Minced, your design. Coming. Up on world's, greenest homes in. San Francisco, a radical, green home with it's very own wind, turbine, it's, providing, about one-half to one-third of, all the energy requirements for the house and an. England a couple go against the grain and build their house amongst, the trees the, site really gave us the the, push to make a a an eco house it's like a tree house I'm. Emmanuel Beliveau, come, with me on world's, greenest homes and see the most extraordinary homes, on the planet homes, that are gorgeous cool, and green. It's. Home of the trolley car Alcatraz. And the Golden Gate Bridge and it's, also home to some of America's cutting-edge. Eco-friendly. Architecture, it's. San Francisco, California the. City by the bay, I'm. In downtown San, Francisco's, famous Mission, District, it's a Latino neighborhood, in the old part of town now. I'm on my way to a brand-new house at the latest word on cool green design. Trying. To look radical, in this artsy neighborhood is, no, small feat but standout, design and a 52, foot wind turbine, certainly, helps. When. Robin Wilson decided, to go green she went guacamole, green with, a home she calls La Casa Verde. Eco. Builder Rob and lives here with her daughter Devon, and a two canine companions, daxter and Saki. This, is one of my favorite places around race, here McCatty. So. Really. If that people don't want your funny I love. It here too. This. Homes most distinguishing, feature can, be seen for miles. The. Entire ground floor is the spa level there's. A swimming pool a steam. Room and a, sauna this. Main, floor spills, out into a sunlit, well planted courtyard. Up. A flight of steel and glass stairs, is the bedroom level where, each room has its own bathroom. Finally. The third and top level has a see-through, glass bridge, leading, to the living, dining. And kitchen, areas. I'm. Really impressed the city gave the green light to go ahead and put up her own wind turbine let's. Check out the house.
Hi. There, I'm, Emmanuel Robin, nice to meet you welcome. To Casa Verde thank you, what, made you decide to go at a different house actually I lived here for ten years before I remodeled it so this is a remodel, and I. Love, modern construction, and modern design as a, builder, Robin, wanted to show that it's possible to build homes with sustainable, materials, and renewable. Sources of energy I don't. It as. A demonstration, house and, also as a tool to teach people to, like start dialogue about green building and green construction and, this, home doesn't sacrifice a thing when, it comes to style and comfort so you have them as level well this is our spa level we have a pool this is a endless pool as a lap pool Wow I can see steam coming off your pool how hot is this right now it's about 90 degrees it's, like bathwater yes we, have a solar thermal on our roof and so all of our water is preheated. Just. Beyond the pool the, space opens, out to an urban oasis, where Robin loves to entertain. Wow. This is beautiful look at this backyard really, draws you outside of gorgeous backyard thank you, and, it's home to your famous windmill. This. Is the first wind turbine ever approved, in an urban setting in the US, Robin. Cut through red tape by, allowing City Hall to study its impact on the neighbors and the birds if. It works for Robin could, have worked for other homeowners, in San Francisco, so, far the, response has, been positive and, having. Your own wind turbine, isn't as out there as it might sound as long. As there's at least an eight mile an hour wind this turbine spins away harvesting. Free power from Mother Nature. To. Install a turbine like this in San Francisco, will set you back between 20 to 30 thousand. Dollars in total but, over time it'll, pay for itself in reduced energy bills. For. Robin it provides almost half of all energy needed for the house. So. You have the wind turbine place you have the PV panels yes, so how much energy are you providing for your home now well right now we're reading at zero you're netting at zero and, right and we're actually feeding back, now. Your backyard I hear you a lot of green going on back here is it especially irrigated, special drought tolerant, plants what do you have back here we actually have big tanks underground here we have 4,000 gallon tanks and, it. Catches all of our rainwater and, the rainwater goes back into the house the, water for the laundry. And our, toilets, come from our brain water and then all the water from the house it, goes to our gray water system which, then irrigates all the plants and we. Usually. I recommend all drought tolerant plants but we actually, use some plants that aren't drought tolerant because we have so much water and instead, of putting it back into the sewer system we want to you know put it back into the ground I guess that's a chain you use to click the rain off post about the roof it is that's the rain chain we have a few of them throughout that the property, and it. Directs. All the water to our cisterns, that are underground everybody. Always has a different version of the rain chain see they're just simple, old mechanical, chains and you've got something different did you design this one I didn't, but I do love this one yeah this is great I love it it's, very different. Back. Inside and, along, with that amazing pool there's, another place Rob and Devin love to hang out Oh before. We go up let's check out the spot. Yes. Why just have a pool when you can have a sauna and a steam room to go with it a real, Zen zone with a mixture of cool blue tiles and ceramic, and glass. Walls. Glass tile recycle glass tile yes this is recycled glass and this is a ceramic. Tile made by a local Bay Area tile, yes, cool. It's good you buying stuff locally keeping, stuff local. Keeping. That footprint. Smaller this. Is this, is a FSC, certified an EPA and in fact all of the lumber that you'll see in the house and inside the walls is FSC certified okay, that's great so it's all responsibly, harvested wood it is wonderful, my, daughter and I we love this space we love to do spa treatments, with manicures and pedicures told. Your daughter she's seven I was gonna ask you those little rubber duckies there yeah they were yours those are hers they're hers the hearse yes.
