Heating has been always considered a necessity for humans. Nonetheless, it has always imposed a sustainability challenge, both economically and environmentally. This paper proposes a solution for sustainable residential heating in regions experiencing moderate Winters. The solution integrates the effects of intelligent design and operation. It encompasses minimization of thermal inadequacy, renewable energy incorporation, and optimal policy for the heating controls. Through a case study for an apartment in Jordan, the merits of the proposed solution are highlighted in terms of performance, feasibility, and environmental-friendliness using a detailed physical model. It was found out that thermal inadequacy could double both electricity consumption and generated CO2. Additionally, despite having global warming potential for their working fluids, utilization of heat pumps instead of electric heaters can reduce CO2 emissions by 75 % with a payback period as short as 15 heating months. Finally, various heating schemes are examined. A proposed policy which represents a hybrid control technique merging threshold controller with demand-based zone heating was found to be capable of handling the trinary trade off resulting from thermal comfort, cost reduction, and minimum number of heating system starts. An optimal set of lower and upper bounds for active and inactive periods were found.