Building ecologically efficient housing is an important part of going green.  Buildings consume 39% of all the energy used in the US.  The design of the building, and materials used, greatly impacts the amount of energy needed to build and use it.  Traditional building styles - whether Colonial, Tudor, Ranch or others - tend to be variations of four-sided boxes that stick up out of the earth.  Although building in these styles is quick and easy, it is difficult to reengineer these styles to be environmentally efficient.

If architects, builders and owners want to get serious about creating energy efficient buildings, they need to think outside the box, abandon preconceived notions of what a building ought to look like, and blaze new trails with fresh designs to take advantage of nature’s thermal properties, instead of fighting them. The challenge will be to design beautiful buildings that incorporate spatial efficiency, less volume, earth buffering, solar orientation, sustainable materials plus good craftsmanship and innovative technology.