The. Staircase, up to the second floor is a real, eye-catcher made. From recycled steel, and tempered, glass, this. Was designed by a steel artist that I work with a lot and she does beautiful work this. Is absolutely, stunning she. Did this pattern she wanted to make it look kind of organic kind of like bamboo or something. So. What's the point of second floor so the second floor is our bedroom floor we also have an office and playroom here like this is where we sleep and, right over here I'd like to show you the master so okay sure. Robins, bedroom has the same sleek, elegant, look you see throughout the house, the. Walls are made from recycled glass and walnut, veneer the. Walnut of course comes, from renewable, forests and a, floor is a concrete compound, these are concrete tiles, from. A local company they're, all handmade, the. Rooms been designed so natural, light streams, through frosted, glass which. Also frames, the center stairwell, I love. The fact you can actually see your stairs, through here too and also the silhouette of this from the stairs of the plants from the stairs this. Is nice with this glass wall about this is a glass. Dividing, wall it's. All cabinetry, and how. Do you you just push him oh okay. Push me in the right spot there you go there we go oh look. At that something, else that there is a master bathroom you see right through so. Take a look at it. He. Immortalize. You. Love this glass tile don't you glass telephone this wall I. Love. This it's a one piece unit yes. This is concrete as well lots, of concrete here that's a concrete glass, and steel I really, like this I, love. This top what is this tile this is a concrete tile it's. Stunning, I think, it's hard to find that kind of detail working tile, floor. To ceiling glass surrounds. A shower stall which, packs all the Jets you could imagine. What's. The rest of your room okay. How, many take a peek inside my closet parlor, yeah Wow. Wow. You're like sure, yeah. And. When you own more than a few hundred pairs, of shoes it makes sense to have a shoe branch to try them on this. Is my, office slash, daughter's playroom look, at that light fixture, that's why yes. Amazing let me open the window for you. This. Is great light its. Remote control I like that this. Room has one of the best views in the entire house it has, a near seamless corner window that looks out over the hood pole. Mounted shelving, keeps computers, and toys tucked away neatly and, then. There's, a spider-like, chandelier. So. This fixture the same steel work with the did the stairs made this this is her design and these, are little LED lights very. Energy-efficient. Very energy-efficient, and these the last 15 years if they're left on the entire time. As. Well as something else this, is our scrap what was happening as we were making piles of it yeah and we didn't want to waste so we wanted to do something with it and we're just loving the way was falling on the ground and, I, had one of my carpenters, just put it up a big problem of new builds is all the waste material it comes from a new build site how, efficient were you with that we're very efficient with that and we had all of our waste monitored, and we're at ninety-eight percent recycled. Materials just 2 percent went, to a landfill, that's right that's right it's the highest recycled.
