Project profile: Eastern Sierra House

This sustainable demonstration home was carefully designed to take advantage of the rugged beauty of its site on the eastern slope of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, overlooking the Carson Valley. Working with the slope, orientation, and dramatic views, the design team structured the house around a courtyard oasis shaded by a photovoltaic array. While the garage and guest wing to the west blend into the landscape via sod roofs, the main form juts out like a boulder, its south-facing roof peeling up at the corner for passive solar gain and for a dramatic view of snow-capped Job's Peak to the southwest.
(2005 AIA/COTE Top Ten Green Projects recipient)