Fantabulous design: + modern sustainable home

- Lots of glass
- Natural light
- Renewable materials
- Eco-friendly
- Solar panel heating

If this sounds like your kind of home, the gorgeously green Beitcher Residence might give you some great ideas for building your own.

Designed by W3 Architects out of Venice, California, with a variety of sustainable design strategies including passive solar design, state-of-the-art solar electric and solar thermal technologies, the dwelling is the result of a fruitful design partnership between an eco-conscious client and a forward-thinking architect. The Beitcher residence makes full use of the mild climate and the year-round sun in the City of Angels.

It integrates green technologies including direct-gain passive solar heating in the form of Trombe walls made of 8″ CMU block walls and earth berms. Passive cooling and ventilation of the house are achieved through a two-story thermal chimney which takes hot air up and out.

Floor to ceiling windows, sometimes stretching two stories, bring the maximum natural light into the space, minimizing the need for artificial light during the day.

The house incorporates a range of renewable materials, including bamboo, which is often seen as flooring, was put to use as a ceiling material. All cabinets throughout the house are made of Strawboard capped off by Cesar stone countertops and post-industrial denim insulation is hidden within the wall cavities throughout the house.