Sustainable Houses: 6 Super Skinny Structures

These sustainable houses might be the homes of the future, with space becoming less plentiful in an ever-populated world,

By Andrew Freeman

October 9, 2012

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Sustainable Houses

The Eco-Cube

Dr. Mike Page, a psychologist at the University of Hertfordshire, started the Cube Project, which resulted in the design of this 10x10x10-foot house. It has all the necessities sustainable houses need and uses energy-efficient technology to combat our growing population and diminishing natural resources. The eco-cube has solar panels on the roof that produce more energy than the home consumes, leaving an estimated $1,600 in profit if connected to the electrical grid.

(Photo: YouTube)

Sustainable Houses

Simon Dale’s Hobbit Home

Simon Dale took the doom and gloom messages about our overconsumption of fossil fuels to heart by building sustainable houses out of as many natural matierals as possible. The result is the “Hobbit Home,” which is entirely solar-powered, obtains water through irrigation, has a compostable toilet and contains a naturally cooled fridge. Also of note: He started the Lammas Project to help build more sustainable houses.

(Photo: YouTube)

Sustainable Houses

Yale Grad Student Builds her House

Elizabeth Turnbill needed a place to live after she was accepted to Yale’s School of Forestry & Environmental Studies. Using her skills, she built a small, sustainable home, which is powered by solar energy and contains a compostable toilet.

(Photo: YouTube)

Sustainable Houses

LEGO-Style Apartment

In 2011 Christian Schallert built a 24-square-meter Lego-style sustainable house in Barcelona, Spain. Unlike many sustainable houses, because of its size, all of life’s necessities (like a bed and a kitchen table) must pull out of the wall. To save energy and space, Schallert hang-drys all of his clothes.

(Photo: Inhabitat)

Sustainable Houses

Tumbleweed Tiny Sustainable Houses

For the last five years, Jay Shafer has been making ultra-compact sustainable houses, partly because he doesn't like vacuuming. His company, Tumbleweed Tiny House Company, provides consumers with a variety of kits and ready-made sustainable houses. Shafer even points out that if your house is small enough, you might not have to pay property taxes (depending on where you live). Also, most of Shafer's sustainable houses are completely mobile.

(Photo: YouTube)

Sustainable Houses

The Keret House, the World’s Skinniest

At 47 inches wide, the Keret House in Poland is the thinnest of the worlds sustainable houses. Its coolest eco-feature? A standing water system simlar to a boat’s.

(Photo: Centrala)

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Occupants of sustainable houses waste less, use less, and can live simply. Indeed, all manner of personal consumption becomes significantly reduced when a homeowner moves into a single-person dwelling.

But, in a race to squeeze a home into any crevice, single-person dwellings have been replaced by sustainable houses, or micro-homes, teensy-tiny abodes springing up in densely populated urban areas where real estate is at a premium.

As the Age of the McMansion dies off, are U.S. homebuyers ready for a wave of sustainable houses? Tell us in the comments.

Related Stories on TakePart:

• Bridge to the Future: Sustainable, Shape-Shifting Architectural Feat Makes Waves

• 'Eco-Flippers' Turn Foreclosures Into Energy-Efficient Homes

• Can We Bury Our Carbon Emissions at the Bottom of the Ocean?

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Andrew Freeman is a California native with a degree in history from UCLA. He’s covered a wide range of topics for TakePart, but is particularly interested in politics and policy. Email Andrew |@natureofdabeast | TakePart.com

Topics

Environment, skinny home, micro home, green living

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