EVERYTHING'S GONE GREEN

More homeowners are opting to live (and build) sustainablya crucial step in curbing climate change.

- IAN VOLNER

In Big Sur, California, a home designed by Studio Schicketanz to produce at least as much energy as it consumes features windows with a thermal barrier and insulated glazing.

FOR ANYONE LOOKING TO SHRINK THEIR HOME'S ecological impact, there's one piece of very good news: just staying where you are is a great place to start. According to a study commissioned by the British moving specialist Buzzmove, the fuel, packing materials, and more needed for the average move consume roughly the same amount of energy as leaving a lightbulb on for about eight weeks. That figure shoots up considerably if you're moving into a brand-new house, with carbon-dioxide emissions from single-family home construction running as high as 50 tons, as calculated by Britain's Building and Social Housing Foundation. That's the equivalent of leaving a single lightbulb on for 300 years.

But as millions of Americans discovered during the COVID-19 pandemic, sometimes the house you have just isn't enough. The pandemic made comfort and quality of life at home more important, says architect Tom Kligerman, speaking of the recent collective obsession with improving the look and feel of our interiors. At the same time, he notes, “more and more of my clients are genuinely concerned about the environment.” As it turns out, the two positions aren't really in contradiction: In recent projects, the team at Ike Kligerman Barkley has been replacing clunky air conditioners with discreet geothermal systems and using textured, fully renewable cork to line kitchen floors. In Kligerman's view, greenification is a basic part of the renovation designer's remit these days.