We sure love residence spaces that are as green as possible, ones like the Kona Residence in Hawaii that the guys at Belzberg Architects recently developed. The residency integrates nature and architecture, with a person residing there being given a closer-to-nature experience like never before. The area is divided into pods, each with its own unique view and build-type. And every one of them has a breathtaking view, with the residence situated between cooled lava flows, volcanic mountain ranges and ocean horizons. The residence basically has each of its pods connected to a central axis. The pods include two sleeping pods, a media pod, a master suite and the main living space. All this is powered up by a load of solar panel arrays on the roof. Water supply is from a rainwater collection system that channels the water into drywells. To build the residence, reclaimed teak timber from older barns and train tracks was used for the exterior. The entry pavilion is inspired by basket weaving and reminds one of the presentation traditions of a basket on arrival in Hawaii.

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Water polo at the 2012 Olympic Games will be greener than ever, thanks to all the eco-conscious thought put into building the Water Polo Arena. The 5,000-seat venue can be packed up and moved to places whenever required owing to the fact that it is reusable and can be moved around in full or in pieces. The arena was designed by UK-based David Morley Architects and is asymmetrical. The venue will be wrapped in a silver membrane with translucent shard shaped panels and will use a rippling roof made of air-inflated recycled phthalate-free PVC cushions with added insulation and lower condensation levels. This one’s designed to be lightweight so that it can easily be moved around instead of having to build new pools every where.

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Clayton Homes’ i-houses apparently didn’t hit it off well last year and hence the company is back with an upgraded version dubbed, i-house 2.0. This new "plug and play" dwelling spreads out over three bedrooms, two bathrooms and flexible indoor-outdoor space. With an expanded butterfly roof, this larger prefab model may lure eco-buyers this year. Though there is no official word on the pricing for i-house 2.0, you can have a look at the video of the lay out provided by Clayton.

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A rotating home sounds seriously cool, especially when it has some enormous solar panels on its roof and it’s juiced up by the sun. Architect Ralph Disch came up with this one, rotating around to make sure it catches every ray of the sun. Well, he could’ve simply had the solar panels up above to rotate, instead of having the whole home do so, but then again, that’s his architectural creativity! The sun is exploited well enough to allow daylight into the homes triple-pane windows and heat up its solar thermal pipes, besides reflecting on its roof-mounted solar array. This one generates five times the energy it requires! Known as the Helitrope, the home is pole-mounted and rotates 180 degrees throughout the day. It’s equipped with 6.6 kWh solar panels that generate all that energy.

Home sweet home indeed!

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The World Sustainability Center created by Studio Shift is a perfect blend of flexible environments, making it just ideal for both researchers, as well as students. The complex, to find a home in Afsluitdijk, Netherlands, will accommodate the general public too. Geometric in shape and design, the building has enough space for varied educational requirements. Owing to the fact that the designing involves the use of a number of architectural forms, this one can’t be referred to as just a single structure. The Center will boast a marina, outdoor amphitheatre and agricultural research garden, using energy-efficient shuttle buses and watercrafts for transport. The panels to be integrated into the façade can be used for multiple purposes, changing from solid panels (solar), perforated panels (glare and sun control) to void panels (view apertures). The roofs and other hard and soft surfaces will have rainwater collection systems too.

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BNIM have come up with the Omega Center for Sustainable Living’s education facility, specially designed and integrated for them by the American design firm. As part of the project, the current wastewater disposal system for the entire 195-acre Rhinebeck campus will have a facelift, and will use biological methods of treatment via an eco machine. This will help educate visitors, staff and local community on innovative wastewater strategies too! The developed system and the building will also be used by Omega to help educate of the ecological impact of their campus. Incorporating a classroom, laboratory, water garden and a constructed wetland with its own power supply generated by solar photovoltaic, this ones self sustaining and carbon neutral.

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The Boxel pavilion shows just how well recycling and design can go, hand in hand. Designed by students from the University of Applied Sciences in Detmold, Germany, the pavilion is made out of around 2,000 beer crates. Part of a course on how to develop structures from computer modeling to construction, this pavilion is the best place to hold a musical performance. Using computer modeling, the pavilion took shape, as the students figured out load bearing and positioning of the crates and after a few assembly tests, this one went up, reinforced with screws and slats. The base uses concrete filled boxes to keep up the structure. The boxes were distributed by a brewery and will be recycled once the pavilion meets the ground again.

