The Lai family—Mayuko, baby Shota on her lap, David, Maya, and Yumi sitting on a cushion on the deck—relaxes in their indoor-outdoor living space, made by opening the glass sliding doors to connect the living room and engawa deck.

The most sustainable element of all is the Lais’ intention to make their first home their last home as well. “Some people have this mentality of getting a starter house, then upgrading from there,” David says. “We just wanted to find a place to live in and then stay there forever.” Eventually they imagine passing the home down to their children.

Compressed-Air Energy Storage Wind energy is used to power compressors that inject air at high pressure into large underground chambers. When demand peaks and the wind flags, the pressurized air is released—often with a small amount of natural gas—to power turbines or generators, producing electricity. The first such plant opened in Germany in 1978.

The entire cabin is powered by the rooftop solar system from Solarwinds Northernlights. "I still can't get over the fact that I can get an ice cube from the sun," Bruce says.

That heat is then transferred to the old stone walls underneath. From there, the stone slowly radiates the warmth into the interior, keeping it around 70°F even as night temperatures drop to 25°F. A wood-burning stove compensates for cloudy days. (For the thermally-savvy, the polycarbonate has a U value of 1.1 W/m²K).

A new kitchen system by Nendo for Scavolini.

The house that Fleetwood Fernandez Architects designed for contractor Mehran Taslimi and his wife, Laila, embraces its surroundings. “They wanted doors that they could just throw open,” designer Hunter Fleetwood says of the retractable wall system from Vitrocsa.

The rain-catchment system next to the outdoor shower collects and disposes of the first five gallons of rainwater to ensure that the cleanest water is diverted into the cistern.

The open observatory.

The house has a small environmental footprint. SHED built it using advanced framing, a technique that cuts down on the use of lumber by 30 percent. Another benefit of the method is that it prevents heat from escaping the home, making it more energy-efficient. Additionally, the architects installed a high-efficiency boiler that preheats water with rooftop solar panels; a heat recovery ventilation system that efficiently controls the climate; and a rainwater retention tank that conserves water.

Moore has been using the so-called beetle-kill pine in his projects for years. In the Damianos’ house, he lined the floors, ceiling, cabinetry, and walls of the second-story living area, white-washing the planks “to let a little more sunlight bounce around the room.”

“Your first impression is that the house is very closed,” says David Barragán of the building he designed with Jose María Sáez in Quito, Ecuador. Stacked concrete forms, developed by Barragán and Sáez and used as planters along the front facade, offer privacy and integrate the building with the site.

Geraldine and Kit Laybourne remodeled the kitchen in their High Line apartment with yellow and gray interiors. The kitchen features an Artematica Vitrum glass system from Valcucine, artwork by Craig Kucia, and banquette cushion fabrics by Hella Jongerius for Maharam.

A pressed-steel Parallel shelving system by Terence Woodgate holds books and mementos.

On all three aboveground levels of the house, outdoor spaces feature as prominently as indoor ones. The backyard is lined with tiered concrete boxes for planting vegetables; the modest top floor—which houses the master bedroom—has a deck wrapping three sides; and in the middle, a 770-square-foot green roof extends off the living area. Don't miss a word of Dwell! Download our FREE app from iTunes, friend us on Facebook, or follow us on Twitter!

Flywheel Energy Storage Flywheels are discs or cylinders that spin on an axis in a frictionless enclosure to store power in the form of kinetic energy. When demand for power rises, the spinning can be slowed to release energy to the grid. The advantages of flywheel storage include long life and low maintenance.

A deck is located off the dining area.

If energy from renewables can be stored and dispatched to the grid during periods of peak demand, solar and wind would become more cost-effective and simpler to scale.

The Damianos’ house, located in Denver’s Highland neighborhood, runs completely on solar energy.

VIPP's kitchen line launched last year.

FlatBoxLed Contact Track Spotlight by Dinnebier + Blieske, produced by Mawa Design Licht- und Wohnideen GmbH.

Albed's very chic closet systems put regular old coat hangers to shame.

The United States' National Park Service collateral (which won the US Presidential Design Award in 1985). The Unigrid is a modular system meant to save costs by predetermining everything from "paper size to graphics to cartography and illustration."

The Cocoon wireless sound system for Denon, whose form-meets-function shape is partially inspired by the work of Constantin Brancusi.

The Becerril family embraces stark modernism with a mute facade clad in Hardie board and acrylic panels. Access to the heart of the house is through the bamboo garden.

The rear facade. A system of sliding glass windows and doors underscore the indoor/outdoor nature of the house.

“The physics are well known: You move mass against the force of gravity and with the force of gravity to either store or release energy.”—Jim Kelly

Advanced Rail Energy Storage Based in Santa Barbara, California, Advanced Rail Energy Storage has devised a system that draws energy from the grid to push a train of weighted cars uphill. When demand spikes, the cars are sent downhill, sending power back to the grid by using the turning power of the wheels on each car to generate electricity.

Water-saving dishwasher In the kitchen, the dishwasher is the largest source of water use, and dishwashers made before 1994 waste more than 10 gallons of water per cycle. Energy Star certified dishwashers employ soil sensors and more efficient jets to maximize cleaning while minimizing water use.

bioWAVE Ocean-Wave Energy System, prototype. Timothy Finnigan (Australian, b. 1968), BioPower Systems Pty Ltd. Australia, 2005–present. Rendering: BioPower Systems Pty Ltd.

A rainwater catchment system feeds a cistern and outdoor shower. The Butterfly chairs are from Hayneedle.

A defining green feature is the on-site stormwater infiltration system. The architect explains, “To comply with local regulations protecting the creek and beach, the house has an infiltration system that collects all the water from the roofs in the two large concrete rain-gardens, the stormwater is then filtered before soaking into the sandy soil.” The gutters channel rainwater from the roof down to an underground system.

Elfa storage systems fit perfectly behind the sliding doors, and offered customizable options for keeping clothes organized.

Two layers of aluminum woven-coil drapes hang outside the large, south-facing windows above the living area.

Custom cabinet system by Henrybuilt, price upon request Lines that can be architecturally integrated make it easy to add storage to tight spaces—like this Corian unit tucked under the stairs in a New York kitchen.