This eco-friendly house in France cost under $200K to build

Building a budget-friendly and environmentally-friendly house is a difficult feat. It’s one thing to build a large house for under $130K, but this low energy, greenhouse-inspired French house takes it one step further.

BRUT architects designed and built this environmentally friendly house, dubbed ‘PEN.DU’, for a mere €165,000 (~$180,000). It’s located on a large plot of land in northwestern France.

The design of the house aims for maximum energy efficiency and passive solar heat gain. The facade, which is completely clad in translucent panels, exposes the structure’s timber frame and hides the straw bale insulation. It’s built using bio-sourced materials and large windows maximize solar gain and ventilation. Rainfall collected on the roof is stored and reused.

It was also conceived as an ‘experimental greenhouse’ with its pitched roof and relatively spacious interiors. Since the house is meant to be for a young family, the architects included swings, netting, and a climbing wall.

Via: Designboom