The homes featured in this article are all stunning examples of modern buildings that can adopt environmental elements in order to reduce the impact they have on their surroundings.
Check out the details and images below and let us know which one you’d most like to live in.
1. Eco Arch, Kent
The first eco-friendly home on the list has been featured before on Channel 4’s Grand Designs series and is called the Eco Arch.
Hence its name, the home is in the shape of a half-circle because of its roof, which is a parabolic arch.
One of the Eco-friendly features of this home is in the arch-shaped roof of the Eco Arch House, which is composed of thousands of small, ceramic tiles.
The ceramic roof already allows the house to be well-insulated, but for another layer of insulation, the architect decided to cover the roof with soil and gravel so that grass and flowers can grow, therefore making the roof a “green roof”.
The second Eco-friendly feature of the Eco Arch is the home’s large, south-facing windows which allow passive solar heating.
The architecturally stunning Eco Arch House is located in Kent, England.
2. Elfin Hollow – Tunbridge Wells
This stunningly contemporary eco house is set on 11 acres of rural beauty within Tunbridge Wells.
Elfin Hollow raises the bar and sets the standard for future builds, the ultimate in the conservation of energy.
The building has been designed using blends of ultra-contemporary, high-tech style with traditional aspects and low carbon designs, providing a unique eco home with a breathtaking mix of light and space.
Elfin Hollow consists of three floors, and some of the energy efficient technology and low carbon features used throughout include: insulated panels, under floor heating, solar panels to heat water, triple glazing, an air circulating system with heat exchange, and a rain harvester.
The pinnacle of eco design, this beautiful house has both country looks and leaves a small carbon footprint on the natural surroundings it sits upon.
3. Woodmans Cottage, Sussex
The last Eco Home on the list is located in Sussex and is called the Woodman’s Cottage.
The home is located in the middle of a sprawling chestnut forest and like the Eco Arch; the Woodman’s Cottage was also featured on Channel 4’s Grand Designs show.
However, unlike Elfin Hollow and the Eco Arch, which follow more modern architectural designs and materials, the Woodman’s Cottage is entirely built of locally-sourced wood, allowing the varying shapes and nuances of the wood to influence the look of the home and the structure of some of its features, like its winding front porch.
To save valuable energy, the wooden frame of the Woodman’s Cottage is filled with recycled newspaper and straw bale insulation, which is then coated in a plaster made of clay and lime to make it air-tight.
The Woodman’s Cottage is somewhat of a paradox, because although it is entirely made out of wood, it is still eco-friendly because the builder/resident of the cottage does not completely fell the trees he uses, but instead coppices (cuts them only to ground-level) the trees so as to allow rapid regrowth.
