Browsing all posts in "energy efficient homes".
A new home or remodeling project – Is it time to buy?
Think it's time to buy… or not?? Been on the fence to buy a new home, buy an existing home and remodel it or even finally tackle building that new home? Well… now may be the time . Good buying opportunities are cropping up in select local markets. According to an article in the Wall Street [...]
Insulation Materials… or “How to build a better house” – Part3
Part3 in my series – "How to build a better house". Last week we talked about advanced framing techniques, which in simple terms replaces lumber with insulation material and maximizes the wall that’s insulated. This effectively improves the thermal resistance or R-value of a wall. As a reminder on how important advanced framing is, [...]
Interested in Geothermal? Let’s Look At The Numbers
The first question many of our client's ask after we suggest they look at Geothermal systems is, "How much does it cost?" There seems to be a misconception out there that Geothermal is only something that very wealthy people can afford and if you don't fit in that category then Geothermal is not something to [...]
Some of the “coolest” houses on the planet….literally!
Today I'm kicking of a series of some of the "coolest" green building projects on this planet. The DGBA Green Building Video Collection. document.getElementById(“post-1602-blankimage”).onload();
MERV Rating? What is that?
Above: Picture of Josue and a MERV 13 Pleated Filter Two of the very first steps when trying to improve indoor air quality is to make sure you are using the most efficient filters on your equipment and the second is to make sure your filters are changed regularly. First you need to find out [...]
Why you should do some homework before hiring a contractor……
…… that's why. The picture above shows water damage at the floor framing level in the entry door area of the house we are currently working on. The entry door we're replacing is not that old. This is only one of several areas we found in this home that have severe wood rot. The [...]
Advanced Framing Techniques… or “How to build a better house” – Part2 of 7
Last week's post on "Thermal Bridging" kicked off a series of articles that I have wanted to share for a long time. These articles cover issues, techniques and solutions related to how we build exterior walls and the impact of some of those decisions. Today's article is about one of the solutions to minimize "Thermal [...]
The Home Energy Audit – Part1
For us, Green Building and Remodeling is all about efficiency. There's efficiency in managing resources, construction waste and of course…. using energy. How do we know how efficient our existing homes are before we start a remodel? And how do we know if the improvements we made worked as anticipated? Answer: A Home Energy Audit. [...]
A new investment idea! A home energy retrofit…..
How about that idea…… ditch the stock and invest in your home! Energy efficiency is becoming more and more important for homeowners in Dallas. So it comes as no surprise that people all over the country are finding that an investment in their home is the best decision they can make. So how about investing [...]
Energy Efficient Homes – Super energy efficient Swiss Design wins 2010 PassivHaus Award
And another big announcement in the award circle this month – this one in the category for energy efficient homes. A home built by Swiss architect Peter Schuerch, principal of firm Halle58 won the 2010 PassivHaus award. Built in Bern, Switzerland, the home is a stunning example of how proper design and siting can [...]
