Green

The large patio leads to a newly landscaped back garden. An expansive glass wall promotes seamless indoor-outdoor living. Inexpensive brick pavers were chosen for the rear patio; they offer textural contrast with the steel of the door, brick of the rear facade, and pale gray wood of the interior floors.

Covered with wire mesh, the green roof will continue to vegetate over time.

Alberto Green Alberto Green, who founded a design consulting practice in 2006, merges design and technology to digitally manufacture contemporary objects. The Serie Green series of planters and perforated screens transform regular spaces into tranquil gardens.

100 Contemporary Green Buildings, Volume 1 is available through Taschen

Architect Marco Casagrande designed the Chen House to make use of the nearby Datun River’s breeze. Raising the house on stilts reduces the building’s impact on the earth while preserving the home from flood waters that run underneath post-storm. Sanjhih, Taipei, Taiwan. Photo by Lukas Casagrande.

The Green School in Badung, Bali, Indonesia, by Effan Adhiwira, employs micro-hydro power, solar power, bio-diesel, and natural air conditioning; it was also constructed with 99% natural materials. Photo by Iwan Baan

Burks's Man Made collection and his Dala line of outdoor furniture for Dedon—featuring stools, chairs, and ottomans crafted by weavers in a Philippines factory—have brought him to a pivotal point in his career. "My relationship with Dwell has been about taking my Man Made project on the road," he says. Dedon produces 300 of Burks's pieces daily, by hand. "It's the ultimate expression of where I can see my own brand and my own studio going someday," he says. Stephen Burks for Dedon, Dala planters in recycled polyethylene, 2012>

The deck, fashioned from ipe, was built around one of the property’s many granite outcroppings. An earthen roof was planted with the same varieties of sedum that were added to the front of the cottage. Photo by: Mark Mahaney

“We sought to create a house that would not damage the environment and not be too visible,” says architect Tina Gregorič. A single zigzagging roof stretches over 5,380 square feet, doubling the area of the interior spaces and serving as an ideal spot for sunset cocktails and whale-watching.

Mississippi QueenThe sustainability-minded Mississippi home of architect Brett Nave, a dwell.com exclusive, is our pick for the best home featured in August. In building his house, Nave took extra care to conserve mature trees on his lot. In addition to the shade from the nearby trees, the house stays cool with the help of Zero VOC closed cell foam in the floors, open cell foam in the roof deck and Knaupf ECO Batts in the walls. A 16 seer heat pump circulates the air when it's too humid for the open windows. Marvin Low E windows and Simpson Mastermark insulated French doors can be opened up to the screened-in porch on the backside of the house, which Nave says helps create a mood that is his favorite element of the house.

University of California, Merced Long Range Development Plan in Merced, California Ambitiously setting a goal for daylight access in 75 percent of the interior rooms (quite a feat for a large university building) is just the beginning for UC Merced’s long-range plan. By 2020, UC Merced plans to be the first zero-net-energy, zero-net-waste and zero-net-emissions campus in the USA. It will also help to preserve the surrounding 30,000 acres of vernal pool grasslands, the largest concentration of vernal pool grasslands in the world.

Ron Green’s affable personality (and that of his store guard, bulldog Hana), along with his immense knowledge of furniture, keeps the regulars coming back to his 2,800-square-foot shop, the Green Ant.

Given Langka's directive that "the people who live around us have to see our roof and I don't want them to see anything but grass," topped the house with a green roof.

Benjamin Moore's Vintage Vogue paint coats the exterior.

The relationship between interior and exterior becomes crucial in the articulation of the residence.

Maximizing daylight is only one of the sustainable design strategies used in the Low/Rise residence.

Large sliding glass doors suspend the living room within the landscape for family gatherings or larger events.

Another view of the upstairs hallway, which features bamboo flooring. Photo by Ken Pagliaro Photography.

Photo by Ken Pagliaro Photography.