World's Greenest Homes

Hidden in a Toronto back alley and flooded with natural light, this cozy and compact, 800-square-foot home was once a blacksmith�s shop, and features clean, white interiors, sustainable, efficient design, and a green roof and terrace among the treetops.

This historic Lake Erie pump house was transformed into a one-of-a-kind, eco-friendly family home featuring rustic stone interiors, picture windows, spectacular lakefront views, an art gallery hallway, radiant concrete floors, and the structure�s original ice wall and pumping system.

Hidden in the Sonoran Desert, minutes from Scottsdale, Arizona, this live-work oasis is designed to stay naturally cool. A showcase for modern desert living, the two bedroom 3,000-square-foot eco-mirage features contemporary open-concept interiors, an indoor rock wall, a secret kitty hideaway, and a spectacular view.

Nestled in an eco-friendly co-op community in rural New York State, this 5,000-square-foot family home is powered by geo-thermal technology, and features Arts and Crafts-inspired interiors, smart windows and skylights, recycled newsprint insulation, and zero-carbon emissions.

Visit a spectacular rotating dome home in upstate New York� Take in Chile�s dramatic coastline from a luxurious, off-grid home� And, tour a stately Toronto house that blends into its beachside neighborhood.

Tour an ultra-modern Chicago home that stands out from the crowd� Visit a Santa Monica home with spectacular views and a modest footprint� And visit a once-derelict Boston store that became an enviro-conscious family home.

Visit a fun-loving, modern gem in Minneapolis� Tour a sleek and contemporary green home just minutes from Hollywood� And, visit a sprawling Chicago home that stands out from its neighbors.

With its loft-style, martini-bar interiors, this three-bedroom, 1,800 square foot home in suburban Minneapolis features the owners� own dumpster finds, a reclaimed gymnasium floor, huge picture windows, and a durable, future-proof design. Built on a tight budget next to a loud Boulder, Colorado highway, this three-bedroom, 2,900 square foot home is built from eco-friendly materials, and features a noise-proofing concrete wall, soaring ceilings and windows, open concept living areas, bright design flourishes, and an indoor fish pond. Nestled in the picturesque countryside outside D�sseldorf, Germany, this open concept green dream home features outstanding minimalist design, solar panels and passive solar heat, a dramatic floating staircase, a spa-like bathroom, a fish-filled reflecting pool, and dramatic views from the home�s large windows and second-storey bridge.

Visit a once-derelict Nottingham warehouse that�s now an imaginative, eco-home� Tour a Japanese property that artfully blends East and West� And, visit a spectacular Dutch home that brings the outdoors inside.

Visit an inventive Hamburg home with a tiny carbon footprint� Take in the ocean views from a sustainable New Zealand oasis� And, head to Switzerland to tour one of Europe�s first-ever zero-emission homes.

Visit an ultra-modern, minimalist masterpiece in Manchester� A tiny, hip Hong Kong apartment that redefines space-saving design� And, a green California prefab that was customized to perfection.

Visit a sumptuous Sonoma County eco-marvel with its own wildlife habitat� A luxurious Australian vineyard offering the ultimate in country living� And, an energy-efficient, candy-colored Austin, Texas, funhouse that puts a whimsical spin on being green.

In this episode, we visit� A former Toronto industrial site that�s become one family�s green sanctuary� An award-winning Asian-inspired green home on Canada�s Lake Okanagan� And an Atlanta home that combines Southern charm and eco-friendly living.

Situated in an exclusive conservation area and golf resort outside Seattle, Washington, this award-winning, 3,000 square foot home features superior insulation and eco-friendly finishes throughout. Built to blend in with its natural surroundings, the home boasts a two-story lounge, a bronze kitchen sink, a recycled copper bathtub, and a computerized central control system. In just 18 months, this traditional 1940's bungalow outside Minneapolis was transformed into an award winning, super-green, energy-saving home. Called the "Sustainable House," it's loaded with almost every green feature imaginable, including low-flow fixtures, a closed combustion gas fireplace, triple-glazed argon-filled windows, geothermal wells for heating and cooling, and huge underground cisterns for storing rainwater.

