Sustainable Design Blog

Are you designing your home and thinking about going green?

First of all, congratulations! Whether building your first home or one of many, it's an exciting time when we get start scratching down ideas for a new project. Second of all, a little pat on the back for exploring green home design! 

If you are building a new home in Florida or somewhere with a similar climate (humid, hot, sunny, and the occassional tropical storm), you may want to consider a few things in order to maximize the energy efficiency of your home.  The size, shape, and orientation of your home are extremely important, and when building new, it's a great time to address these and other important concerns.

Here are four worth considering for the design of your new green home!

1. Size

Of course, it naturally makes sense that the smaller your home, the less energy is needed to cool and occasionally heat it. So, in terms of being environmentally conscious, we want to help you get the most use out of your space, and not end up with areas that don’t get used.

"The bigger the space, the more energy it will take to heat and cool it."

In fact, one of the qualifying factors for LEED accreditation is whether the structure is sized appropriately, so although it may seem intuitive, not everybody sees “the right fit” as being good enough, and therefore, we end up with over-sized, and inefficient structures.

2. Shape & orientation

In terms of shape, a simple, compact home is always the most efficient as well, especially if you run the long axis of the house east and west.  This is because when the sun is at its lowest point (at sunrise and sunset), the angle of the sun penetrates your home the most directly, making for an uncomfortable experience both visually and in regards to heat gain.  

To avoid this scenario, it is a good idea to have fewer windows on these facades and plan your spaces out accordingly to avoid having morning activities on the east side of your home and evening activities on the west side of your home.  This will keep your home cooler since it will reduce your direct sun exposure.  

As the sun travels from east to west, it also travels along the southern hemisphere.  The sun travels lower in the winter and higher in the summer, but always along the southern hemisphere.  Planting trees on southern side of your home can keep your home cooler as they will block sunlight from falling directly on your home.   

3. Construction materials

Let’s not forget about the materials you’re using to build it! The use of ENERGY STAR qualified windows will reduce the heat gain into your home, as will shading devices over your windows, allowing views to our beautiful sunsets without the downside.

Insulation is another important item to consider. By sealing and insulating your home envelope (outer walls, ceiling, windows) you can save up to 20 percent on heating and cooling costs. Heating and cooling a home account for 50% of your home’s energy consumption.

As a sustainable architecture firm, of course we at Carlson Studio Architecture are going to advise you to reduce, reuse, and recycle.  If you are building or remodeling, reduce your need for buying new products that are not environmentally friendly.  Every part of your house such as roofing material, building material, cabinets, and counters should be environmentally friendly. Reuse your old material such as wood floors, and doors when remodeling. Recycled materials such as glass, aluminum, tile, reclaimed lumber, and plastic can be used. Or try natural products such as bamboo, cork and linoleum which are made of natural, renewable materials.

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4. Create

Other items to consider using in your home may be to harvest rainwater from roofs by using rain barrels. The collected water can then be used for toilets, sprinkler systems, or just watering your plants.  Consider tankless water heaters that can save on energy cost since it heats only that much water that is needed as it is passed through electric coil.

Consider a programmable thermostat in order to adjust your home’s temperature for times when you’re regularly away or sleeping. A slight 3-5 % of your energy bill can be saved if you can set your thermostat 1 degree down when using your heat and up by 1 degree when air-conditioning your house.

Water conserving fixtures such as low flow faucets, toilets, and showerheads are a few of the ways that you can conserve water and cut down on your water bills cost. And lastly, solar panels are a hot technology for utilizing the natural power all around us, the sun.  Solar panels may be expensive at first but they have been shown to offset 50% of your energy demand and net 60% or more off your monthly bill.

CONCLUSION:

Even after you build your home, you can install energy-saving features, such as LED and CFL lighting. Yes, they cost more upfront but use a lot less energy and last significantly longer than traditional incandescent bulbs resulting in significant cost savings in the long run. And installing Energy Efficient Appliances in your home with the ENERGY STAR label on them will give you a significant cost and energy savings without compromising performance.  

Designing a green home means keeping sustainability at heart every step of the way throughout the design process and construction.

Interested in learning more? Download this free ebook by Carlson Studio Architecture about how to get your green home ideas off the ground:

Congratulations on your choice for a green home! Now it's time to ensure it's a smooth build.

