I can't believe it took me this long to learn about Jetson Green, but thankfully I have and I was able to see their list of 62 Innovative Green Homes of 2009.  It is an extremely comprehensive list of the green homes they have covered over the last year.  I appreciated the fact they had a picture of each of those homes which links to the blog post they've written on each one.

In their "About Us" section Jetson Green says:

Jetson Green is a daily updated magazine that's obsessed with green building and everything related to it, including sustainable architecture, good design, green prefab, clean technology in the built environment, affordable housing, and eco-friendly development.  Our goal is this: to help you become as obsessed with green building as we are.

For example of the types of homes on the list, some of the green features of this Green home in Atlanta (where Mapawatt is based!) are:

  • Solar hot water
  • High efficiency 19 SEER HVAC
  • Soy-based spray foam insulation
  • Efficient, aluminum clad windows
  • Steel construction
  • Bosch Energy Star appliances
  • Dual flush Caroma toilets
  • Rapidly renewable Plyboo bamboo flooring
  • Low-VOC paints and adhesives
  • Low maintenance, zero water landscaping

Another home they featured in the list (and seen at the top of this post) was Unity House's Leed Platinum pre-fab.  Some of its green features include:

  • Photovoltaic panels
  • Passive solar heating
  • Geothermal heat pump
  • Air lock entry system
  • Heat recovery ventilator
  • Low VOC paints, finishes and stains
  • Extensive use of recycled materials
  • Minimal construction waste

After scrolling through the list, one feature I'd like to see more of in Green Homes is more normalcy!  I appreciate modern architecture, but there seemed to be an overwhelming abundance of modern, cubist style green homes.  I'm sure a large portion of home-buyers would like to see homes that look just like ones they grew up in, just way more efficient and less toxic!

When we build our next house in a few years, I will definitely use Jetson Green as a resource on some of the top green building techniques out there!

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Comments

Anonymous (not verified) Thu, 10/07/2010 - 13:03
dear jetson i Love this house on this picture what is the price to this one and how many can i buy?
Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 01/11/2010 - 12:19
It looks like every light is on in (and outside) of that house, but I can't see any people in any rooms. :-)
Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 01/11/2010 - 11:37
Jetson Green is high up there on my RSS feeds - a great site (along with mapawatt of course)
Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 01/11/2010 - 12:59
I find it helpful when the costs are compared for green vs non-green features. In particular for retrofit situations. We have a local Architect in Austn who has been doing Sustainable designs for many years. ( Peter Pfeiffer) He points out that some "exotic" green solutions may not be cost efficient in the long term. In particular he points out that some geothermal installations become inefficient over time because the temperature deferential between the pipes and the adjacent ground starts to reduce.
Anonymous (not verified) Mon, 01/11/2010 - 18:35
I think you make a great point. Some green homes are just meant to be concept homes, while others are meant to be practical. I think it's important that the home buyer know how much the "green" features save them over time. For instance, if my home builder (Pulte) would have said "We are going to put in a furnace that is 95% efficient, rather than our standard 80% efficient model, and it will cost you $1,000 more but save you $3,000 over ten years" I would have jumped at it. Unfortunately they don't even offer CFLs in their homes! We need the Green Home innovators to help bring the current market up to speed!

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