In the heart of Silicon Valley, this 3,000 square foot Palo Alto home blends industrial chic with modern comfort. Perfectly oriented to capture sunlight, the home's green design includes passive solar energy and solar panels that generate 80 % of the home's needs. The home also features recycled newspaper insulation, reclaimed and renewable woods and non-toxic plaster walls. Nestled on a spectacular five-acre site on British Columbia's Lake Okanagan, this 3,500 square foot home is designed to blend in with its pristine surroundings. Built into the side of a hill, the super-insulated, energy efficient structure is loaded with recycled and reclaimed materials. The homes many creature comforts include radiant floors, 18-foot ceilings, and a breathtaking views from the outdoor deck.

This award-winning, 4,000-square foot energy efficient home in Houston, Texas has loads of personality and plenty of green features, too. Beyond the solar panels, recycled denim insulation, and heat resistant extra-thick concrete walls, the home features sprawling multi-purpose living areas, and an indoor slide that offers a quick alternative to the stairs. Full of personal decorative touches and overlooking a glacial lake in Rollins, Montana, this 2,400-square foot home is embedded in a steep slope to take advantage of the Earth?s thermal benefits. The green home also features local and salvaged materials with Amish-built kitchen cabinets, a spectacular green roof, and an interior wall that looks like ancient ruins.

Using local materials, a couple in Southern Ontario built their off-grid home on 65 acres of rolling hills without sacrificing any creature comforts. Beyond the exposed beams and country-chic interiors, the sprawling home features solar thermal tubes, a wind turbine and a swimming pool made from recycled car tires. Next, nestled in the woods outside St. Paul, Minnesota, this grand geodesic dome home can withstand earthquakes, hurricane winds, and tons of snow. Using 60 percent less material than a conventional house, the robust and energy-efficient home features gracious open-plan interiors with 18 inch thick walls, reclaimed wood and non-toxic materials throughout.

The premiere episode of World�s Greenest Homes, features three homes that are: a modern, ingeniously designed green house in Venice Beach, California; an English cozy woodland retreat in harmony with its surroundings; and a sprawling home in the Nevada desert that harnesses the energy of the sun.

Located in a reclaimed industrial site transformed into a green residential neighborhood, a grand home in Atlanta combines Southern charm with eco-friendly living. Then, an energy-efficient home proves it's possible to be green while going green.

An hour North of NYC, and overlooking a lake and manicured grounds, Manny visits a two-storey, octagonal-shaped, energy-efficient super home. Then, perched high in the mountains of Oregon, a pioneering green home is cantilevered above the ground.

Manny takes a trip to Alys Beach in the Florida Panhandle, where two architects became the first residents of their eco-friendly, Mediterranean-style village. Next, nestled on the shores of Lake Okanagan,BC, an award-winning, Asian-inspired super home.

An Atlanta Tudor mansion that�s one of the largest eco-homes in the US� A unique Australian getaway that�s completely off the grid� And a cliffside Toronto home that pushes green to the extreme.

Emmanuel visits a cliffside Toronto home that pushes green to the extreme. Then, a Chicago couple with a punk rock label transformed a turn-of-the-century tavern into the greenest live-work space in the city.

Emmanuel travels north of San Francisco, and a mile from the closest utility pole, to visit an unusual green home in the shape of a hawk. Next, just minutes from Sydney Harbor, a turn-of-the-century cottage was redesigned with an open-air living space.

Manny heads to Austin Texas to visit a home built with local materials in order to be more energy-efficient. Meanwhile in West Sussex the show takes a look at the biodegradeable Woodsmans Cottage featured in Grand Designs Season 3.

