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EASTON -- Walking through this unconventionally designed but warm, elegantly decorated and secluded single-family home, you have to wonder if building it to be as environmentally friendly as possible was really worth the extra money and labor.

And then the builder responsible in part for its creation begins to show you around.

"Feel how warm it is? It's 74 degrees in here, and it's 15 degrees outside," says Chris Smith of Mansfield as he leads a reporter on a recent tour. "The heat isn't even on."

Even Smith, 45, who built the house for friends Kyla and Dan Bennett, is in awe.

He recently was named the 2006 Energy Star Homes Builder of the Year by Conservation Services Group, a nonprofit organization that, among other things, helps people incorporate energy efficiency into their homes and businesses. "In a second, I'd do this again," Smith said. "I think most builders are (hesitant) because it's out of the routine and people, until recently, haven't been requesting (this). It's going to become more common in the next couple years."

Smith was hesitant at first to work on the Bennett home, which was designed by Mary Ann Thompson of Cambridge and completed last August. He had worked with the Bennetts once before, when they remodeled their previous home. They recruited him into what Kyla Bennett called her dream green house.

Among the features of the home that Conservation Services admired are its 24-panel photovoltaic solar electric system and its Lyptus hardwood flooring, a natural hybrid wood that is produced through an environmentally responsible process in Brazil.

CSG also points to the home's roof, which is made of recycled rubber tires and looks like a slate roof, and its water saving features, including a waterless urinal that (amazingly, Smith said) produces no ill odor.

There also are low flush shower heads and dual flush toilets that use substantially less water than regular toilets.

But the environmental concerns don't stop with the basics of home building.

All the wood, down to the kitchen table, is recycled. The walls are made of natural clay, in place of plaster and paint. Countertops, which look marble in color and texture, are actually made from recycled metal scraps you might find on workshop floors.

Sink backdrops are recycled glass, and even the light fixture over the kitchen table is recycled aluminum. Scones on the walls are recycled acrylic.

Lighting throughout the home, which looks like recessed ceiling lighting, is LED lights that use 40 percent less electricity than even compact fluorescent bulbs.

"I always wanted to devote my life to the environment," said Kyla Bennett, an environmental lawyer who met her husband while they were getting their doctorates in ecology. "We want to be in this society, and not be too unconventional, and live as lightly on the Earth as we can. I think we've accomplished that." For Smith, doing what makes sense is most important.

"I was dragging my feet about energy-efficient stuff, but as we got more into the project, this stuff makes sense," he said. "It's not that much more involved. I would use a lot of it in my own fantasy house."

One thing he definitely would use again, and will recommend, is the icynene insulation, an integrated insulation and air barrier which, besides saving homeowners up to 50 percent every month in energy costs, minimizes air leakage and moisture, and has been shown to improve air quality inside the home.

Bennett said her son's doctor confirmed the child's allergies have disappeared since moving into the home.

"No matter what, air goes through insulation," Smith said. "Icynene is a lot more expensive, but there is zero air infiltration. Within five or six years, you'll pay the cost back. Mold can't grow in these walls. It's amazing."

Smith has owned and operated his construction firm, CDS Construction Services in Mansfield, for about five years. He started it as a full-time job after working in business for 20 years, while maintaining a "side interest" in construction.

"I'll take some pride in this house, but I can't take total credit." he said. "I think there's room for this (stuff) for everyone. It's just a matter of what architectural design you like."

REBECCA KEISTER can be reached at 508-236-0336 or at rkeister@thesunchronicle.com.