In his new book, Good Energy: Renewable Power and the Design of Everyday Life, writer and editor Jared Green spotlights 35 net-zero or energy-positive developments from the last decade that demonstrate the potential of architecture and design to play a proactive role in tackling the climate crisis. From Japan to Kenya and from Sweden to Singapore, the projects cover a variety of scales, climates and income levels, showing that seemingly bold sustainability steps can be affordable and easy to implement. Many of the showcased developments also have wider positive impacts, including social, community and economic benefits. Here are six of our favourites.

Power of 10, Örebro, Sweden

Stockholm-based Street Monkey Architects designed this series of 10 net-zero-energy passive houses in 2016. The houses are built from prefabricated units of recycled steel, and the architects oriented the roofs to face south so they could install rooftop photovoltaic (PV) panels to maximise energy generation. The development generates 4 megawatt hours of electricity annually, and energy generated by the rooftop PV also powers electric vehicle (EV) chargers in the units’ parking areas. Any excess energy is collected by each house’s 40-kilowatt battery cells. When the batteries are full, energy is sold to Örebro’s grid.

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