David and Robin Shambach configured their home's windows to bring in as much natural light as possible.

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If you want to see how architecture can make a real difference in everyday living, seize the opportunity to visit the home of Tucson architects David and Robin Shambach on Oct. 21.

Their house, in the Poet's Corner neighborhood, promises to be one of the highlights of this year's Architecture Week Tour of Homes, a popular event in the more-than-weeklong annual celebration sponsored by the American Institute of Architects, Southern Arizona Chapter.

"These are not events or lectures or anything else that are done for architects; they are done for the community," said Joseph Maher Jr., chairman of this year's Architecture Week. "We're trying to show new ideas, new experiences, things they might be interested in doing in a small remodeling or a new home, or a small (commercial) project."

This year's theme is "Growing Beyond Green," and events will showcase Earth-friendly design and living, from the buildings designed by national leaders in environmentally conscious architecture to how Tucson homeowners have translated some of these ideas into their own dwellings. Except for the home tour, Architecture Week events are free.

Five years ago, when the Shambachs decided to build their own house, they chose a 52-by-130-foot city lot — and to make their new home a "green" one.

Today, the couple's 2,500-square-foot masonry home is nestled in a patch of giant prickly pear cacti in the popular Midtown neighborhood near East Broadway and Alvernon Way. Carefully designed overhangs eliminate any risk that the two-story dwelling might loom over the 50- and 60-year-old low-slung ranch-style homes on the rest of the block — and the overhangs save energy, too. Shade from the house protects the small but inviting front yard; a neighbor's huge mesquite shades the back.

It's not the flashy design statement you might expect from two of Tucson's most prominent architects — David Shambach is the award-winning principal in his own firm, and Robin is a technology expert and partner in the firm of Burns Wald-Hopkins Architects, as well as president of the Southern Arizona Chapter of the American Institute of Architects.

But it's a home where a family of four lives comfortably in a walkable, urban part of the city — a place where the Shambachs rarely need to turn on lights during the day and where new construction pairs agreeably with long-established dwellings.

In a construction world where "green" is the new buzzword attached to all sorts of projects, homes such as the Shambachs' also embody the idea that environmental building and design means much more than simply plopping a solar water heater on a tract-home roof.

Brent Davis, executive director of the local American Institute of Architects chapter, recalls when his own home was featured on an alternative-energy tour and had to pass a lengthy checklist of "greenosity."

"Sustainability . . . goes out of the box for a lot of people," Davis said. "And by out of the box, I mean shade, windows, doors, sealing windows and doors, environmentally friendly and recycled materials, orientation, landscaping. Here's one that gets people: Live where you work."

Maher and Davis say that going truly green means using local materials wherever possible, building houses that will last with durable materials such as brick, growing native plants that don't need a lot of water, and much more.

And it means that a desert home will be radically different from one built in, say, Vermont.

"It's designing a place that really responds to the way a person lives, the regional environment and the cultural context," David Shambach said. "Architecture is, in a lot of ways . . . based on humans' relationships with each other."