Sustainable Home Design Ideas

If you’re looking for a home for your family and you want to prioritize the environment as well as your family’s well-being, you’ve probably been thinking about sustainable homes. What are their characteristics, and how can you find or build one?

First, kudos to you–you can make a difference! And while each of us has a small impact individually on the environment, our impacts add up. Plus, you’ll find that the characteristics of a sustainable home lead to better indoor environmental quality, supporting your family’s health while also making a more comfortable and resilient home.

Characteristics and features of sustainable homes

For a deeper dive into defining sustainability, see our blog on sustainable architecture. The key points are that sustainable homes should be very energy efficient, built of low-carbon and non-toxic materials, and beautiful (put another way, their aesthetic should be life-affirming and timeless). 

Today’s sustainable homes usually feature the following elements:

• Robust, airtight thermal envelopes suitable to the local climate;
• All-electric function (no gas), with heat pumps for heating, cooling, and water heating;
• Energy recovery ventilation;
• Induction cooking and heat pump condensing clothes dryers;
• Wood structure and cellulose insulation, with minimized concrete for low embodied carbon construction;
• Moderate use of glass– we find a window-to-wall ratio of 15-20% is usually able to be very well naturally lit, but can still have a very efficient thermal envelope overall;
• Non-toxic materials, prioritizing natural materials like wood, durable finishes, and salvaged and recycled materials, while avoiding vinyl and other plastics;
• Native landscaping friendly to birds and pollinators, natural stormwater management (rain gardens etc.), vegetable gardening, and engaging outdoor spaces.

Energy efficiency includes both the operational energy use of the home AND the energy it takes to build it (embodied energy).

Therefore, existing homes that are retrofitted to high efficiency are the ideal. One great aspect to renovating an existing home is that it can be done in phases if needed for cash flow, or to keep existing surfaces or equipment that isn’t ready to be replaced.

Here are some retrofit examples from our portfolio:

• This is a Phius-certified historic home retrofitted to net zero energy, with a full gut rehab of the interior and mechanical systems. 
• This is a frame bungalow retrofitted to net zero energy–aside from the basement and back porch rebuild, this was all done from the exterior.
• This brick bungalow was retrofitted on the interior; while the exterior remained intact, it’s a new house inside. 
• This midcentury home had an exterior and interior gut renovation; the slab and wall and roof structure remained, but everything else was new. 

For new homes, smaller is better for both the operational and embodied energy–we like to say “right-sized” since properly accommodating a family’s needs is paramount.

If larger is needed, focus on maximizing carbon-sequestering materials for the home’s construction to offset embodied carbon. Many of our smaller homes were aimed at delivering great designs with ultra-efficiency at a reasonable budget. An important design focus on these smaller homes is to create a sense of space and light with vertical spaces (usually around the stair) and large openings focused on indoor-outdoor connections that work with passive solar gain. Here are some examples from our portfolio:

• The Right Sized Passive House is aptly named–at about 1,800s.f. (slab-on-grade, no basement), it was just enough for the family of three. Ten years later, the kid is off to college and not only are they not saddled with “too much house,” their energy bills are as low as ever!
• The Lake Bluff Passive House is an aging-in-place home for a retired couple; in addition to 2,500s.f. of living space, it has a partial basement of about 1,000s.f. The stair wall separates the entry and vertical space from the living-dining spaces, which flow to the yard, creating variety and interest.
• Acorn Glade is another small (about 1,800s.f.) slab-on-grade house for a family of three; it’s also Phius certified and net zero energy.
• This house in the woods a few blocks from Lake Michigan embodies timeless design with maximum enjoyment of the site. The layout of the main spaces and screen porch optimize connection to the tree canopy while maintaining privacy; the studio at the back of the lot creates a campus-compound feel.

As you can see, there are many architectural expressions that work with efficient, sustainable home design. Much of our work has been in existing neighborhoods, and our owners chose to keep the homes sensitive to context. They also have been rooted in a kind of Midwestern practicality (which we aim to elevate artistically), but more contemporary expressions are definitely possible! One important thing to keep in mind is that houses that are mostly glass do not work in a cold climate (or pretty much any climate, really)–you need to fight the comfort and energy loss with a lot of mechanical system energy, making them inefficient. Instead, we put larger glass areas where they have a powerful impact, but we don’t overdo it. 

In addition to our built work, we have some prototype designs we’re working on with a prefab company. We’re very excited about this opportunity, as it allows owners to know costs up front, and to be able to streamline the design time and costs. Examples of these homes can be seen on our Ecological Home Series page; the first to go live will be the Bungalow, along with Forest Light and a small (1,300 s.f. 2-bedroom) home which isn’t up on the site yet. Note that each home will have its thermal envelope optimized for its climate location–because we use energy modeling in our design, we can ensure the best performance for your specific climate. Please inquire if you’re interested and we can let you know when these are ready for production!