Job Site in San Francisco that's huge you. Already have through here this. Is my daughter's room this. Is seven year old Devon's way cool bedroom, she, catches us snooping around in here on her return home from school. I. Devil, nice to Muse this your room yeah, so, where do you keep all your stuff. Yeah. And these are all doors oh, look. At that you can hide everything in here. The. Floor of Devon's room is made of blue and green tiles, that fit together like, a jigsaw, and, what. Little girl wouldn't be thrilled to have her own private bathroom I'll, let go you little round tiles you put all those in. Circular. Tiles in a mix of different colors and sizes extend, from the back wall of the shower surround. Creating, a floor-to-ceiling mosaic. And. Look at this shower. And bathtub that's, great, yeah. You have Jetson here too. Your, mother and I are gonna go look at the rest of the house is, that cool. There's. Still one more floor and I'm dying to see you all right so third floor here we go, all. Right Wow look at this. Open-concept. Design. Robins. Put the living and dining space on the top floor to make the most of those incredible, city views I love. In this great big kitchen. Concrete. This is concrete this, has a rice. Hulls in it there's water rice hulls it's the outside of rice rice, is shelled before you cook hit her and decide. To put it in our concrete that's, all the little golden gold flakes that's great. Adding. Rice hulls doesn't. Stress the concrete, but it's really a creative way of recycling, something organic is, this a veneer, so what is this this is actually a photograph behind, glass I love this wood but it's an exotic wood so what we did is we did a photo shoot of the wood and, this is just a photograph it just takes a few screws to release the front face, and then you can put something new on what. A smart idea no. Need to replace the cabinet doors to change your kitchen just, replace what's on the doors I. Love. This and you've got more of this epee wood everywhere this, is actually this is in the same family but this is Santa Maria wood again it's all FSC certified, okay it's just a little bit of it's not quite as dense as the evening right, that's. Great it's a nice way to just to wrap the entire envelope, of the house and looks, when I was very warm this will. Be a dining area over here yes it's a nice long table do you entertain a lot I left him and, your lighting system here is this compact, fluorescents it is in fact in most of the places where we don't have forests and fixtures we do use the fluorescent bulb but.
It Isn't just Rob and sleek lighting, that's caught my eye, what do you have a carrot you want to just flip that thing right there, that's right, I. Can push them out. Like. Concertina. Style windows open to reveal a living, roof the, plants are irrigated, by the home's great water system, the. Plants actually filter, the water which, then, goes to the sewer but it's already filtered water so it takes less, treatment in the sewer and I would probably have to say that you are sending cleaner water to the sewer than a ruse you came in from all that rain so, in the living room all right come right this way well we're gonna take that bridge I don't know that's. Glass right yes, is glass a see-through. Glass bridge, leads from the dining area to the living room and through, it you can see all the way to the ground floor make. A mental note ladies don't wear a skirt for Robins place. That's. A nice painting it's. Actually, more than a painting check, this out, press of a button and is, that a flat panel TV it is oh I, love it who, wants to look at them all time we don't need to especially. When you have something like this ham blown glass chandelier. To look at it, can be seen from all three floors of the house, I like, this yeah. I really love this one because I felt like bubbles, are like water the, light shines through and kind of cast there kinds of shadows everywhere yeah well. Is a great feature. Finishing. Off the top floor living dining space is a lounge area with a wet bar and access. To a rooftop patio. Having. Solar panels and a wind turbine, gives, Robin the potential, of producing energy all of the time as a. Builder, Robin, knows that her industry, contributes, around 40%, of, all greenhouse gas emissions. When. I realized, that buildings, are one of the major contributors. To this climate, crisis. That we're in I realized, that I can do something about it and that's, changing the way I build buildings. Putting. Up a turbine, in a residence neighborhood like this there must been some issues, as far as the neighbors. Think and that sort of thing how did you get around all that's right well what we did is we consider this a demonstration, house and I. Collecting, data from all of our systems like. Energy produced energy used how. Much water we're catching everything, we have everything's monitored in the entire house and I'm giving. That information to the city the. Goal is to allow other people to be able to use these systems as well oh I say and, Robin. Has managed to mix the latest green ideas with cutting-edge, design to. Create an incredible home. Does. That make you feel a little special I mean to have a something like that it does or I don't want to keep it to myself my. Goal is to get as many out there as possible yeah it'd be nice just look out there because from you look bad let's play from here and you'll look out and see you, know hundreds, of these would be great yeah, have everyone producing their own power and doing their own thing mm-hmm, ethical. This. House is going to talk to the neighborhood and Robin has invited a bunch of her friends over now, I'm gonna go find out what they actually think about having a wind turbine in the neighborhood I think. It's good I think it's I think it's an awesome thing to have on the on the horizon you know when. You look at the city from downtown especially from my house from my roof you can see one, of these things sticking up and I'd like to see maybe a couple more you like to see like a hundred more maybe a hundred would be good that would be a good start. How. Hard was it to get this approved well. Is the first wind. Turbine approved, in a urban, setting, in the country and I, think it took. A lot of stretch, of imagination for, the city of San Francisco to, approve. Something like this what was the hardest to deal with explain how the technology, works or just dealing with maybe your, neighbors and that sort of thing the the really difficult, thing of it was planning. Code issues, okay, and meeting, the guidelines, for a feature like this in a residential, district, in an urban setting right it's so effective that we're. Gonna see a take off so in your pain you would say that eventually this is really going to happen on a bigger scale in a lot more cities it has to happen it's a technology that everyone, needs to be adopting, in a very very real, and immediate way our. Next home is a one of England's most stayed and traditional towns where, everyone, and everything. Is, supposed to fit in well. This house does fit in but, not in a way you'd expect. London. One of the world's most exciting, cities and packed, with over seven million people. But, take a half-hour train ride east of this mayhem and you'll find a quaint storybook, town.
