Solar Decathlon

Porches are a beloved element of the Southern vernacular and lifestyle, traditionally serving as an extension of the indoors—a shady place to gather, socialize, or share a meal. So when the students of Appalachian State University in Boone, North Carolina, entered the Solar Decathlon, a biennial energy-efficient residential design competition, the iconic space figured prominently in their concept. Here, a canopy of bifacial solar panels covers the porch and provides energy for the home.

A four-zone variable-air-volume air-to-air mechanical system ensures maximum energy savings by only conditioning and distributing air on an as-needed basis to individual spaces within the house. GRoW’s monitoring system allows residents to track temperature, humidity, and electricity use via an online portal.

Among the first Passive Houses in France, this bamboo-clad farmhouse by the Parisian firm Karawitz Architecture only uses a tenth of the energy a conventionally constructed home does. Photo by Nicholas Calcott.

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.

In the summer months, the Growlarium (the intermediary space seen here) acts as a thermal buffer between the outdoor heat and the actively conditioned interior space. During the winter, it serves as a greenhouse. Per the focus on self-sufficiency, the UB Team worked with a local grower to plant everything from okra to eggplant.

This 8ft tall shelf partitions the bedroom and dining area, and features a rotating TV screen allowing both rooms viewing access.

Visitor tour the U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon 2011 in Washington, D.C., Friday, Sept. 30, 2011, with Arlington, VA, left, and the Lincoln Memorial, right, in the background. (Credit: Stefano Paltera/U.S. Department of Energy Solar Decathlon)

Angela Brooks and son Calder revel in the benefits of free solar energy, cheerfully opening the living room’s big glass doors when it’s time to play.

A prime example of simple sustainable design, this custom rolling Growlarium table is designed to trap heat with the water, soil and plants it holds. The table can be rolled outside at night in order to have the heat released to the ambient air.

These kitchen tables feature a textured metal working surface also manufactured by Rigidized Metals Corporation.

Design Milk An e-magazine that's dedicated entirely to architecture, art, home, and interiors. Their sister site, Dog Milk, was created for "modern dog lovers".

Using technology to design a home as energy-efficient as possible was a priority for Hague, both from a financial and philosophical standpoint. Along with Passive House certification for the main house, a solar array on the roof of the barn keeps energy use near zero. In fact, the entire property was Net Zero before the addition of the pool, and it may soon generate an energy surplus with the addition of a second solar array at the main house.

Setsumasa and Hideaki toss on the rain fly. The solar panel in the foreground supplies daytime electricity.

A 1.4-kW solar array by Sharp and propane-powered in-floor radiant heating from Radiantec obviate any need to connect to municipal power.

Keep the Home Fires Burning Using wood for heat and energy keeps the Wadhams’ environmental footprint small and helps avoid the use of coal- or nuclear-powered electricity. Come winter, the couple relies on an Esse wood-burning stove for cooking, heating, and feeding a set of small radiators. In summer, they use the stove’s electric component, which is powered by solar energy.

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

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.”

Clad in warm larch wood, the dwelling features a canopy that serves as a trellis for plants and provides shade for the house to reduce cooling loads. The six foot long solar clothes dryer, laid on its side, camouflages as a comfortable bench.

The cabin’s exterior walls and roof are clad in overlapping stone plates that mimic the look of traditional wood paneling found in Western Norway. “It provides an affinity with the cabins nearby,” partner and architect Nils Ole Bae Brandtzæg explains. Solar panels cover the chimney pipe, lighting LED lamps inside.

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!

A 260-square-foot solar array was installed atop a triangular section of the roof, which faces due south and is angled at 30 degrees for optimal solar collection.

This article was originally published on February 20, 2013 on Movato Real Estate's Blog.

The Sustainable L.A. Grand Challenge, a UCLA initiative with 150 faculty across 40 different departments, has the stated goal of bringing the L.A. region to 100% sustainability in water and energy while enhancing biodiversity by 2050.

The Selby began in 2008 as a place where photographer Todd Selby could post photo shoots he did of his friends in their homes. Since then, the site has remained true to its origin, offering an inside view into the homes of different creative personalities, all shot by Selby himself. And most recently, The Selby curated home goods for Svbscription. Read all about it here.

Imagined as a dual storage and pickling station for vegetables grown on-site, this console’s textured metal lid is supposed to flip open to reveal a pressure canner. The lid was fabricated by Rigidized Metals Corporation, one of UB’s biggest industrial partners and donors for the competition. Four shelves feature grooves—milled by a computer-controlled router— for organizing Mason jars.

Composed of 220 aluminum "light shelves," the solar reflector screen is the focal point of the front façade. The home takes advantage of its Southern exposure, using the reflector screen to funnel sunlight and warmth deep into the interior space.

Sulfurcell solar panels.

A typical home uses somewhere around 150-200 therms of natural gas to heat water each year. With a solar system, usage is reduced to around 100 therms a year.

Based in The Netherlands, The Style Files is run by an e-home store owner and features design inspiration from around the globe.

Although they live over 9,000 miles from each other, the women of Desire to Inspire create a collection of designers, architects, stylists, and photographers on their blog that showcases their shared passion for all things home and design.

Core77 provides a place where professional and rookie designers alike can gather information not only on the newest designs, but also on events, job postings, and services.

Through their blog, Vimeo, Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook feeds, the editors at Cool Hunting create mini-documentaries and daily updates that highlight well-designed and innovative movements in design, technology, travel, food, and style.

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