Sustainable building and lifestyles continue to increase in popularity, making the transition to this type of building much easier and more affordable. Technology follows popularity and in this case sustainable products have been at the forefront of innovation and growth. We are continuously educating ourselves with new information in order to stay up to date with building technology, so we may relay this to our clients and their needs.
With all this information and products we feel we have created a solid building base which we can progress and explore further. The following are our common practices used with every project.
- Site and Building Orientation: Maximize passive solar energy, coordinate window locations for views and solar implications, and ice/snow melt and runoff (especially garages and main entrances).
- Building Envelope and Structure: “Bang for your buck”…we highly encourage all clients to insulate and seal the building to the best level possible. There are multiple ways of doing this, but it is the key area (hidden to the normal eye after construction) where we have the ability to drastically change our utility bills and our impact on the environment.
- In House Applications (non-material based): Efficient design and pattern making of our clients lifestyles applied with using energy efficient fixtures, appliances, and HVAC systems. The building envelope is a key to making this area more cost effective.
- In House Applications (materials and finish products): “The icing on the cake”… our philosophy continues into the interiors with sustainable materials and finishes to complete the original design intent.
- Whole-House Systems Approach: Key concept for building a real sustainable house instead of painting a few areas “green”… the home is one unit built of multiple pieces and they should all be applied with the same intent.