Tunbridge. Wells in Kent around, 30 miles from central London it's. An expensive, place full, of old money and historic. Buildings. But. Smack dab between the town's old border and its posh cricket ground is something, very different and that. Set, the neighbors off well, my initial thought. Was oh my god. The. Back of the cricket ground it's, going to look awful, but. I have to say within sort of 12 to 18 months it. Seemed to. Blend it in pretty well and during, the summer you, can't. Actually see at all, the. Owners took design inspiration from Australia, and the u.s. west coast they. Created this stunning upside-down timber, home that, makes the most of the views and the direct sunlight. Architect. Michael winter and his wife Elizabeth and accountant, wanted, to leave London city life and move, to the country but. They didn't want a quaint cottage they, had far more unconventional, ideas. Come. From runs on the view you, come, out the trying and, you come here started by trees and all the wildlife it's. Great it's like a haven. What's. Really cool about this 3300, square foot house with. Its layout totally upside down the, main living area is on the top level and all the bedrooms downstairs. Upstairs. From the entrance, is open plan living dining. And kitchen space. Outside. Is a shady veranda. Downstairs. There are four bedrooms, including, the master bedroom. And bathroom. Come. On in and. The. First thing you'll see Michael's. Favorite toys the. Bikes are here and they are by passion, these aren't use they're just eye candy, please. Come up. This. Is the living. Area with, this an open-plan living, area with. The kitchen. Here. Mainly. Reason was, to I suppose have, that connection someone. Could be working here. Cooking and, there's not a wall between you. With. A simple layout built around the island stovetop, this, room is sleek but it's also pretty, green. Because. We recycle. The, rainwater we've got one, tap here in the in the kitchen which is that's. Amazing. The rest. Comes. From the tank in the garage. The. Dining space on here, and, then, the actual renowned space on. That side. The. House has no central, heating so, the glass is triple, glazed for insulation, a heat. Pump also helps to circulate warm, air but. The most important, piece of equipment is the cast iron stove. These. Are wood burners not coal, burners I'd like to have been bigger, but. This is the largest round. Stove we, could find it's. The main heat source of our house there's. No central heating area that's. A brave move in a freezing English winter and so, is having a bear wood floor even. If it looks as good as this one the century-old boards, are maple and were salvaged from a school it's used it's got character which is some I really, like it it. All makes for a stunning open plan space especially. For entertaining, whether, you're inside or out on the veranda, we. Have 15, 16 people and we. Get this space over here the table goes at the end and it's. Great to have a flexible space. Tunbridge. Wells England, this. Is a radical upside-down, house that Mike on Elizabeth built on. The second floor is the huge open-concept, living, space. While. The four bedrooms are downstairs on, the first floor, you've. Got a, small bedroom on one side. Down. The end. This. Is actually have a guest. Bedroom with, a, slick bathroom. Down. Here you've got power. Pitcher, which. Again is quite simple but it comes equipped with its own luxurious. Master bathroom, you can have a big bath and. It's a great double ended bath here and. Not. Really feel too guilty about it because it's all created, from there from the sky we, hear. The water but it's helped, to be heated by the Sun so you've got solar panels on the roof they. Provide about 30%. Of the hot. Water need in, the summer 100%. In the winter it, pre warms the water. But. Summer or winter may. Be the best place to relax is the veranda. This. Place is great it's a deck but it's a covered deck and you, really need that in the UK because in the summer it rains or whatever you still be out here you can even have a barbecue in the winter so it's. Good that way. All. In all Michael, and Elizabeth think, this is the perfect eco home in the perfect green space that's.
Why They found it so important, to have their home fit into its surroundings rather, than the other way around.
2018-06-22