When most people set out to build their green home, the obvious first step is to find the right design team. And while I agree, you want to partner with an architectural firm that puts green first, as in, the idea of sustainability isn't an after thought, but rather, a fully integrated component in the planning process - you also want your construction crew to be thinking in the same terms.

When approached with a new project, it's rare for our clients to have a contractor already involved, so they turn to us for referrals. However, unlike your design team, you need your construction crew to be as local as possible, so even though we have our favorites, they're not always the best option due to their location.

It IS something that should be handled at the outset of your design process, because the integrated approach will save you a lot of hassle, and help you get the most efficient building that meets and exceeds your expectations.

We always recommend hiring your contractor at the same time as you hire your design team.

So, I put together a list of to-dos and questions to help you find the best contractor for your project.

MORE LIKE THIS: How to Save Yourself (Not Your Planet) With Sustainable Home Design

The to-dos that will lead to a better green home design and construction process:

1. Interview 2 - 4 contractors

You want to select your contractors based on qualifications, not those who promise the lowest price - especially so early in the process. If you're doing it right, you're making this choice before the design process is underway, so they can add their input as we go.

2. Ask good questions

Building green is a specialty type of construction, so you shouldn't expect ANYBODY with a license to build to be able to deliver the goods to your green home. That's why we put together this list of important questions to ask to make sure you're not getting a lemon.

If they can't answer these questions, or find it difficult to be specific, you may want to keep looking. Mind you, these aren't ALL related to building green - some of them are just good questions to ask your contractor, so you are able to set realistic expectations and partner with credible companies that won't leave you hanging.

COMPETENCY:

1. Have you ever built a LEED certified home in the past?
   • If so, what level of certification was obtained?
   • What were some of the significant areas for efficiency?
2. Have you worked with a LEED provider in the area on a prior project, whom you'd be able to pull into this one?
3. Have you constructed a home that has a HERS rating of 30 or better?
4. How many homes are you typically building at any given moment in time?
5. Can you or your subcontractors help us evaluate alternative heating and cooling systems that are more energy efficient, and help us determine relative costs of the various systems?
6. Have you been involved in solar PV installations on any of your homes?
7. Have you built with alternative wall system types, such as ICF or SIP?
8. Have you ever installed solar hot water in any of your homes?
9. How much of your work is design/build versus construction only based on somebody else's design?
   
   

TEAM:

1. Who will we work with on a day-to-day basis duringpre-construction and construction?
   • Do you have a superintendent that you will be assigning?
2. Do you have preferred subcontractors who you like to use for your LEED and high energy efficient homes?
3. And are you okay with us suggesting some subcontractors?

COST STRUCTURE:

1. We would like to hire a general contractor based on qualifications and then work on price, and we would like to have the general contractor competitively bid the project to multiple subcontractors. How do you handle your pre-construction services, and how do you charge for them?

2. What is your standard form of owner/contractor agreement for the construction? 
   • Do you have a pre-construction agreement, or is it all-in-one?
3. Do you often work with allowances?
   • How do you manage all the detailed selections that need to be made (Such as a finishes, cabinets, plumbing fixtures, light fixtures etc.)?
4. Are you used to doing monthly draws or milestone draws, such as when the foundation is complete, when the framing package is complete, etc.?

TIMING:

1. How long do you think it will take to build this house?
2. How much time do you need from the completion of the permitting bidding documents to the time that you can present a final price?
3. How do you limit waste, and how do you manage the waste that is created and divert it from the landfill?

3. Trust your gut

Have an honest and meaningful discussion with your potential contractors.  Trust your gut.  You can get a sense of the personalities involved and how they will mesh with yours.  Convey your goals and see if there is genuine passion from the contractor to help you obtain them. The design and construction process is complicated and fluid, which means that you need to find a contractor you feel comfortable with and that you trust.  

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CONCLUSION:

Building a new home is an exciting experience, and when you're designing it based on ideologies you believe in, such as sustainability, you should not have to compromise important goals late in the game because your contractors weren't rowing in the same direction as you and your design team.

Bring them in early and ask the hard questions up front to avoid unexpected expenses and unnecessary setbacks - Not only will you be happier with the end-result, something that you literally have to live with every single day, but you'll be happier about the process itself.

At Carlson, we believe in the integrated design process, which means bringing your team together early. Because of this, we are also hired as eco-consultants. Are you interested in learning more from a Carlson Studio Architecture professional? Schedule an appointment today!

You can also download this handy ebook on how to design your green home: