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Green House Plans

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Cheap energy is a thing of the past. More than ever, homeowners are looking to build smaller, more efficient homes that maximize existing volume and minimize heating and cooling energy use. When built in conjunction with green construction practices — such as choosing high-performance and low-impact materials, and orienting the home correctly — the designs featured in this collection have the potential to operate well below the energy cost of comparably sized homes.

Although choosing the right materials and measuring performance are key factors in sustainable living, we believe that green is a design concept. A great home that anticipates your family's future needs may eliminate the building of yet another home that will consume additional materials and energy. In other words, a true green home must be a well-designed, attractive, flexible home that is a joy to live in for years to come.

Strategic Window Placement

These plans pay special care to window placement and overhangs, so that the amount of sunlight entering the home is controlled properly. Also, the designs anticipate insulation and wall systems ideal for high heat or cold temperature environments, where the HVAC loads will be high.

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Describe your ideal house you would built if you could...

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Describe your ideal house you would built if you could...

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In our overpopulated world having a house in the country look more like a fantasy than reality. Living in our little flat I have often dreamed of the perfect house I would like to build for my future family.

I would take into consideration a number of factors in its design. First of all, it would be near the sea which I deeply love. Moreover, it would be intended for rest during the holidays, so peace will be absolutely necessary. We would also choose a place where we could feel safe. There should be convenient transport to the town where we work. We would also like it to be big enough for the whole family and with a modest outward design.

The house would be a medium-sized villa situated in an open area near the sea shore. It would be within half an hour from the nearest town and close to the main road. There may also be some neighbours in proximity to rely on in case of emergency or criminal offence.

My ideal house would be two stories high and all of the exterior walls would be covered with green creeping plants. Its interior will depend on three important factors: comfort, light and warmth. Opening the front door, one would find himself in a small hall leading to the living-room. It would be spacious, sunny, with one of the walls made of glass. There would also be a fireplace and a winding staircase to the next floor. The dominant yellow, green and beige colours, together with the light scent of flowers would contribute to the soothing atmosphere. A door would lead to the dining-room and then to the kitchen. It would be spacious and decorated in white, so as to suggest a sense of cleanness and order.

The second storey would house the three bedrooms – for each of our two children and a double for my husband and me. As an ardent lover of the night sky, I would particularly insist that our bedroom should have a glass roof.

There would also be bathrooms on each floor and a veranda near the dining room. The kitchen would also look onto a garden-croft, because we would like to grow our own vegetables.

My ideal house – a sweet dream or an attainable goal? Ask me in ten years.

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At the back of the houses there is the wood.
While there is a leaf of summer left, the wood

Makes sounds I can put somewhere in my song,
Has paths I can walk, when I wake, to good

Or evil: to the cage, to the oven, to the House
In the Wood. It is a part of life, or of the story

We make of life. But after the last leaf,
The last light--for each year is leafless,

Each day lightless, at the last--the wood begins
Its serious existence: it has no path,

No house, no story; it resists comparison...
One clear, repeated, lapping gurgle, like a spoon

Or a glass breathing, is the brook,
The wood's fouled midnight water. If I walk into the wood

As far as I can walk, I come to my own door,
The door of the House in the Wood. It opens silently:

On the bed is something covered, something humped
Asleep there, awake there--but what? I do not know.

I look, I lie there, and yet I do not know.
How far out my great echoing clumsy limbs

Stretch, surrounded only by space! For time has struck,
All the clocks are stuck now, for how many lives,

On the same second. Numbed, wooden, motionless,
We are far under the surface of the night.

Nothing comes down so deep but sound: a car, freight cars,
A high soft droning, drawn out like a wire

Forever and ever--is this the sound that Bunyan heard
So that he thought his bowels would burst within him?--

Drift on, on, into nothing. Then someone screams
A scream like an old knife sharpened into nothing.

It is only a nightmare. No one wakes up, nothing happens,
Except there is gooseflesh over my whole body--

And that too, after a little while, is gone.
I lie here like a cut-off limb, the stump the limb has left...

Here at the bottom of the world, what was before the world
And will be after, holds me to its back

Breasts and rocks me: the oven is cold, the cage is empty,
In the House in the Wood, the witch and her child sleep.

Randall Jarrell

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An arboreous lot at the end of a street in The Woodlands, Texas provides an opportunity for a home to open up to its natural surroundings. Perimeter foliage provides an increasingly dense privacy screen as the property widens towards the back. The home spans across the site to maximize connections to this outdoor landscape.

Aside from the study and powder room, all first floor rooms are open to one another. Spatial definition and circulation are controlled by placement of three key elements: an entry/living fireplace wall, and two kitchen storage/appliance walls. Exterior openings align across the home, providing extended views to the site, and balanced natural lighting within. A two-story wing on the east projects into the backyard, providing long distance views through the landscape from the master bedroom and family room. A central sitting room on the second floor separates master, children’s, and guest bedroom suites.

Large windows on the front of the house require no additional shading due to their north orientation. Windows along the back on the first floor are protected by a long trellis and a wide master terrace to modulate direct sunlight from the south and west. Second floor rooms are protected by deep roof overhangs and integrated shades hidden within ceiling pockets.

Durable materials are used inside and out. The cement-based stucco finish is applied over precast aerated concrete plank sheathing instead of typical plywood, allowing for a control-joint free exterior surface and providing an additional continuous insulation barrier. The standing seam metal roof, with its south orientation, is wired for solar panels. Windows and doors are oriented to capture prevailing breezes for cross-ventilation. Generous natural light helps minimize energy needs for artificial lighting. Large roof overhangs and shade devices limit interior heat loads, and increase the lifespan of the exterior envelope.

Murphy Mears Architects uploaded Open House through Add A Home.
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Property Number: 03998

Information

Take in a fabulous show or see the sights along the Strip. Hoover Dam, Red Rock Canyon, Valley of Fire, and Death Valley are all within easy day-trip distance. Tee off at one of the many nearby golf courses, or relax and enjoy the resort amenities. A car is suggested to fully enjoy the area. There is on-going construction of new buildings on site; some noise and dust will result from the work. Grandview Resort is located adjacent to the South Point Casino.

This is an RCI resort (#6923).

Amenities

Professionally decorated in a desert sunset motif 27" color television in bedroom Walk-in shower/Jacuzzi tubs Weekly maid service (daily service available upon request for minimal fee) Pools, spas and water features Fitness room featuring cardio equipment, universal machine and stretching area King-sized bed and queen-sized sofa bed Barbeque and picnic area Snack bar Game room Spacious one- and two-bedroom floor plans Kitchen, living room and dining room integrated for entertaining and enjoyment Ceramic tile in living areas Washer and dryer in every unit Fully appointed kitchen equipped with dishwasher, range, coffee maker, toaster, ice maker, full-size refrigerator and microwave oven Telephones in each unit Entertainment center complete with 36" television, DVD player and compact disc stereo system All linens and bath towels provided

Property Details

Location: Las Vegas, NV

RCI Resort: 6923 (Points)

Maintenance Fee: $174.75 (Annual)

Use Type: Floating

Week #: 11

Float Weeks: 1-52

Unit #: 1070A

Bedrooms: 1 Bedroom

Bathrooms: 1

Lock Off: No

Ownership: Deeded

Season Name: High

View Type: Las Vegas Strip

Usage: Biennial Odd