Flooring includes Teragren bamboo, cork in the kitchen, and porcelain at entry points. American Yellow Birch was used for the cabinets and trimming. Photo by: Eric Hausman Photography

Oriented to absorb the afternoon sun, floor-to-ceiling doors comprise two-thirds of the home’s west-facing walls, which open to an elevated deck overlooking Island Bay. Combined with extra-thick building insulation, this passive element provides sufficient heating for the home, even during winter months—a true feat given the region’s cold seasonal winds.

This "local prefab" home on the Isle of Skye is made mostly from materials sourced in northern Scotland. The timber-framed model, meant to evoke the simple agrarian barns of the area, can be constructed on-site in as little as a day and is designed for affordability.

Black and white kitchen cabinets painted with a triangular pattern add a whimsical touch to this funky kitchen.

Thanks to passive solar and radiant floors, the metal-clad home is comfortable year-round.

The south windows provide much of the winter-free heat as well as the opportunity to break down the wall’s mass into a dynamic composition. Photo by: Eric Hausman Photography

When Abbie and Bill Burton hired Marmol Radziner to design their prefab weekend home, their two requests were “simple-simple, replaceable materials,” says Abbie—such as concrete floors (poured offsite in Marmol Radziner's factory) and metal panel siding—and “the ability to be indoors or outdoors with ease.” Deep overhangs provide shade and protection from rain, so the Burtons can leave their doors open year-round and hang out on their 70-foot-long deck even in inclement weather. They visit the house once a month, usually for a week at a time, with Vinnie and Stella, their rescue Bernese Mountain dogs. Their two adult children occasionally join them. The couple hopes to one day retire here.

The traditional massing masks a super-performing house, built to last for centuries. Photo by: Eric Hausman Photography

The exterior was clad with LP SmartSide in alternating bands of textured and smooth siding and basement areaways are constructed of site-salvaged brick-filled gabions. Photo by: Eric Hausman Photography

Find out how Passive House standards are being integrated into affordable housing projects in the United States.

Aluminum-clad wood Zola European windows provide Passive House performance. Photo by: Eric Hausman Photography

The entry sequence was designed to allow accessible entry, creating a sense of shelter and highlighting the thickness of the super-insulated ICF walls.

Floor-to-ceiling glass walls help the house connect to the landscape and also offer a material contrast to the oak floors and concrete.

Arango worked with Maine-based firm GO Logic on the design and construction of the house.

The American Yellow Birch-clad staircase was designed as a screen inspired by light filtering through a forest. Photo by: Eric Hausman Photography

Arango describes the perks of living in a house that runs on passive principles, including lower energy bills and less noise from heaters.

A cedar deck and beams create the transition to the back entry. Photo by: Eric Hausman Photography

Little Compton Retreat in Little Compton, Rhode Island, completed by ZeroEnergy Design in 2011. Photo by: Greg Premru.

South-facing windows, bedrooms situated at each end of a simple gabled structure, and a sleeping loft maximize both energy efficiency and an open, airy feeling in this Rhode Island vacation home by ZeroEnergy Design. Photo by: Greg Premru.

The concrete wall mimics the slope of the hill outside as a reference to early Maori structures that were dug into the land. The simple kitchen has strandboard cabinetry and an MDF island that conceals a fireplace at one end. The ceramic works on the built-in seat at right are by Raewyn Atkinson and Robyn Lewis.

After living on and studying a woodsy acre of land in North Zealand, Denmark, architect Jesper Brask cleared a stand of pine trees and, from the timber, built a getaway open to its surroundings. The house, which Brask shares with his wife, Lene, and sons, Kristian, Jens, and Niels, is used mainly in summer, when the weather is optimal for throwing open the glass doors.

Mami and Goo the Kishu dog return from a frolic in the forest, which the couple, along with Hideaki, has thinned and trimmed back over many weekends. It’s an idyllic escape and a world away from the concrete expanse of Tokyo.

In Seattle's rapidly developing South Lake Union neighborhood, the Art Stable is a classic example of urban infill. Built on the site of a former horse stable, the seven-story mixed-use building carries its history into the future with highly adaptable live/work units.

A 3,120-square-foot 19th-century brownstone building in Park Slope, Brooklyn—the first certified Passive House in New York City—was one of three finalists in the retrofits category. Fabrica718, an environmentally focused Brooklyn design practice, renovated the house starting in 2009.

To adhere to Passivhaus standards, the house has a tightly-sealed shell, a smart ventilation system, and plenty of windows to let in natural light.

Located on an infill lot, the house is clad with Anthra Zinc panels by VMZinc.

First things first: What's a Passive House? They're well insulated, virtually airtight buildings who must meet strict energy efficiency requirements. The benefit is that building passive can decrease home heating consumption by an astounding 90% and decrease overall energy consumption up to 75%. Here, a mixed-use building in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, with a single-family home atop a retail space, all designed by Loadingdock5. Photo by: Raimund Koch.

With an airtight building seal and triple-glazed windows, the structure receives all the heat it needs from the sun.

Japanese showers are usually set low down so the bather can sit on a stool and scrub, then pour cedar buckets of hot water over their heads for a refreshing rinse. This homeowner in Venice, California mounted a handheld shower head on the wall for added flexibility. The drain is under the removable cedar floor slats, keeping the room design uncluttered. Wood tubs are cleaned with a simple rinse and last for decades, as the antiseptic properties of cedar guard against mold and rot. This ofuro was designed by Santiago Ortiz and fabricated by Bartok Design.

This house in Sint-Niklaas, Belgium, designed by BLAF Architecten, is a finalist in the single-family homes category.

Pikaplant and Pikaplant One Water is free, but your time isn’t. If you’ve suffered through the guilt of letting houseplants brown and yellow due to lack of attention, the Dutch company Pikaplant has two products that do almost all of the work for you. The glass-and-steel Pikaplant One shelf is designed with a passive watering system that only requires a occasional fill-up, and the Pikaplant Jars are all-in-one terrariums for the watering deficient. Unless you’re clumsy enough to knock it down, you’re set.

Kimmo Lylykangas Architects designed three two-story passive houses in Espoo, Finland, near Helsinki, as a pilot project for the Finnish social housing company TA Asunnot.

X-Line 016 House in Lethbridge, AB is a cedar-clad passive home with a two-story living room, artist's studio, and three-car garage with windows creating a "chimney effect" ventilation system that allows the air to move without using power. Photo by: Clayton Strong

Choosing a kitchen or bathroom countertop can be nerve-wracking, and we understand why—they can be one of the most expensive aspects of a renovation, with the added responsibility of impacting the aesthetics of a space. Read on as we work our way through the pros and cons of seven of the most common countertop materials.

Tanya, Chris, Jackson, and Zeke spend much of their day outside.