Take a moment to notice what’s happening across the pond.  This is the Tetra Shed , a inventive building system that uses up to six modules to create extra space — home office,  play space, beach hut, pop-up retail — in most any location.  The exterior can be custom painted or finished with copper, zinc, corten steel, or marine plywood, while the interior can be finished with LED lights and birch-faced plywood or plasterboard.  Tetra Shed, designed by David Ajasa-Adekunle , arrives in the UK in January 2012. [+] See more photos of the modular, expandable Tetra Shed . Credits: Tetra Shed;...

This is the Live Work Home , one of the winning proposals (with the R-House ) in the From the Ground Up Competition in Syracuse, New York, designed by Cook+Fox Architects.  The home was awarded LEED Platinum certification earlier this month, a fitting one-year anniversary since the homeowners John and Kathy Miranda moved into the home in November 2010.  Here’s more about this beautiful, durable home with an inventive design. One of the more obvious features of Live Work Home is the perforated screen that wraps the western and northern facade.  It’s made with a medium density overlay —...

Over Thanksgiving break, I enjoyed reading about this small, energy-efficient home in North Carolina built using the Harbinger plan offered by the Tumbleweed Tiny House Company.  Built to International Building Code requirements, the plan includes a loft, home office, kitchen, bathroom, living room, and deck — tightly placed in less than 500 square feet!  Details are hard to come by, but Tumbleweed sells this plan for $695 and estimates that it costs about $33,000 in materials to build. [+] More about Harbinger Plans by Tumbleweed . Credits: Daryl Shaw .  Related Articles on JetsonGreen.com:...

The EPA recently published new, voluntary guidelines to help the home energy industry improve indoor air quality in conjunction with energy efficiency upgrades.  Designed as a companion to the DOE’s Guidelines for Home Energy Professionals ( view ), the new Healthy Indoor Environment Protocols for Home Energy Upgrades ( download ) include Assessment Protocols to evaluate existing conditions, Minimum Actions to be taken during upgrade activities, and Expanded Actions to promote improved occupant health. The protocols are organized by contaminants, such as asbestos, radon, lead, and carbon monoxide,...

LEEDing the way . Follow this link: Low Energy Homes, Green Home Appraisal, Neighborhood Green, + USGBC App Lab

Happy Thanksgiving!  I hope you have a great day, enjoy the food, and share some memories with family and friends.  If you’re door busting, now’s the time to leap frog the inefficient stuff and buy things that are useful, durable, and resource efficient.  I’ve received notice in my email of some interesting Thanksgiving/Black Friday deals, so I’ll share the links in case you’re browsing online shops. [$] Holiday 15% off on Herman Miller [ 11/23/11 - 12/12/11 ] [$] Up to 50% tools on Amazon.com [ 11/01/11 - 12/24/11 ] [+] Holiday 15% off Loll Racer Collection [ 11/25/11 - 12/09/11...

This seems to be a busy week for LED bulb announcements. We’ve already seen a 20-watt, clear globe, filament-style bulb and a 40-watt A19 bulb that takes the shape of a standard frosted incandescent .  And now, LEDO has a series of three LED bulbs — Bulled Classic, Bulled Modular, Bulled Star — that provide the 60-watt equivalent, which is on par with the typical incandescent, but these bulbs use only 11 watts. Bulled Series bulbs are less traditional in appearance than other bulbs, but offer a 330 degree area of coverage, so that they are providing light in a way that is very similar to...

Several months ago, I shared news of unique, green birth chart art by StarArc .  That company now has some new prints based on each customer’s primary astrological sun sign symbol as well as their moon and rising sign symbols.  Although I can’t shed much light on astrology, I can say the prints are made using a museum quality giclée printing process that utilizes environmentally friendly canvas, inks, and stretcher bars.  They come with a modern look, 35 color schemes, eight sizes, and pricing from $49 . [+] More about StarArc modern astrology portraits . Credits: StarArc.  Related Articles...

Toshiba recently announced a new A19 LED lamp that is shaped more like an incandescent than some of the other LED bulbs we’ve seen so far, excluding perhaps Panasonic’s LED with a filament appearance .  The new bulb is dimmable, available in 2700K and 4000K colors, outputs 450 lumens, and contains no lead or mercury.  The 40-watt replacement uses 8.4 watts and reaches full brightness instantly. The new light bulb is undergoing Energy Star testing at this time and will be manufactured to maintain that designation.  I asked a press person for potential pricing and purchase location information...