Green, affordable, attractive: are these concepts mutually exclusive when it comes to housing design? Project ideas in the 99k House Competition, a national contest created to challenge architects to design a sustainable home for $99,000 or under, shows us it doesn’t have to be that way. The exhibit includes the winning firm, Seattle's Hybrid/ORA. AIA Seattle, a chapter of the American Institute of Architects, will host the exhibit from July 20-September 4.

The competition challenged architects across the country to design a sustainable, affordable house that addresses the needs of a low-income family in the Gulf Coast region. Hybrid/ORA was selected as the winning firm from 182 entrants, from a field representing 29 U.S states and 16 countries, and their prototype design has now been built.

The 99K House Competition sought to: Broaden awareness of green building strategies applicable to affordable housing; generate and publicize examples of sustainable, affordable houses that can be built and sold for $99,000 or less; produce creative, innovative design that can be replicated throughout the Gulf Coast region; and lastly construct and exemplary, sustainable, affordable house prototype on a specific site in Houston, TX.

The competition was sponsored by the Rice Design Alliance and AIA Houston and was supported in part by generous grants from the Houston Endowment Inc., the National Endowment for the Arts, the Texas Commission for the Arts, and the Houston Arts Alliance.

To view all of the finalists' projects, visit The 99K House.