4 cutting-edge green home designs

2. Lagom House

Architect
Gregory La Vardera Architect
856.662.4909
plans@lamidesign.com
www.lamidesign.com/plans

Plan Size
First floor: 770 sf
Second floor: 770 sf
Total area: 1540 sf
Width: 38 feet
Depth: 20 feet
Optional 11/2-story versions

This three-bedroom home design features a highly efficient floor plan layout that lives much larger than its size. Plan sets include details of high-performance wall and framing designs based on Swedish home-building practices to achieve a high level of energy efficiency.

The compact size lends itself to both TND and infill sites, and optional 11/2-story versions allow builders to offer variety on the street. The simple geometry is easy to build and lets you finish the house in a range of styles.

A. Flexible living and dining space accommodates different preferences with room for a formal dining table or large seating area

B. Kitchen in a discrete room is large enough for an eat-in family table

C. Home office has enough space for two adult workplaces

D. Traditional front porch makes friendly face to the street

E. Highly insulated wall systems based on Swedish practices. Plan sets include details for both 2 x 6- and 2 x 8-based walls.

F. A window seat for a quiet place to read

G. Children’s homework desk provides space for hobbies and schoolwork

H. Master suite is buffered from children’s bedrooms

I. Equal-size bedrooms play no favorites

J. Transomed doors promote cross ventilation

3. Cape Cod Plan

Architect
Richard C. Handlen, AIA, LEED AP
EDI International Inc.
richard.handlen@edi-international.com
415.362.2880
www.edi-international.com

Plan Size
Total area: 1,044 to 1,478 sf
Width: 29 feet
Depth: 36 feet

Something we have forgotten over the boom years is that building small is actually building green. LEED Platinum can be achieved, but if you’re over-building, you’re wasting more resources than are being saved with “green Band-Aids.” The recession has put the brakes on the McMansion craze, which is perfect timing to focus on building smart, green, and smaller. Smaller will simply provide more bang for the buck.

Although the early-50s Cape Cods of Levittown, N.Y., took the idea of building smaller to an extreme, it’s interesting to revisit the concept with a contemporary twist. A two-bedroom house is hard to find in most markets and sometimes even harder to sell. However, the Cape Cod has always provided a very livable box with a large attic that is perfect for do-it-yourselfers to expand as families grow or needs change.  

This two-bedroom starter concept could easily grow to four. The footprint is tight, with savings on foundation and roofing materials. Since the garage is an add-on, it can go anywhere, flexing with the individual lot constraints. With the addition of front- or rear-facing dormers, the attic can transform into a couple bedrooms, a super master, or a bonus room. This single, flexible floor plan on an economical budget appeals to a wide segment of the market. An updated revisit to this plan concept would include all of today’s standard green accouterments, as well as some of the features listed below.

A. 13 x 15-foot sitting area that visually expands through the kitchen and up the stairwell to the dormer while providing a comfortable entertaining environment

B. Country kitchen that combines cooking and eating in one location

C. One compartmentalized bath on the main level that serves all

D. Flex room on the first floor, serving as a second bedroom, nursery, home office, or exercise room

E. Optional garage that can be added later as a single bay, tandem, double, detached, or linked to the house with a breezeway

F. Door to close off the unfinished attic

G. Future dormer addition for more space to the attic

H. Future bedrooms and bath in the attic space