Elizabeth Turnbull isn't just studying urban ecology and environmental design. The former AMC employee is living it.

Last summer, before heading off to graduate school at Yale University, the 27-year-old decided to forego the high cost of rent and build her own home — with a living space of only 144 square feet. The cozy house is about the size of a conventional bedroom, but it's sizeable enough for Turnball, who designed and built the structure in Byfield, Massachusetts, with help from her community. She then hauled it — on a flatbed trailer — to New Haven, Connecticut, where it's now placed in a friend's back yard. She does have a functioning kitchen with a gas stove, but water comes from her friend's house.

To make her home, which cost about $12,000, Turnbull used lumber certified by the Forest Stewardship Council, solar panels, and reclaimed and recycled materials. She hopes her experiment inspires others to consider low-impact structures that offer convenience—and comfort.

"Oftentimes, when you try to do something good for the environment, there's an impression from people that you have to make a sacrifice," says Turnball, who has worked at AMC's Cardigan Lodge and Zealand Falls Hut. "I really want to decouple that."

Rising energy costs, increased concerns for the environment, and federal initiatives have prompted similar building designs and energy-efficient retrofits in the Northeast.

"People who are building new homes are working to reduce the size of homes, showing that they understand that bigger is not better," says Betsy Pettit, principal for the Building Science Corp., a member of the Northeast Sustainable Energy Association (NSEA). Based in Greenfield, Massachusetts, NSEA promotes sustainable energy solutions by working with its member network, which includes architects, builders, and renewable energy manufacturers and installers.

Pettit's company is contracted with the U.S. Department of Energy to consult with local builders on improving energy efficiency and green retrofits in homes. Providing advice for finding low-cost loans to implement such designs is another component of its work.

"There is a paradigm shift," Pettit says. "Being in the economic state that we're in, it does give people time to pause and rethink their methodologies."

According to the National Homebuilders Association, there has been a slight decrease in the size of new homes this year, primarily due to first-time buyers purchasing smaller dwellings. Spurring this demand was an $8,000 tax break for new homeowners this year. (The average size of a home in the Northeast is 2,627 square feet, which is slightly higher than the national average.)

The green trend goes beyond giving green design certifications to oversized residences made with high-quality materials. Smaller homes receive accolades for their size. For example, houses that qualify for the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design rating receive the highest score for minimal "land consumption." And home retrofits — from insulating wall and roof cavities to installing tankless hot water heaters (which do not continuously heat water, like their conventional counterparts) — have increased in popularity. Energy Star-rated homes — a certification given to about one million homes based on the appliances, doors, and windows used — now constitute more than 20 percent of the market, an 11 percent jump from two years ago.

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NSEA's Building Energy 10 Conference, held March 9-11 in Boston, provides workshops on home retrofits. Learn ways to reduce your home energy bill.

The federal government’s support for a national retrofit market has helped drive this trend. The Middle Class Task Force, chaired by Vice President Joe Biden, recently released its Recovery Through Retrofit Report. Building on investments made by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act, which allocated $80 billion to projects related to energy and the environment, the report provides a road map for specific improvements: the Department of Energy and the Environmental Protection Agency are furthering energy performance criteria for homes, to help homeowners accurately calculate the savings from retrofitting, and the government hopes to reduce upfront costs for such retrofits by linking consumers with low-interest loans.

The Department of Energy has also implemented a research program — dubbed Building America — designed to accelerate the development of more efficient energy technologies in new and existing homes. Working with research teams and builders, the program aims to produce homes that use 40 to 100 percent less energy.

Energy-efficient retrofits are a standard practice at AMC destinations, including the huts, where solar panels and wind generators supply power. At Cardigan Lodge, a solar hot water system was recently installed. "We look at each building renovation or equipment replacement as an opportunity to bring to bear modern options for energy conservation," says AMC Facilities Director Paul Cunha. "Upgrading when components wear out or need significant repairs, whether it’s a window or a boiler, is a great way to enhance energy conservation."

Conservation is key for Turnbull, who spent $80 to heat her humble home last year. Her only limitation seems to be her 22-inch-wide closet. That was fine — until she got into Yale: "I needed button-down shirts, shoes, jackets, and clothes for interviews!"