Microsoft is looking to join the energy-efficient market...by producing software for building control systems, traffic management systems and water quality management systems. I am all for a more efficient driving experience...I just hope I never come to a light and see the blue light of death (syntax error).
"The whole transportation sector has huge inefficiencies that can be reduced by software. I think buildings account for something like 37 percent of greenhouse gases around the globe. If you look at the big sectors--transportation, buildings and building management, deforestation, electrical grid, and utilities--in every one of those we are looking at how software can enable innovation."--Rob Bernard, Microsoft's Chief Enviornmental Strategist
++Buildings, traffic next frontiers for Microsoft [CNET News]
When it comes to going green, the hotel industry is a little behind the commercial and residential movements but they are definitely trying to make a comeback. Part of the problem was the cost involved to retrofit an existing hotel with green components. Sometimes its just easier to start from scratch, integrating the energy efficiencies into the structure from the beginning. But as the cost to green continues to decline, hotels are finding a treasure at the end of their of income statement in the form of higher rents and lower operating costs. Even Kimpton Hotels are joining the green fray with their EarthCare program, which focuses on using environmentally friendly cleaning supplies, recycled paper, and energy and water conservation (visit their website 
You want small...I'll give you small. The G-box by Sarah Wigglesworth Architects. This tiny little space is a plywood-clad cabin design and comes fully insulated so that it can be used all year round. It is prewired and comes ready to be hooked up to the electrical grid. The website says it comes in a kit and can be fully assembled by two people. If you live in London, you can have one of these things delivered, by crane, completely assembled. If you had the right set up and could smoothly integrate the G-box to your home (not necessarily attaching it but setting it up in the backyard or something), you could definitely add additional equity to the market value of your home without a lot of costs incurred for construction, drawings and renderings from architects, etc. 
Happy 4th of July and God bless our troops! Hope everyone has a relaxing day! Came across some cool pictures of a Hive Modular home this morning. It's their X-Line model and they had firm Rosenlof Lucas do the landscape architecture. Hive uses a modular construction system, which reduces the overall build time of a structure, improves quality control and reduces actual construction time. When you look at one of their X-Line models, everything has a built-in, maintenance-free/worry-free type of feel. Due to location constraints, pricing on a structure can differ...$140 per sq/ft in the Midwest versus $200 per sq/ft west of the Rockies for a complete turn-key modular home sans design, delivery and setting costs. $200 per sq/ft still isn't that bad considering the quality that you are receiving. Hive Modular is one of the best prefab, modular companies out there...especially for the price. 
Studies have shown that people are happier and more productive when they are exposed to natural sunlight during the course of their workday as opposed to artificial light. In 1999, the California Board of Energy Efficiency commissioned a study and found that increased sales, increased productivity, increased wellness and reduced energy costs resulted from companies using natural solor lighting instead of artifical light. Enter in Sunlight Direct. 
