By Bridgette Steffen

Part of living lightly on the planet is reducing the square footage of your home and living space. We applaud home designers like Minneapolis-based Hive Modular for presenting a very practical and stylish 2-bedroom home that is only 1,410 square feet. This new home was completed on an urban infill lot and is part of Hive’s popular B-Line series. Optimally situated, this home is a great example of a solar passive home and features many green design elements that help make its environmental impact minimal.

This model of B-Line Small shown here is a simple bar-shaped design with a flat-pitched roof that takes advantage of the southern aspect. Flat or more traditional roof designs are also available. This particular house has 2 bedrooms, kitchen, dining and living space. However, all homes are constructed with modular elements and the B-Line series can be expanded to include more rooms, larger spaces and extra bonus rooms. Construction costs for B-Line homes start from $160/sq ft, not including the cost of the land. According to Paul Starkney, co-founder and partner for Hive Modular, this home cost $185/sq ft to build.

The stylish little home features many environmentally-friendly products including concrete counter tops, no-VOC interior paint, FSC-certified framing wood and locally-sourced flooring, James Hardie fiber cement exterior cladding, a rainwater collection system, energy-efficient appliances and use of recycled materials. The cute house exemplifies living practically — from its building process to its infill location; from the small yet adequate size, to the sustainably-sourced materials.

For more photos see the original article at Inhabitat.