This is the world's first designer energy-saving lightbulb—a sculptural piece so lovely, you’ll be reluctant to use a shade. Check out this product here.

Thomas Heatherwick with Ingo Maurer: Standard lightbulb

A rocket scientest named Thomas Povey applied fins and grooves along the exterior of his new Flare Pans in order to direct the flame to cover more of the pot’s surface area, saving heat energy. The idea of using fins isn’t new — the casing on air-cooled motorcycle engines are coated with grooves to get the surrounding airflow to hit more surface area. Dr. Povey used his knowledge of working on jet engines to apply the same principles to the pots.

The pots are oven-safe up to 401 degrees Fahrenheit for stovetop steak cooking. They will not, however, work as effectively as advertised on an electric stove.

The pots are made from cast aluminum with stainless steel handles. The interior is coated with a non-stick treatment.

There are conventional cookware alternatives to the Flare pans, like the chef-favorite All-Clads or the standby cast iron pans from Lodge Logic, but none of them will have the futuristic feel of the Lakelands.

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.

They installed water-saving artificial grass on their patio for pup Moxy to enjoy.

That heat is then transferred to the old stone walls underneath. From there, the stone slowly radiates the warmth into the interior, keeping it around 70°F even as night temperatures drop to 25°F. A wood-burning stove compensates for cloudy days. (For the thermally-savvy, the polycarbonate has a U value of 1.1 W/m²K).

A custom steel and red oak ship ladder in the main living area is another space-saving solution. The door is Douglas fir and the shelving is mesquite wood; an Eames lounge chair can be seen in the master bedroom.

Those who turn their eyes inwards are greeted by the bar's mirrored surface. Offering a quirky alternative to the lamps traditional in restaurants and dining rooms, lightbulbs hung in a grid incorporate the glassware behind the bar and on the tables in the restaurant's dynamic aesthetic.

The house has a small environmental footprint. SHED built it using advanced framing, a technique that cuts down on the use of lumber by 30 percent. Another benefit of the method is that it prevents heat from escaping the home, making it more energy-efficient. Additionally, the architects installed a high-efficiency boiler that preheats water with rooftop solar panels; a heat recovery ventilation system that efficiently controls the climate; and a rainwater retention tank that conserves water.

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.”

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 deck is located off the dining area.

Flywheel Energy Storage Flywheels are discs or cylinders that spin on an axis in a frictionless enclosure to store power in the form of kinetic energy. When demand for power rises, the spinning can be slowed to release energy to the grid. The advantages of flywheel storage include long life and low maintenance.

If energy from renewables can be stored and dispatched to the grid during periods of peak demand, solar and wind would become more cost-effective and simpler to scale.

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

“The physics are well known: You move mass against the force of gravity and with the force of gravity to either store or release energy.”—Jim Kelly

Advanced Rail Energy Storage Based in Santa Barbara, California, Advanced Rail Energy Storage has devised a system that draws energy from the grid to push a train of weighted cars uphill. When demand spikes, the cars are sent downhill, sending power back to the grid by using the turning power of the wheels on each car to generate electricity.

Water-saving dishwasher In the kitchen, the dishwasher is the largest source of water use, and dishwashers made before 1994 waste more than 10 gallons of water per cycle. Energy Star certified dishwashers employ soil sensors and more efficient jets to maximize cleaning while minimizing water use.

Seven town homes, with slivers of air between them, possess the appearance and energy-saving advantages of row houses.

The cedar weatherboard ceiling in the living pavilion features triangular recesses for lightbulbs.

The house is an energy-saving wooden building that integrates the landscape effortlessly.

The Whole Home Energy Boost Box.

Old-fashioned filament lightbulb fixtures hang on the wall. Photo by: Martin Kaufmann

The rest of the building is insulated with recycled cotton—4.75 inches in the walls, almost 8 inches in the roof—to keep the interior temperature stabilized.

Compressed-Air Energy Storage Wind energy is used to power compressors that inject air at high pressure into large underground chambers. When demand peaks and the wind flags, the pressurized air is released—often with a small amount of natural gas—to power turbines or generators, producing electricity. The first such plant opened in Germany in 1978.

Pumped-Storage Hydroelectricity Pumped-storage hydroelectricity is the oldest and most common form of bulk-energy storage. During periods of low demand, energy from the grid is used to move water to an upper reservoir. When demand rises, the water flows down to a lower reservoir through turbines that generate power like a common hydropower station.

Koto and Plant Prefab will work directly with homeowners to determine optimal site placement and adhere to energy-saving passive solar principles.

The room extends into the main living area, illuminated by energy-saving LED lighting. At right is the “popout” bay window, filled with banquette seating.

Typography guru Erik Spiekermann and his wife, designer Susanna Dulkinys, hate clutter. That’s why they love the super-sleek Berlin domicile they constructed to have just the right lines—and a host of energy-saving features behind the scenes. The stainless-steel Bulthaup kitchen "cost as much as a small house," said Spiekermann, though he did get a discount: Bulthaup is one of his clients.

The cast-concrete sink, glass detailing, and steel appliances add to the clean, minimal, space-saving feel of the kitchen.