One of the first things people think about when they think about “green” building is energy efficiency. The Christy Webber Landscapes buildings at Rancho Verde are designed to be 55% more efficient in energy usage than more conventional buildings of this size. While the engineering is elegant and masterful, the basic ideas are simple: make maximum use of the free resources of sun, wind, and earth and when you do flick the switch use the highest performing systems you can find.

The primary source for heating and cooling the building is derived from constant 55 degrees maintained by the earth mass below the site.	Active solar thermal panels capture the heat of the sun and use it to boost the geothermal loop for winter time heating, provide consistent hot water to the main office building, and preheats return air to the shop lowering its heating costs.
Energy recovery wheels rotate between the incoming outdoor air stream and the building exhaust air stream.	A second-story greenhouse provides growing space as well as pre-heating cold winter air reducing the need for heat production by the building’s other systems.