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Beautiful is the word for this one, with a whole lot of green and eco-friendliness. We’re talking about a house built by Robles Arquitectos in Playa Carate, Costa Rica, which takes the whole concept of self-sufficiency to yet another level, boasting a full 100% of it. The house is located in Playa Carate on the Peninsula de Osa, home to 5% of the world's biodiversity and lacks access to water and electricity, taken that its so far flung and remote. Jaw dropped in shock? You can stop gaping now. This one uses natures helping hand to satisfy those needs. The house uses forest water and with the help of two low-impact hydroelectric turbines and a bunch of solar panels, produces enough energy, about 10,800kWh in all. The house is elevated a meter above the ground, to reduce humidity, and is opened out to nature, for increased ventilation and exposure to the sun.

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The island nation Maldives is in need of a new international airport, and has found UK firm Haptic Architects and Norwegian Narud Stokke Wiig Architects who have taken the mantle to help them out with it. This latest architectural wonder at Hanimaadhoo Island is actually a revamped version of the domestic terminal. Proposed to be a single terminal building, the airport building looks striking from outside thanks to its dramatic curving roof. Crafted out of timber diagrid, the lightweight roof comes with a highly insulated skin.

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At first look, these towers looked more like the spiny spiky legs of an overturned spider. Those spikes protruding from its façade give it a somewhat alarming look. This one isn’t that bad at all though. Its green, clean and is a revolutionary design by the designers and architects at the ARXX Studio. These twin towers might just find their place in Dubai, and are self-sustaining. The twins, known as the Gullwing Twin Wind Towers, are unique. They use an energy-generating system that incorporates the use of wind turbine hinges attached to the building that help generate electricity from wind. The circular structures, or wings, drive turbines, cylindrical with circular sections each with a series of bladed rings to capture the wind to generate green energy. And if you’re still wondering why these towers couldn’t be designed to stand up straight like every other skyscraper we come across, get a hold of this. The curvy structure was so designed, to create a tornado effect. In short, the buildings will work as two living tornados, producing energy.

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Is it a wheel? Maybe a giant-wheel! Hell no! It’s the Ocean Imagination, the Thematic Pavilion of Yeosu 2012 by Unsangdong Architects, a pavilion beautiful enough to be a wonder of the world. Looking great isn’t everything this one boasts. It’s green too! A viewer gets a closer look at the ocean’s ecosystems with this pavilion with various exhibits that relate to man-made nature. The pavilion also features the Ocean Gate, a type of vertical sea-shore. Also, the Sustainable Ocean void space combines flowing water with the ecological environment, while the structure’s outer space is used for exhibiting the Water-Valley, Media-Valley, Play-Valley, Green-Valley and loads more.

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Now a passerby would probably hit himself on the head and pinch himself to make sure he isn’t dreaming, if he walks past this awesome structure for the first time. At least I would, if we hadn’t checked it out before hand. Anyways, what we’re talking about is a vertical garden is the southeast of Spain. This six-storey high garden has been sprouted up on the façade of a new children's library building, in the town square of San Vicente del Raspeig. The garden is in itself an architectural wonder; a designed conceived by architect Jose Maria Chofre. The building, owing to the fact that it has a full fledged garden growing on its side walls, contrasts the otherwise concrete surroundings.

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Eco-friendly vehicles of the future will now have something more to make them closer to reality. Out go the days of gasoline guzzling carbon emitting cars that we’ve been using for decades. The world is now rolling out a red carpet for these clean green cars that are receiving technology boosts day by day. Sanyo now has a sparkling new factory that will chisel out lithium-ion batteries for EVs at the Kansai Plant. The plant, spanning an area of 42,831m2 will produce an astounding number of 1 million cells a month in the beginning. To construct this plant, Sanyo spent a whopping 13 Billion yens.

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The stuff we usually come across in a museum usually leaves us jaw dropped, be it rare pieces from history or wax statues. The experience gets better when the museum building itself is as awesome as the exhibits inside. The guys at MAD Architects thought the same probably, while designing this beautiful and stunning museum building for the city of Xiamen, China. At first look, the building does remind one of a bunch of poisonous mushrooms on which you’d probably find a fairy sunbathing. The organic molten metal building will float above the city below on five legs, and will use solar panels on its roof to power up. The warm climate in the city of Xiamen makes the solar panel array on the roof even more applicable and efficient.

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California’s Northern Sonoma Wine Country will now play host to a sparkling new hotel, with a water theme. David Baker + Partners working in collaboration designed the h2hotel which hopes to be rewarded with the LEED Gold certification from the U.S. Green Building Council. A short drive from San Francisco, the h2hotel stands four stories high and has 36 rooms. The building also integrates a living roof on its terrace, which takes up 75% of its top. This helps minimize heat, add a bit of green and works as a home for insects and birds too. The roof is also designed to work as a water collection surface, channeling rainwater and using it to juice up the “Spoonfall” water sculpture, made of a thousand espresso spoons. Part of the h2hotel’s power supply is sourced from solar panels that soak up the sun.

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