This article is part of our Design special section about making the environment a creative partner in the design of beautiful homes. “I really did not want a large house next to a lawn,” said Ms. Liu, who is now 56 and advises for the Nature Conservancy. The couple hired Aidlin Darling Design, a San Francisco firm, to build what the architects would come to call the “House of Earth and Sky.” Joshua Aidlin and Peter Larsen, the principals on the project, had ample experience with LEED, an evolving national standard for green buildings. And the couple wanted, and received, no less than the highest of the four LEED certifications: platinum. Ms. Liu’s desire for a drought-resistant garden was another prominent theme.

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