Building idealism with 'green,' affordable home designs (Cleveland Plain Dealer)

[jpak]

http://www.cleveland.com/entertainment/plaindealer/index.ssf?/base/entertainment/1163843993251970.xml&coll=2

<snip>

The proposals, created by architects you've never heard of, range from space-age fantasies to traditional concepts that wouldn't look out of place in a Cleveland neighborhood.

Architects are thinking about making houses out of everything from recycled road signs and shipping containers to Styrofoam and ground-up newspapers. And they're getting ever more clever at squeezing a lot of function into a small footprint, making little spaces seem expansive.

Among the outstanding designs is a proposal by Blostein/Overly Architects in Columbus for a $42,750, three-bedroom house built on the prefabricated frame of a 22-by-33-foot greenhouse.

The house would have a translucent skin of polycarbonate panels, a geothermal heating system and wall systems made of recycled plastic molded to enclose appliances and closets.

<much more>

[mcg]

1. Pics of environmental houses

http://enertia.com/index.htm

[jpak]

2. More pix of affordable solar homes from the 2005 Solar Decathlon competition...

http://www.eere.energy.gov/solar_decathlon/2005/homes_gallery.html

[Odin2005]

3. Ooh, ooh, I like this one!

Looks Sci-Fi, me likes!

[jpak]

4. That's my favorite too

Sorta like a Buck Rogers art deco Air Stream Trailer...

:)