Slovakian architects Tomas Zacek and Igor Zacek have come up with a unique house design that manages to combine a love of travel with environmentally sustainable design and functionality. The architects used the caravans for inspiration, but added their own modern eco-twists.

The Rolling Stone is designed to accommodate a minimum of two people or a maximum of six in an emergency. Each unit has a bedroom with a double bed, small closet, toilet, shower and sink. The main part of the unit has two separate functions. In summer, the unit can be expanded to create living room space with a kitchenette and eating area. The open area may also function as a workshop area or theatre. As with traditional caravans, when several are placed in a circle it creates a communal living space for outdoor cooking and socializing.

Each unit continues different energy system options – wind turbines or solar panels. The units also have a water reservoir and bathtub combination area on the roof and a grey water treatment facility under the floor of the caravan.

The Centre for Sustainable Energy Technologies (CSET) at the Nottingham University campus in the Zhijiang district, China, is an aesthetically pleasing low carbon design, utilizing a five-point sustainable environmental design strategy.

The CSET building has been engineered to minimize environmental impact by promoting energy efficiency, generating its own energy from renewable sources, and using locally available materials with low embodied energy content.

The CSET building is situated in a large meadow alongside a stream that runs through the campus. The building design is inspired by Chinese lanterns and traditional wooden screens, the façade folds dramatically to create a dynamic shape. Clad with a double skin of glass with screen-printed patterns evoking historical buildings of the area, the appearance of the building changes from day to night.

The CSET building responds to diurnal and seasonal variations in ambient conditions by means of a five-point environmental design strategy which includes; a high performance envelope, exposed thermal mass, daylight and solar control, natural ventilation to the tower, piped ventilation to the laboratories and workshops.

A large rooftop opening brings natural light to all floors of the building simultaneously creating a flue effect to allow efficient natural ventilation. Geothermal energy is used to cool and heat the floor slabs. The building is designed to minimize the need for additional energy for heating, cooling and ventilation.

The focus of research at the CSET building will be new and renewable energy systems and components for both domestic (housing) and non-domestic (commercial and public) buildings.