regards to creating innovative answers to global housing problems. Combined with the ever-increasing importance of reducing our impact on the environment as well as the planet’s natural resources, eco-friendly home have been thrust into the lime light as a possible solution.
These types of homes have come on in leaps and bounds, and from solar energy to wind power, and even geothermal energy, they have the potential to greatly reduce our carbon footprint. It’s also not a surprise that these homes are becoming a trend all over the world, with designers struggling to keep up with demand. Here are some of the top eco-friendly homes from all corners of the globe.
Athena Marie Plantation
Known to be the largest eco-friendly home in the US, Athena Marie Plantation in Vero Beach, North Hutchinson Island, is a 45,760 square foot piece of engineering brilliance. Powered by wind as well as electric turbines on the roof, it’s also the first home in the US to implement many different aspects of renewable energy.
Benefitting from open-curved balconies and miles of beautiful landscape, this house is entirely dependent on eco-friendly and renewable energy, consisting of insulated concrete and heat insulating windows. Not only do these building elements reduce carbon footprints and save energy, but they also help protect the building against natural environmental hazards like hurricanes.
The Orchid House
The Orchid House is located in Cotswold, England, and also looks over one of the best nature reserves the country has to offer. Part of the Lower Mill Estate, the Orchid House is an eco-friendly building project containing a number of eco-homes. Presently, it’s the most expensive urban eco-accommodation project, having been sold for a record $14.2 million.
At 2,400 square feet, it’s certainly not as big as Athena Marie Plantation, however it does boast a number of eco-friendly and renewable building elements. Not only is the Orchid House a product of experimental design, but it also generates more power than it consumes, thanks to a geo-thermal pumped located underneath the building.
995 Longbow Place
Situated in the heart of the Larkspur hills, Colorado is a 9,800 square foot house promptly named as one of the greenest and luxurious homes ever built. Despite its huge size, the house only consumes around $350 worth of power every month, and benefits from combined heat and power updates. Valued at $4.5m, the inhabitants of this eco-home get a lot for their money.
Not only does the property benefit from solar and electric panels, but it also houses a water heating system that’s able to perform at 90 per cent efficiency all year round. Additionally, the walls of the property are insulated with special heat conducting foam, and there are many recycled/organic materials used in the building itself. For example, the paint that lines the walls is made from volatile, organic and compound free elements, and the logs are harvested from composite materials to provide a wood finish.
Written on behalf of ENER-G, visit their website for further information about alternative approaches to a more environmentally friendly society.
I think this is super cool and wish I knew more when we were building our home 5 yrs ago.
I wish I had the funds to build a more eco-friendly house, especially wind and solar power.
Wow, I can’t believe how energy efficient that last home is. Our winter time bill can reach almost that much and ours isn’t nearly as big.
My husband and I would love to build a completely eco-friendly home some day.
I would definitely live in an eco-friendly home if I had the money
If i had the money, i would totally want to live in an eco-friendly home.
I’d love to look into solar panels for our next house.
I love the solid color in the photo. Which is funny because I love lots of color also!
Nice!
I need to come up with some new ways of making my home more eco-friendly!
I need to work on making my home eco-friendly on a budget.
I would love for my home to be more eco-friendly.
I would love to build an entirely eco-friendly home. My kids’ school was just built two years ago and is completely eco-friendly. It’s a really cool place!
My old Victorian is like the antithesis of these, despite all attempts at weatherization.
Love these .. I can’t wait to own a home.
a girl can dream I imagine
A girl can dream….I wish that more new homes were built this way to begin with.
I bet those homes took some serious planning!
Our house was green-built and we totally love it!
I can’t wait till we build. Lots of solar and Geo-thermal in my future.