A “green house” can be modern.

At econic we strongly believe that a green or sustainable building does not have to be a "hippie" shack. To prove our point, we have below a few buildings that are modern, sophisticated, luxurious AND "green"! To start with, take a look at these buildings - constructed out of rammed earth!

Homehill Winery - Tasmania; Australia







Carlton & United Breweries - Yatala (Brisbane); Australia








The above images are courtesy of Ramed Earth.

To date, neither South Africa nor Australia have established their rating tools for single residential buildings (homes). However, the US Green Building Council's LEED rating system does. The following houses are either already LEED Platinum (LEED's highest rating award) rated or awaiting final certification. US based blog Jetson Green has these a more...

Georgia RainShine House

























To achieve its "Plainium" status, The RainShine House included the following:
· +/-1900 litre water reclamation tanks;· Butterfly roof designed to collect rainwater;
· Locally-sourced, 100% recycled steel framing roof;
· Water-based insulation materials;
· Reclaimed heart-pine flooring;
· Energy recovery ventilator (for tight homes);
· Low solar heat gain coefficient windows;
· Abundant interior natural light;
· LED lighting system;
· Geothermal heat pump;
· 3.1 kW rooftop, photovoltaic system; and
· Deciduous plantings to provide efficiency benefits.

Margarido House






















· LED lighting
· Energy Star cool roof
· In floor hydronic (water based) heating system
· Solar electric power
· Solar thermal hot water
· Smart house automation
· Energy efficient appliances
· Water reclamation tanks
· Permeable paving
· Recycled concrete and glass counters
· Locally sourced and sustainable products
· Interior air quality management system
· Low water/drought tolerant landscaping
· Zero VOC paints

Celadon Eco Townhomes





















· approximately 30-40% more energy efficient than standard homes
· stormwater retention
· indigenous, drought-tolerant landscaping
· expected to save about 1,5mil litres of water annually.
· high-efficiency HVAC system,
· tankless water heater,
· skylights and solar tubes,
· light-reflective roof,
· sub-metering,
· energy-efficient appliances,
· low-VOC paints and materials, etc.

There are plenty more examples internationally, and although it may be some time before the Green Building Council of South Africa has a Green Star rating tool for homes, econic hopes that we will be building homes like these sooner rather than later.