Eco-friendly friendly housing has long been a flashpoint in the culture wars—just recall Ronald Reagan removing the solar panels from Jimmy Carter's White House. And in the country’s ongoing transition to sustainability that is constrained by definition to gradual change, it’s rare to witness a true breakthrough. Yet a breakthrough seems to be precisely what Passive Housing offers: a German-developed technique of super-insulated design that keeps homes cool in the summer and warm in the winter for a fraction of the cost. Through a combination of climate, policy and politics, Portland, Oregon has found itself leading the country in the Passive Housing movement—still a niche market, to be sure, but one that that’s growing rapidly, as Sara Solovitch reports. POLITICO Magazine sent photographer Mark Peterson to Portland, Oregon, and surrounding suburbs, like Hillsboro, to capture neighborhoods at the forefront of an environmental revolution. Above, four Passive Housing units in the suburbs of Portland. Text by Jesse Rifkin.

Mark Peterson / Redux Pictures for POLITICO Magazine