The Cracker Style: Contemporary Efficiency with Historic Florida Flair

In 1990, the Florida Governor's Energy Office and the Florida Solar Energy Center asked home designers to return to Florida's past in creating energy-saving homes for the present -- and for Florida's future. A statewide design competition resulted in these three winning Cracker-style designs, which offer affordability, energy performance and historical architectural elegance.

The New Florida Home

The Florida Governor's Energy Office sponsored the 1989 Energy-efficient Florida Home Design Competition to encourage energy-efficiency in new Florida homes. The goals of the contest were to select the most climate-friendly home designs that the state's residential design community had to offer, and to make winning plans available to all Floridians at low cost.

The Affordable Expandable Florida Home

The Florida Energy Office and the Florida Solar Energy Center held a statewide design competition which resulted in three winning designs of truly affordable homes. Each is designed for maximum energy efficiency. Each can be built with two, three or four bedrooms or can be expanded in phases.