Z-Home, which recently sold the last of their 10 units in Issaquah Highlands, was sponsored by the City of Issaquah, and developed by Seattle’s townhome builder Matt Howland and Ichijo USA, in partnership with Built Green, KingCounty, Puget Sound Energy, Washington State University Energy Program and Port Blakely Communities.
The idea was to use smart design and cutting edge technologies to radically reduce environmental impacts in measurable ways. Z-Home hoped to prove that homes that use zero net energy and 60% less water, emit net zero carbon emissions, have clean indoor air and use only low-toxicity materials are possible and scalable to mainstream home production.
They’re coming up on their first post-occupancy evaluation and plan to share it publicly. Meantime, check this link for great information about buying “greener” homes, and thinking about remodeling/retrofitting: http://www.z-home.org/buying.php#. King County’s website also has most of this http://www.varley.net/online/ information, and here’s a link to their fabulous Eco-Cool Remodel Tool, which also has a list of “green” remodeling contractors.
