"Green" is becoming a regular lifestyle - from food menus, industry processes, and even to housing and communities. This new year of 2016, it's looking like "green" will finally be the new normal, and Manuel Gutierrez, in his new book New Eco Homes, created a list of samples of the world's best eco-friendly domestic architecture, proving that eco-friendly can be stylish too, The Guardian reports.
"There have been so many advances in sustainable strategies," he says. "I wanted to write a book that showed them off."
It has been a common connotation amongst "green" structures that details would often compromise style, thus the warped lines and unsightly concessions in earlier designs. But in Gutierrez's book, green homes are looking as sleek and sophisticated, if not more, than non-"green" ones.
Included in the list are futuristic Bond-villain villas, cantilevered barns in Suffolk, and poolside studios in Brazil. While varying in themes and designs, they share the same commitment to use innovated materials, photovoltaic cells and ultra-efficient insulation.
The book also shows how it would not take acres of land to build "green" housing and that they don't always have to be multi-million mansions. Tucked in Hamburg and Ho Chi Minh City's urban environments are single-storey town houses that were made with sustainability in mind.
Aside from the traditional eco-centres of northern Europe and Australasia, there are also many other examples beyond with the message of sustainability already reaching more developing companies.
New Eco Homes can be an effective source of inspiration for anyone who is looking to begin a greener way of living this year. "Investing in sustainable eco-housing means taking an economic return in the medium [rather than short] term," says Gutiérrez. "But the proliferation of this type of architecture would reduce construction costs."
"'New Eco Homes' explores various aspects of modern eco design, from its environmental and economical benefits, to factors considered when choosing materials: how much energy went into manufacturing the product, whether it is long lasting, and whether it can be recycled or safely disposed of as it eventually breaks down," according to Life and Soul Magazine.
