A Seattle family tasked Atmosphere Design Build with creating a sustainable dwelling in Nevada City, California, the matriarch's hometown and a historic mining community. The firm's material-driven approach channels the pioneer spirit of the gold rush, without compromising comfort or high-efficiency standards.

Simpatico Homes founder Seth Krubiner has lived in the prefab company’s nearly net-zero prototype since it was customized and lifted onsite in 2011.

Components for low-cost prefab homes designed by Habitat for Humanity and the firm Minarc for South Central Los Angeles were trucked in and assembled over three days. Photos by Art Gray.

Rice surfs the net at the built-in desk.

This compact Brooklyn kitchen features a white Corian counter and integrated sink, IKEA cabinets with custom pulls, and geometric floor tiles in black, white and green from a collaborative series by Heath and Dwell. Black appliances pull the look together nicely.

Most impressive of all, a solar array on the roof empowers the residents to produce more energy than they consume on-site.

A view of the installation at the House for Contemporary Art in Belgium.

Numen's Net, occupied by gallery attendees.

Local 123 and Flowerland is the East Bay's version of S.F. favorite Flora Grubb.

Before the 1969 Airstream was home to Local 123, it belonged to Oakland's Remedy Coffee. Hoffman and her team of helpers worked for three months to revamp the interior and bring it up to Alameda County's rigorous health code. "We enlisted the help of our artist friend and Local 123 Gallery curator Alex Case to fix the shoddy cover-up work, build out a proper hand sink, add storage shelving and stereo cabinet areas, install aluminum cove base, clean up and seal existing wood finishes, repair plumbing lines, reroute the precariously hung electrical conduit, and rodent- and weatherproof the trailer's floor. Friends and family helped repaint, deep clean the interior and aluminum exterior, and adorn the trailer," recounts Hoffman.

Local 123 is open Wednesday through Monday 8:00 a.m. to 5:00 p.m. and Tuesdays from 8:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. (though the nursery is closed Tuesdays. Find the cafe at 1330 Solano Avenue in Albany, California. For more information, please visit local123cafe.com.

The nursery has continually been in operation since the 1940s and is peppered with vintage artifacts.

Local 123's creamer station rests atop an orange metal ironing board found at Berkeley's Urban Ore.

Here's some of the cafe's glassware emblazoned with their logo.

Some fine latte work by Ebel; the drink was excellent.

"Most of the existing brewing equipment was damaged or beyond repair, so we bought a Fetco Extractor for small-batch drip brewing, set up an inexpensive but sleek pourover bar (scale, Hario v60 dripper, Able Kone metal and paper filters), installed a new Ditting for grinding bulk coffee and Mazzer Kony-E for espresso," says Hoffman.

Once inside, Hoffman (right) and Ebel (left) make an espresso drink. "With the help of our roaster friends at Four Barrel, we revived a 3-group Linea-AV La Marzocco, our workhorse of an espresso machine," says Hoffman.

Hoffman let us tour the interior. Here's the side door.

A diorama inside the nursery shop, which is prime for perusing.

Cake stands sourced from local thrift shops display an array of cookies and sandwiches. On any given day you might find dark chocolate sea salt cookies, flourless peanut butter cookies, and hand-rolled vegan truffles.

The cafe is situated in Flowerland Nursery, which was first opened in the 1940s. The current owner, Carly Dennett, bought Flowerland about three-and-a-half years ago (she's only the third person to own the historic business). At the time, it was mostly selling sod, pesticides, and fertilizers. "It was kind of stuck in time," she says. Now, green-thumbed shoppers can peruse aisle upon aisle of flowers, vegetable starters, succulents, garden accessories, outdoor furniture, and more at the shop. "Dennett, a Local 123 regular, approached me about setting up a coffee cart at her nursery. We had been looking for the right second location for over a year at that time and I knew immediately from her vibe and her gorgeous shop that this was it," says Hoffman.

Local 123 serves coffee and pastries daily, and sandwiches on weekends.

At a net-zero home in San Francisco, the house's green roof is more of a brown roof: a desert-like array of native and non-native succulents that require minimal irrigation. The soil area is maintained with motorcycle tires (including one from a Harley hog), which control erosion. Composting takes place here as well.

Metal shingles cut from scraps of sheet metal mix with new material as well as odds and ends, such as a road sign Baker bought at the Alameda Flea market. Baker designed stainless steel clips that allow any tile to be easily moved or replaced without the use of tools. Planter box panels add functionality to the facade and can be swapped out or relocated throughout the year.

Rather than a one-off custom piece, Baker designed the daybed as a prototype and worked with Ohio Design on its fabrication.

The Catch lamp is based on a butterfly net.

“These are homes that are truly sustainable—they don’t create any waste in fabrication, and there’s no waste onsite.” —Tryggvi Thorsteinsson, Minarc. Photos by Art Gray.

“There’s no drilling or chopping,” says Erla Dögg Ingjaldsdóttir, cofounder of Minarc. “It’s a very elegant way to build.” Photos by Art Gray.

1456 Angelus Avenue in Los Angeles, California, is currently listed for $1,695,000 by Ellen Philips of Sotheby's International Realty.

Pink plaster meets olive-green tile in this serene garden home listed for £1.3M.

Upstairs, an open layout connects the main living areas, including a fully remodeled kitchen.

The home also includes customizable offering additions, including a heated saltwater pool, an outdoor kitchen, and an electric car charger. Set near the heart of Germantown in the Hudson Valley, the property is conveniently located just a two-hour drive from Manhattan.

Set on a private and quiet gated plot off Bristow Mews near Brixton is this wonderful four-bedroom house designed by MW Architects and Kinland.

NET was founded by renowned architect Alejandro Sticotti in 1990. The firm prefers to use South American hardwoods that, in addition to being durable, anchor their products in their Argentine origins. For instance, the Silla ska chair (seen here) is made from lenga, a patagonian wood that resembles American cherry. The satin black floor lamp is also from NET.

Bullitt Center (Seattle, Washington: 2013) Denis Hayes, chief executive of the Bullitt Foundation, said that if the Bullit Center, his organization’s ambitious experiment in creating a sustainable and “living” office building, is still the greenest space of its kind in a decade, it will have been a failure. That’s not bragging, that’s merely an insight into the scope and ambition of this revolutionary structure, a testing ground for water and energy self sufficiency (via rainwater collection, composting, and a large solar array) aiming to be a case study for radical change in how we build. Based on stats released on Earth Day in April, the building’s first anniversary, the structure is currently using 75 percent less energy than a similar structure and is on its way to a net zero energy certification. Photo by Benjamin Benschneider