In January 2009, Syracuse University's School of Architecture (SOA) , UPSTATE: Center for Design, Research and Real Estate at the SOA, in partnership with Syracuse Center of Excellence, Home HeadQuarters, and the Near Westside Initiative, announced three winners of "From the Ground Up: Innovative Green Homes," a competition that fosters advanced thinking about design, sustainability, and cost-effective building practices for the single-family house. Developed for a vacant infill site on Syracuse’s Near West Side, these projects offer a wide range of approaches for cost-efficient prototypes incorporating innovative design and the most advanced green technology. The construction of the three winning designs from Architectural Research Office and Della Valle Bernheimer, Cook + Fox, and Onion Flats provide a new vision for the neighborhood which can be embraced by existing and future residents./

Live Work Home, Cook + Fox and Terrapin Bright Green

This single-story, flat roof design is highly flexible and can be tranformed to accommodate the changing needs of the residents including a family with children, extended family unit, or students and can easily be converted to function as a home-based small business or artist’s studio. The house is constructed of structural insulated panels and is heated passively. Adjustable reflective screening and skylights fill the space with dappled lighting.

R-House, Architectural Research Office and Della Valle Bernheimer

This two-story house transforms a typical gabled roof into a simple folded surface that recalls the appearance and scale of neighboring houses. Its flexible layout accommodates two, three, or four bedrooms within the same shell. The passive solar strategy utilizes a well insulated envelope, airtight construction, an efficient small heating system, controlled ventilation, and windows that optimize solar gain, requiring a negligible amount of heating energy.

TED, Onion Flats

Ted was designed to be built in three different ways: stick framing, modular construction, or structurally insulated panels (SIPs).The structure combines a thick shell and active solar heating to create an energy efficient house. The heating system uses water heated through solartubing panels mounted on the roof and radiant tubing in all floors. The three-story, gabled-roof structure creates an atrium to pull heat out of the home during the summer months, making a space that is efficient year-round. The versatile design can easily be transformed into a two- to four-bedroom, a duplex, or a home office/studio with residence above.

All three homes are completed and Home HeadQuarters is planning to replicate the TED house in the Near Westside Neighborhood.