This compact, innovative home manages design and construction best practices on a budget.

Six key elements make this compact home an affordable, comfortable, and healthy place to live.

This is the story of an energy-efficient house, a rain tank, an incredible view, and two determined homeowners who didn’t quite realize what they were getting themselves into.

Insulation, air-sealing, and efficient mechanicals keep this house comfortable in the hot, humid weather.

This compact farmhouse achieves home building’s highest performance standard without a shred of aesthetic compromise.

This home uses five systems to reduce its environmental impact, lower its operating cost, and improve its connection to the land.

A practical design delivers a remarkably airtight, super-insulated home on a modest budget.

Timeless styling with a modern twist makes this new home stand out in a post-war New England neighborhood.

This new home blends the nostalgia of a traditional Massachusetts farmhouse with the needs of a 21st-century family.

This builder-friendly spec house fills out a narrow lot in a contemporary community.

A Vermont architect uses the state’s energy-efficiency guidelines to craft a new zero-energy home steeped in traditional character.

This Texas house borrows from the ground and the sky to achieve net-zero energy use and complete water independence.

A Maine architect designs Michigan’s first certified Passive House to be rooted in tradition.

This compact farmhouse achieves home building’s highest performance standard without a shred of aesthetic compromise.

This 1650-sq.-ft. urban home challenges market norms with a thoughtful modern design.

A little house on an urban infill lot leaves room for gardens and play, and lives larger than its diminutive footprint.

Thoughtful planning and materials choices helped this house achieve net-zero energy with very little impact on its site.