Located just beneath the 'H' in the Hollywood sign, Manny visits a glamorous L.A. home that is as healthy as it is sustainable. Then, romance novelist Stephanie Laurens creates her own off-grid Aussie hideaway 40 minutes north of Melbourne.

Manny heads to Austin, Texas where one couple took an already green dream home and remodeled it to create a luxurious green oasis with a breathtaking view. Designed to stay cool naturally, the home features local limestone walls, recycled paper insulation, a heat-reflecting metal roof, and rolling aluminum shutters to help keep out the midday heat. Then, in northern Sweden, two architects designed a very unusual off the grid house in one of the country's nature reserves. It's called Accordion House because it expands accordion-style over a stream and folds up into itself during the cold weather. It's cutting edge design and open concept all the way?with reindeer pelts lining the walls and a giant bathtub on the deck!

Faced with a derelict 3000 square foot warehouse, a Chicago couple transforms it into a luxurious home, filled with unique green technology. Preserving 90 percent of the building's original brick shell, they installed solar panels, wind turbines, and an ingenious underground cooling system drilled into the bedrock. The sprawling home also features a lush central courtyard, a greenhouse, and a living roof. Two hours North of Sydney, this family's modern retreat proves you can live in complete comfort - completely off the grid. The home's unique green features include natural ventilation and a cinderblock fireplace that retains heat for hours. The home also features sweeping valley views, and a unique sprinkler system to protect it from the area's common bush fires.

A former punk rocker lives off the grid in a solar powered castle and a Toronto couple bring nature inside their ultra modern, clean and green living space.

An Arizona Desert home designed to blend in with its surroundings� A sumptuous 680-acre holiday home outside Melbourne, Australia� And the spectacular, earth-friendly solar-powered desert castle that�s home to former punk rock singer, David Buxton.

Only ten minutes from the White House in Washington, D.C, green pioneer and architect, Travis Price, cantilevered his four-storey steel and glass dream home over a cliff so it barely touches the forest below. Then, a green oasis in Baja, Mexico.

A Houston architect transformed a derelict downtown site into a block of sumptuous green townhomes, and created a cool, slick and sustainable neighborhood in the process. Then a 680-acre holiday home outside Melbourne, Australia named after a whisky.

In this episode, we visit� �Kickapoo,� a stunning Arts and Crafts-style home in Oregon, Illinois� The ultimate tree house just minutes from Sydney Harbour� And an eco-friendly, Mediterranean-style village in the Florida Panhandle that�s built to last 500 years.

We visit a tiny 1920�s bungalow in Venice Beach California that�s been renovated into the latest in modern design and green features. Then to a home nestled in the hills of Greece just outside Athens that combines contemporary design with natural and eco-friendly features that are as old as the hills. And then in Houston, we visit a colourful one-of-a-kind art deco inspired home that�s cashing in on energy savings.

We visit south London, to explore a timber frame home that is nothing like the Victorian-terraced homes surrounding it. The house is a rework of an old woodworking shop on a site that no one imagined. Then we tour a home in a Boston suburb made from the scraps and leftovers from the old interstate freeway. Next in the Hollywood hills, a couple built a fabulous home on a 9-thousand-square-foot piece of land. The design is bold, beautiful and boasts some of the earliest uses of non-toxic materials.

Host Emmanuel Belliveau visits a stunning and lavish home in San Francisco's Mission District that is a study in how to take wind power to a new level in the city. Next Emmanuel finds himself in West Sussex where there is an untraditional home built around trees.

Just outside of Aspen, Colorado, where the rich and famous come to play, Host Emmanuel Belliveau visits a 7-thousand square foot home with a small carbon footprint. Next World's Greenest Homes takes a tour of a home in a Boston suburb made from the scraps and leftovers from an old interstate freeway.

World's Greenest Homes visits a California beach house with a unique family-friendly design that makes the most of an ocean breeze. Next host Emmanuel Belliveau tours a home nestled in the hills of Greece that combines contemporary design with natural and eco friendly features.