Gammon Street is a long block that runs off McDonough Boulevard in the southwest corner of Peoplestown, a southeast Atlanta neighborhood trying to revive from decades of poverty and decline.

In the middle of the Gammon Street block, among the original bungalows and new Craftsman reproductions, sits a new contemporary-style home that proves that energy-efficiency is not just the province of high-end developments.

Frank Niemeir / AJC (ENLARGE)

The living room makes the most of incoming light. The home was built as a result of a 'sustainable home' competition held in 2006.

Frank Niemeir / AJC (ENLARGE)

Cecile Roberts and her husband, Kenneth, show off their Peoplestown home.

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The home was built as a result of a "sustainable home" competition held in 2006. Winners of the competition, Atlanta's G + G Architects, designed a green single-family home incorporating references to the housing around it while using state-of-the-art building practices.

There were many partners in the competition, including the Kendeda Fund, which provided the challenge grant; Charis Community Housing, which donated the lot; Southface Energy Institute, which provided the expertise to build an EarthCraft House; the Atlanta Chapter of the American Institute of Architects and the Museum of Design Atlanta.

The most important partners, though, are the homeowners, Cecile and Kenneth Roberts, and the architects, Lee Ann and Michael Gamble.

Cecile Roberts has spent her life in Peoplestown. She and her children all attended Campbell Elementary, and she went to the old Price High School. The family had been living on Brown Avenue just five blocks south of her new home. She says, "We were looking for a way to get into home ownership, and I found Charis Community Housing and their home ownership program in the phone book. My husband and I applied to buy a house, and we were selected for this one. I think we were a great fit because they wanted someone who had background in the community."

"When the contest started, there was no client for the house," says Lee Ann Gamble, "but the Roberts family was selected at about the same time we won the competition, and we were able to talk with them about their needs and desires for the house. In working with the Robertses, for example, everyone felt we should expand the loft area to make it usable as a bedroom, and the Kendeda Fund came up with the money to build that space."

"I love the modern, contemporary look," says Cecile. "My favorite room is the kitchen. It has a sort of 'IKEA' feel with light maple cabinets and stainless steel appliances. I like to say they must have known me when they designed the kitchen, the room works so well."

Many elements of the house will look familiar to anyone who's shopping for a sustainable home these days. The floors throughout the house are bamboo, and a rainwater collection system is in place. Southface Energy Institute says the house received the highest level of EarthCraft House certification and is 40 percent more energy-efficient overall and 50 percent more efficient in heating and cooling than a house built just to code. According to Sydney Roberts, Southface Residential Services project manager, these results are noteworthy because "we were able to achieve such extraordinary energy savings without employing extraordinary technology." Window placement was carefully considered to provide as much natural ventilation as possible, typical of houses in the neighborhood built before air conditioning was available.

The Roberts family moved into the home in November. The high school- and college-age children live at home. Kenneth Jr. uses the loft space for his bedroom, and Krystal has the downstairs bedroom on the front of the house.

"We love all the windows and being able to see the green trees and nature all around us," says Cecile.

Lee Ann notes, "Our practice typically does modern architecture, but in designing this house we incorporated elements of the surrounding traditional houses. One feature you'll see on every house in the neighborhood is a front porch. It's part of the community and provides a social gathering place. Having a front porch allowed us to do another important thing, and that was to maximize the living space of the house by providing outdoor living space."

The house is about 1,300 square feet arranged in an S-shape, which accommodates the mature trees on the lot. The enclosed spaces provided by the wings of the house allow for two outdoor patio areas, one sunny and one more shaded, each floored with concrete pavers set into gravel.

The Roberts family is truly delighted with the new home. "I can't describe how happy we are here," says a smiling Cecile. "God is good."