Where is Chicago’s greenest house? Beginning May 8th, it will be in Hyde Park, immediately east of the Museum of Science and Industry. The museum is erecting a 2,500-square-foot house that incorporates many of the latest innovations in eco-friendly homebuilding-everything from positioning windows on the house so they can maximize cross-ventilation, to installing bathroom countertops made from recycled bottles. Contemporary in styling and surrounded by an eco-friendly landscape, the house is the design of Michelle Kaufmann, a California architect who specializes in modular green homes-that is, homes that are built primarily in a factory and then assembled on-site. The house will be open to the public from May 8, 2008, to January 4, 2009; tours will cost $10 plus museum admission ($5 for children under 12). At presstime, the museum had not announced what will become of the house after the exhibit closes.

Illustration: Courtesy of The Museum of Science and Industry