The space is also adorned with timber cladding, as seen on the entry door.

Timber battens were used on north-facing windows to prevent excessive heat in the summer. The exterior is clad in Scyon’s Linea weatherboard and covered in Dylux’s Western Myall paint. Beneath the upper floor, a little nook makes for the perfect covered carport and storage spot for surfboards.

“We wanted the wood to appear as natural as possible, so leaving the larch untreated was the first choice,” Bas explained. But the shape of the house would make the wood turn gray unevenly, so they blackened the larch. “The clients were excited with the dark color as it helps the house blend into the trees. They didn’t want the anything excessive or showy.” But blackened timber comes with its own challenges. Since it absorbs more heat, a larger air cavity was built behind the wood to keep it cool.

The home, clad in natural Australian timber, enjoys a sense of lightness thanks to slender columns that let it float over the dunes. The driveway and entry, at the rear of the building, have an understated design to build to the interior's magnificent ocean views. Firm director Phil Snowdon explains, “By creating an architectural form that draws your eye and leads you up the steep driveway, we could engage new visitors in a welcoming process that first reveals the object and then slowly reveals the main event, being the view."

The owners furnished the living room with a mixture of new and old pieces, including a Hans Wegner lounger and Tuckbox coffee table. A timber-lined hallway leads out from it to the newer parts of the home. Sections of steel-framed double glazing separate and accentuate each “house” while letting in glimpses of sky.

Shope and his wife carefully designed an eco-friendly landscape: For instance, they did not fell any tree with holes that could support an owl’s nest. They also planted flower species that feed hummingbirds and monarch butterflies. Shope laid out the pathway of reclaimed granite slabs that leads toward the Hudson River below.

Unlike its next-door neighbor, R-House, TED wasn’t originally planned to meet the exacting Passive House standard. The building’s green bona fides came largely from four roof-mounted thermal solar panels and a 120-gallon water storage tank that architect Tim McDonald attests would have met nearly all of the home’s heat and hot-water needs. After submitting the proposal, though, he completed a course in the Passive House standard. Inspired, McDonald modified the original approach, ditching the tank and thermal panels in favor of a highly insulated, airtight envelope—the equivalent, he says, of shielding the house from the harsh Syracuse winter with a fur coat instead of a windbreaker.

A door next to the bed drops down, opening the room to its surroundings. "It's a fantastic way to ventilate the space, but also makes sleeping in the loft feel like camping when it's down," Eerkes says.

Eco-Dough, $20 at oompa.com Unlike other comparable products, Eco-Dough is colored with natural extacts from fruits, vegetables, and plants instead of dyes. Rosemary and Vitamin E oils keep the dough soft and workable, even producing a pleasant aroma in the process. Eco-Dough even comes in a gluten-free variety for $25.

Floor Play Subverting the traditional, conservatively cozy British barn conversion, Carl Turner created a getaway in rural Norfolk for himself and his friends to visit, repose, and consider the beauty of agrarian minimalism. In the converted barn, a modern fireplace with a sleek, shiny chimney contrasts with the wide, reclaimed wood floorboards and textured exposed brick wall.

The slightly below-ground kitchen sits inside a boxy extension, clad in recycled timber and stained kettle black. A wildflower garden grows on its pitched roof.

The original timber rafters were retained and repainted to give the home a unique fusion of old and new.

The house sits on a corner lot, which makes the side yard (shown here) also a front yard. Five-and-a-half-year-old Maya (left) and two-and-a-half-year-old Yumi (right) play on the gravel while Mayuko, David, and Shota sit on the bench.

Maintenance problems can be extremely expensive to repair.

Gaffney and Kiku take in the air from the large sliding door bought from Timber Tech Scotland.

While the idea of 42 stories of wooden floors stacked on top of each other may seem shaky, the SOM Timber Tower Research project showed that such a sustainable superstructure is in fact possible. The concept calls for a concrete jointed timber frame to keep the structure anchored. More research, as well as building codes changes, would need to occur before anybody breaks ground. As cities look for sustainable construction to house growing populations, architects are starting to turn to wood as a more responsible solution.

Operable timber shutters and screens offer protection from extreme weather. Zoning the house into three distinct masses creates a partly sheltered courtyard to make this year-round blending of the indoors and outdoors possible.

The company is also on its way to make their brushes become 100% biodegradable. Read about their process here.

Using prefabricated elements, Bas van Bolderen Architectuur and Studio Puisto Architects were able to complete the dwelling in just eight months so the couple’s lives could return to normal. Wall elements were constructed in Germany, then transported to the Netherlands, where the house was erected in just one week.

A solar array (on the left-hand side of the photo) powers the lights and outlets (and laptops) during the day.

With an eye to making the home eco-friendly, both structures were built of prefabricated cross-laminated timber, while large openings, like the sliders in the kitchen, promote cross-ventilation.

Timber Screen

Entry

Timber Screen

Brisbane-based studio Owen and Vokes and Peters designed a modern kitchen addition for a traditional Queensland-style timber house. Glossy Vogue Ghiaccio kitchen tiles set off custom cabinetry built by Cooroy Joinery & Woodworks using American oak veneer and Centor doors. The dishwasher is by AEG.

The architect's selected starkly different dark and light hues to echo their contrast of new and old.

A concrete wall between the garage and the main house is fortified with external insulation and covered with wood cladding and plaster. The additional protection prevents heat transfer between the concrete floor and heated living space.

Dulux Ferrodor 810 industrial paint in Mid Grey, dark formply timber ceiling cladding, and concrete floors give the interiors a brooding intensity.

Blair McCary addresses the crowd at SXSW Eco. Bill Reed and Paula Vaughan are seated.

Look no further than online shop Rodale's for a well-edited selection of eco-friendly items. Products span clothing to kitchenware to bedding, all selected because they're manufactured in a responsible manner. Rodale publishes some of the world's best-known lifestyle magazines, including Runner's World, Bicycling, Running Times, and Organic Gardening, and its e-commerce venture fits with its mission to promote healthy living. We've gathered a handful of items from the site to give you an idea of the wealth of designs available. Vintage Patchwork Blanket ($625–675)

The lower level has a reinforced concrete frame. The timber and concrete surfaces are left exposed throughout the home. Tolomeo lights from Artemide hang above one of the beds.

Set on five acres, the three pavilions total 2,900 square feet. They gently fan out in a semicircle “like the charms on a necklace,” Suzanne says. The pair recruited landscape designer Bernard Trainor to help integrate the house with the land.

The lovely cornflower-blue kitchen cabinets in this Brooklyn, New York, home by Elizabeth Roberts Architecture & Design were professionally painted.

Thanks to its natural color, concrete also serves as a wonderful “blank canvas” for landscaping.

This backyard home office for a couple in London is constructed with all-timber structural framing and is clad in cork and topped with a vegetated roof. These eco-friendly materials make for a delightfully sensory space with lots of lighting provided by the skylight and glass and oak door.