These days it's all about being clean: clean eating, clean energy, clean water. And so, it comes as no surprise that clean, eco-friendly living has become the new luxury.
An eco-friendly home is an environmentally sound home, designed and built using green materials and technology that reduce carbon footprints and lower energy needs. And this type of home does not mean forfeiting the luxe amenities that upscale living requires. In fact, quite the opposite is true. Eco-friendly living focuses upon harmony, being in sync with the environment; that is, actually enhancing an environ's natural beauty while creating the most fabulous residential sanctuaries by incorporating the surrounding landscapes. We all remember Woody Guthrie's anthem: This Land Is Your Land. And clean living serves as the ringtone for this celebrated song.
Knowing that this sacred land was made for you and me -from the Redwood Forest to the gulf stream waters, to those golden valleys- let's enjoy this land of ours by celebrating the "sparkling sands of her diamond deserts," by embracing her "ribbon highway" and "endless skyway," like these eco-houses also so luxuriously do.
From the Redwood Forest
When the sun comes shining, you can revel in its beauty from this kitchen view.
You can also embrace those gulf stream waters that remind us of what awe-inspiring really means.
To the Gulf Stream Waters
Eco-friendly homes become part of the landscape. Made of light-colored steel, this roof reflects the sun’s heat and extends approximately beyond the house’s wall, creating ample patio space and shade for the windows below.
Curved roofs aid airflow for natural ventilation, while preserving the wildlife and natural resources our land has to offer us. Large windows capture the natural light and take full advantage of the sunlight for solar gain.
You can follow the footsteps along the ribbon of ocean highway and experience the surreal. The ocean bluffs remain open to all, thus making them a community amenity. Roads are also designed to follow the land’s natural contours, emphasizing the bluffs, meadows, and undulating green pastures. Such mimicking of nature helps to avoid overly ostentatious crowded house placements.
All around you, luxury can exist, with little or no need for future home repairs or replacements. This luxury home, with its long-lasting design, is built of durable building materials that tolerate seaside conditions better than most options. As a result, less waste will be generated in the years to follow.
To That Golden Valley
With endless skies above, it's time to bask in the American dream: preserving its green and golden landscape.
You can eat in this luxury, eco-friendly kitchen and experience the sublime. The fundamental material for this countertop is bamboo. Unlike most woods, whose harvest requires the destruction of slow-growing forests, harvested bamboo replaces itself quickly: it is renewable and bamboo forests can be grown in only a few years.
You can work at your desk with the most incredible of views. Glass walls eliminate the need for any fluorescent lighting during the day.
You can effortlessly bathe in the landscape's natural beauty. Include a radiant heat system underneath your bathroom's tile floor, and you will significantly reduce the reliance on any traditional heating system during the winter months.
Could it get any cleaner? The use of an eclectic mix of sustainable, green products, such as bamboo floors and formaldehyde-free fabrics, introduces fewer chemicals into the environment of the modern luxury home. There’s no one part that creates a healthy house, it takes a collective effort for all the pieces to work harmoniously together.
This kitchen’s garage-style door permits instant access to the deck area and admits cooling breezes. Easy, effortless and environmentally sound.
You can easily enjoy the pristine beauty of luxury living that leaves no environmental imprint. The placement of this house and its decks was dictated by the existing trees, limiting the number that were cut during construction. In return, the trees provide privacy and shade to keep the house cool.
All images courtesy of Christie's International Real Estate
