“The old living room and balcony on the sixth floor were transformed into the master bedroom with an en-suite open bathroom,” Hammer said. Flos lighting illuminates the space above the vanity.

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.

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.

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.

“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.

The tiles are designed to be impervious to moisture, and spills and stains won’t seep through the carpet. For more information on FLOR, head to the brand's website.

"Unlike traditional broadloom and area rugs, we’re a modular system that allows you to create custom rugs, runners, and wall-to-wall designs to fit any size and shape," senior designer Cristina Englund says. "With broadloom rugs, you have to replace whole sections of a rug at a time, but with FLOR you can pick up one square and clean it in the sink."

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.

FLOR tiles are made using recycled materials. "We’re part of a program called Net Effects, which buys discarded fishing nets from local fishermen in the Philippines," Englund says. "We create yarn from them. 85% of our products are made with this 100% recyclable nylon."

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

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 manufacturing of FLOR tiles is designed to be as energy efficient as possible. The process relies on renewable energy sources and technologies that help reduce emissions and waste. With its Return & Recycle program, old carpet squares can be returned to FLOR, where the face fiber and backing is separated, and the materials are used to make new rugs. FLOR products are certified by the Carpet and Rug Institute's Green Label Plus program, meaning that they have very low emissions of VOCs.

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.

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.

Their systems include award-winning components like the Drawer Accessory System, shown here with a construction of Paperstone and solid surface acrylic—both materials traditionally used in countertops. This addition extends high-performance function to the interior of a system, where users actually interact with it the most. As homeowners’ needs evolve, they can arrange the reconfigurable dividers in any way they desire. The pieces simply snap back together, thanks to a number of small magnets that are carefully embedded.

Smart Home Automation Systems–Call it the central control, the brain, the hub or what have you, a home automation system integrates all of your smart home technologies (see above) and places them under one convenient master control—namely your smartphone. Although a number of companies specialize in the sales and installation of complete home automation packages, other companies, such as Smart Home USA, offer more affordable do-it-yourself alternatives to better fit your needs and budget. Regardless of which route you choose to make your home smarter, given all the benefits you’ll soon discover that putting a brain in your home is a “no brainer.”

Canary cameras detect motion and send Willson alerts with a video clip of the activity. From the app, he can summon law enforcement if desired.

The Alfred wall system by Harto is both functional and playful, allowing you to organize its modular shelves in a variety of ways.

RainXchange helps manage storm-water runoff and has provided safe drinking water for many communities around the world. Beneath a scenic, seemingly passive water feature is a revolutionary hidden system that stores and filters rainwater for reuse while providing a habitat for wildlife. A Non-Potable Water B Pump to Graywater Basin C Rainwater Downspout Filter D Drain Pipe E Pump Vault F High-Flow Pump G AquaBox Reservoir H Gravel Bed I Liner J Geotextile K Small Pond Open to Air; Flows into Reservoir

Home security system by Canary, $249 at canary.is This all-in-one security system "learns" the rhythms of your home and monitors activity and noise levels, air quality and temperature, notifying you by text (with an accompanying high-definition video) when anything seems out of sorts.

Installation of FLOR carpets is made simple with non-toxic adhesive dots that stick to the bottom of the carpet squares. The pieces only stick to each other, not the floor, so it's easy to remove, rearrange, and transport the rug.

REBAR Shelf System by Jonas Schroeder, produced by Joval GmbH.