Photo: Michael D. Wilson
2025 Green home + design awards
XX Winning Projects and XX Awards of Merit in its inaugural year
The premiere Green Home + Design Awards was held on November 5, 2025 as part of the first annual Building Science Week in Maine. Presented by Green & Healthy Maine HOMES magazine, the Green Home + Design Awards recognize outstanding contributions in sustainable, high-performance residential design and construction in Maine. The awards event showcased projects that minimize operational energy needs, reduce embodied carbon, emphasize occupant and environmental health, and prioritize sustainability in home and landscape.
Award winning projects are listed below and will be featured in the spring 2026 issue of Green & Healthy Maine HOMES.
award categories
• New build
• Addition, remodel, or adaptive reuse
• DIY or nonprofessional design/build
• ADUs or small project
• Materials or methods innovation
• Sustainable landscape
2025 award winners
NEW BUILD
West End Garden House • Portland
2025 Winner (tie) - New Build
BRIBURN
“Wow. Creativity, ethos and execution all came together on this stunning project! Clearly the project team is working with intention and could only have pulled this off with deep experience, organization and deep partnerships. The integration of this project into the gardens and the site coupled with the creative use of exterior cladding with a simple and compelling form make the whole experience greater than the sum of the already stunning parts. To do it with this high level of sustainability and to create something as long lasting and durable as this is something special and something to be very proud of.”
Riverbend • Sedgwick
2025 Winner (tie) - New Build
OPAL
“A winner! This house hits all of the marks and achieves all the goals for a beautiful, livable, healthy, sustainable and energy efficient home. Beautiful landscaping and siting. Great attention to plantings and local ecosystem. Beautiful house. Kudos!”
Cape Haven • Cape Elizabeth
2025 Award of Merit - New Build
Juniper Design + Build
“Well designed, thought through and executed! Extra points for the aging in place elements.”
Storybook • Casco
2025 Award of Merit - New Build
Kaplan Thompson Architects
“This is a stunner. I would love to see the copper shingles as they patina over the years. This home is not only going to last generations, but will only look better as it ages. This is a carpenters dream with all of the built ins and woodwork and the creative use of the library interplaying with the stairs is as unique as it is beautiful. The local cedar columns set at an angle with the balconies must make for an incredible scene. This should be a resilient and low maintenance home that is an exemplar of good design and great execution.”
Addition, Remodel, or Adaptive Reuse
A Light-Filled Addition • Greater Portland
2025 Winner - Addition, Remodel, or Adaptive Reuse
Maines Design
“This submission hit many of the key factors: balanced, active ventilation; electrification; low-carbon/carbon-storing insulation; recycled material, local material and non-toxic finish; architectural/aesthetic consideration; daylighting. ...A sensitive, thoughtful addition, done with best practices in mind.”
Mitchell Addition and Garage ADU • Cape Elizabeth
2025 Award of Merit - Addition, Remodel, or Adaptive Reuse
O’Brien Wood & Iron
“What a great project that truly benefits this house and creates an ADU. From the new entry, breakfast nook, double height space at the new kitchen, compact yet usable layouts - this was incredibly well designed.”
DIY or Nonprofessional Design Build
Art Studio with Integrated Native Landscape • Camden
2025 Winner - DIY or Nonprofessional Design Build
Jonathan Cohen
“Excellent use of natural, recyclable and local materials. They did a nice job integrating with existing.”
Maine Hemp Home • Auburn
2025 Award of Merit - DIY or Nonprofessional Design Build
Ethan Lavendier
“The focus on embodied carbon and materials cradle to grave considerations are outstanding on this one. Really great products and an ability to try new things that are outside of ‘legacy’ construction methods is admirable. This should be a very durable home for a long time to come.”
ADUs or small projects
Aisling • Midcoast
2025 Winner - ADUs or Small Projects
Knickerbocker Group
“Very nice project with excellent material choices for human health, ecosystem health, durability and embodied carbon.”
Mom’s ADU • Brunswick
2025 Award of Merit - ADUs or Small Projects
Rabbit Run Builders
“Love the density, intergenerational living and accessibility of this project. The focus on locally harvested cladding treated with linseed oil really impacts the upfront carbon of this building. The simple yet elegant form along with the impressively robust enclosure and airtightness will make this home sip energy and offer thermal delight to the occupant. The well-located windows bring in a lot of nice daylight and the views to the garden and site add interest to this impressive little building.”
Materials or Methods Innovation
Brunswick Residence • Brunswick
2025 Winner - Materials or Methods Innovation
Kaplan Thompson Architects
“Wow. Not only was this project team looking to push the boundaries of operational and embodied carbon (running a BEAM calc on the concrete-free slab vs. a typical slab), but they also managed to create a dynamic, yet compact form that keeps one noticing one detail after another. On top of that, they really listened to the land and were able to make the site even more beautiful than what it must have been before the home was built. I would love to walk around this home and notice all of the moments pop out and the interplay between the remarkable built vs natural components. Flawlessly executed.”
Elemental Haven • Freeport
2025 Award of Merit - Materials or Methods Innovation
Performance Building Supply
“More homes need to be designed and built with the forethought and intention that was put into this beautiful home. The focus on reducing concrete with the concrete-free slab on grade and the innovation and leading edge thinking that was needed to pull it off is commendable. Everything was done right on this project from operational to embodied carbon to how it fits its site and the care with which it was constructed. The great air tightness numbers paired with the great systems will keep this house durable for generations to come. The large windows in the stairwell are stunning!”
Woodland Tea House • Mount Desert Island
2025 Award of Merit - Materials or Methods Innovation
Four Winds Design
“This is a unique project with a great narrative and a positive outcome. The exterior cladding solution was unique, sustainable, and beautiful. The process for cutting and moving materials, and the decision to minimally impact the site are all great. Nicely done.”
Sustainable Landscape
Art Studio with Integrated Native Landscape • Camden
2025 Winner - Sustainable Landscape
Keystone Native Habitat & Landscape
“Emphasis on local ecotypes (and thus biodiversity) is exceptional. Palette shows attention to keystone and particular host species, rather than putting together a generic “pollinator garden.” Local sourcing of plants is also exceptional.”
A Sustainable Landscape that Teaches and Feeds • Saco
2025 Award of Merit - Sustainable Landscape
The Ecology School
“An ideal situation for a learning center. Soil health and community involvement/education is exactly where the every-day homeowner can see gardens and landscapes in action that they can then take home and implement there.”
