News > Sustainable Retrofit
No building material can beat salvage when it comes to embodied energy. If you haven’t explored some of the fascinating architectural re-use centers around the U.S., click the image below for an exclusive sneak peak at one of the best: Portland Architectural Salvage in Portland, Maine.
Here’s something you don’t see every day: an “aging in place” multiple unit housing project with sustainability front and center.
This high-end house in Brisbane, Australia is constructed almost entirely from pieces of the structure it replaced.
A green rebuild of the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans creates the largest, greenest neighborhood in the United States.
When it comes to the remodeling 100-plus-year-old homes in New Orleans, Southern Homes’ Chris Kornman notes that deconstruction has been the critical first step of every project.
In a sense, the stunning, mountainside remodel that Annette K. Stelmack helped usher into being in Steamboat Springs, Colo., was a case of one good job begetting another.
When Catherine Callaway, a LEED AP certified architect with BNIM Architects, and her accountant husband first purchased their 1,000-square-foot home in an historic neighborhood in Houston, they embraced it for its legacy and the fact that it was something of a blank slate.
A deep-green showhome, at any price point, is only as good as it looks.
More than just caulking, insulation, and new appliances.
This retreat looks 100 years old, but it's a new green masterpiece.
This whimsical whole-house remodel combines elements from a Mayan palace with durability and careful water management.
They raised the roof and transformed a boring old Utah bungalow into a sensational showplace
This update and expansion of a small ranch home featured extensive reuse of existing materials and an emphasis on remaining consistent with the context of the neighborhood.
One of the most environmentally responsible things a developer can do is to reuse an existing building rather than tearing it down to make way for a new one. Another is to renovate the structure in a way that minimizes its environmental impact.The developer of the Bridgeview Condominium project in Cincinnati did both while also helping to preserve the type of traditional neighborhood that makes urban living appealing to many.
An outdated, energy-wasting home gets a complete makeover but retains its original character.
By fusing technology with antiques, Steampunk transforms recycling into high art.
This attic to master suite renovation stays true to client’s green intentions without busting their budget.
One man's dream - to breathe life into a 19th Century Clock Tower - became reality, but only because of his relentless drive and willingness to start over. Photography by James Wilson.
Ranch houses are often knocked down, topped off, or remuddled into oblivion. Not this one.
A neighborhood eyesore gets some TLC and a transformation.
The house wasn’t much to look at, a modest, Cape Cod-style home in what was once a working-class street in Portland, Maine. But Tom Landry saw potential, and opportunity.
The builder almost doubled the original floorplan of this 1950s ranch and converted it to a duplex, reusing the old frame and plaster by insulating from the outside.
Harvard’s Joint Center predicts modest gains for remodeling through 2011.
Retrofitting commercial buildings is quickly becoming the growth market in the building industry.
Extreme Makeover Home Edition delivers a net-zero energy home.
Remodeling is key as the economy returns.
Put an energy rater at the helm of a high-performance remodel and watch the energy load shrink.
This urban infill project revives a 1920's home, celebrates the outdoors, and puts a busy family near public transportation.
Cultural and market forces have revitalized the idea that buildings can change with their owners.
The Yakama Nation Housing Authority goes back to roots of Native American sustainability.
ReVISION House Las Vegas makes the news as a replicable energy-efficient home.
A company called Acrylatex has tackled one of the most common hazardous waste by-products of construction—used paint—and put it back on the market. Bravo!
Renovation is the word for 2010. Here’s an example of a retrofit that brings the common ranch into the sustainable era.
Shifting your focus to green remodeling during hard times could save your business—but only if you play it smart.