New Ground Construction

The best way to build a green home is to design it with green practices in mind.  The following is a list things to consider when designing and building a green home:

• Smaller is greener – and less expensive by the way.  We encourage our clients to build a home no bigger than they need

• Proper sizing for less waste.  Many building materials come in standard sizes.  We work to design homes with dimensions to allow for less material waste.  This cuts costs in both materials and labor.

• Roofing: simple, lower pitched roofs require less material and time to cover the same space than steeper, complicated, or high pitch roof lines

• Home shape: Theoretically, a cube shaped home would be the most efficient in terms of material use and energy efficiency.   While a cube may not be practical or desirable, a simple two story home requires less foundation, roofing, and siding than a single story with the same square footage.

• Design for living: The fewer rooms and hallways, the better.  Make the most of the space you have rather than building something bigger than what you need.   As the first step in our design process , we talk to you about what you do and how you live so that we can design a home that maximizes the space in a way that makes sense for the occupants.

• Make use of Natural Light – place windows on the southern exposures of the home and minimize those on the northern side.  Use windows strategically to get the most natural light in the places you want it most, like the kitchen and not in the places where it doesn’t make sense, like the formal dining room perhaps, where you usually sit at night anyway.

• Passive Solar/Solar Tempering:  It is possible to design a home that makes the most of natural (free) energy from the sun without high tech equipment.  A home that lets in and then retains as much solar heat as possible can save you a lot of money and greatly reduce the home’s carbon footprint.  The use of a concrete slab or other heat sink can allow the home’s temperature to remain comfortable without turning on the heat or AC.   Even something as simple as facing the home toward the South and putting a lot of windows on that side can greatly decrease the need for energy use to heat, cool, and light a home.

• Energy Systems – choosing the best systems for heating, cooling, hot water, and electricity is central to building a “green” home.

• Building Envelope – proper insulation and energy efficient windows impact home energy use

• Materials – sustainable materials can greatly improve your home’s eco-friendliness

• Water Systems:  A green home uses only the water it needs and conserves as much as possible.