Sustainable Design Blog

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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!

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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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MORE LIKE THIS: Why Choose a Green Roofing System

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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.

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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:

 

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Green architecture is a great idea.

Sustainability and environmental consciousness are important to you. You make choices throughout your life, weighing convenience, costs, and personal well-being with your commitment to leave the world in a better state than when you arrived.

Because of this, you seek green alternatives whenever and wherever you can. You read labels, compare specs, and make the best choices you can based on the information that’s readily available.

And if you’re about to build a new structure, you have an incredible opportunity to incorporate principals of sustainability that will have an enormous impact on the world we live in – for many years to come. That’s why it’s probably a good idea to poke around and make sure you are engaging a firm where “green” is woven into their DNA, not just a marketing ploy to snag some extra business.

Because of that we’ve put together a list of ways to weed out the real green architecture firms from the rif-raff.

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It's not like green was born yesterday...

The USGBC was founded in 1997, and LEED V2 went public in 2000.  That was 16 years ago!  Green Building became defined, and a system to independently verify the sustainable features of a building was put into place. 16 years is a long enough time for these 10 questions and observations to make sense in helping you identify the real McCoy.

 

1. What is their company car?

An SUV? An oversized luxury car? A turbo’d out gas guzzler? Or is it something that makes a green statement, like a Prius, Leaf, Volt, or Smart Car?  Maybe they don’t have a “company car…” So, what is the owner driving? What are the other employees driving?

 

2. When you mention “net zero...”

Does your architect know you are not referring to the latest beverage from Coca Cola?

 

3. Where is their office located?

Is it in a suburban office complex where everyone has to drive to and from the office, and drive to get lunch, and drive to go to the bank, and drive to get the dry cleaning, or is it located near where there is a great deal of housing and all the necessary services that are convenient for the staff, where staff and clients can walk to lunch, to the bank and to the dry cleaners?  Is it accessible by walking or biking? Are they located next to a public transportation hub?

 

4. Do they claim they do green building design, but...

“just don’t seek and independent green rating certification?” Um… why not? That’s like when children say they’re cowboys or astronauts… Saying the words doesn’t make it true – but having proof   So, why wouldn’t they seek certification if they qualified? 

 

5. Do they use "accredited" and "certified" right?

buildings are certified and people are accredited? If you hear your architect telling you they have X number of LEED certified staff, please run away as fast as you can.  (On a related note, products do not receive any certification or accreditation by the USGBC.  So is someone is trying to sell you a LEED certified product, run away!)

 

6. What do they think of "heat island effect?"

When you express a desire that your project reduce its “heat island effect” does your architect think that is a tropical condition caused by an island in the Caribbean? Reducing heat island effect is about light colored, reflective roofing and site hardscapes such as parking lots and sidewalks.  It can also involve landscaping that provides shading. 

 

7. Do they belong?

What sorts of organizations does the firm belong to, support or contribute to? Is the firm a USGBC member?  A Florida Building Coalition member? For how long?  15 years? 1 year?  What other green building organizations is the firm active in?  How about social equity organizations?  Community Service Organizations?

 

8. Do they care about their own carbon footprint?

Do they occupy an existing building that maybe is an adaptive reuse of a building that functioned for another purpose (see our blog about embodied energy).  Is there office in a dense urban environment?

 

9. Are they consistently certified?

How many LEED buildings has the architect done in the past 15 years? Does it seem that they always have a LEED project in design or construction, or is there one here and one there without any consistency?

 

10. Do they like the ponies?

Does your architect think the Triple Bottom Line is a bet at the horse track?  Or does the firm believe in People, Planet and Profit all equally?

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CONCLUSION:

For many, "green" is a marketing term used to lure unsuspecting patrons who are looking to do a little extra to help their planet (and bottom line: read more). But you as a consumer are empowered to see through those who are faking it, and those who are actually making it, as long as you know which questions to ask.

Interested in learning more about green building design from an architectural firm that eats, breathes, and sleeps sustainability? Schedule a free consultation with Carlson Studio Architecture today!

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Why "construction cost" shouldn't be the only thing on your mind before breaking ground:

So often we are asked, "what is it going to cost me to construct this building?" Or even, “How much per square foot does it cost to build a (fill in the blank) building?” 

I hear it at work, at parties, from friends and family... I get it, and I actually love how much faith you put into our expertise on the subject, and it is something we actually help people with quite regularly. But it's hardly a matter of looking at a picture (or imagining what you describe) and spitting out a figure about how much your project is going to cost.

But that isn't what you were asking to begin with. This is about construction costs, which, by itself is a loaded request - it should be about project costs, because there are so many variables and hidden soft and related costs that you won't come even close to coming in at budget without considering the weight they also carry.

It's the kind of weight that could stop your project dead in its tracks.

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Too many construction budgets are formulated using only the “hard construction costs," not considering any of the “soft costs,” setting their maximimum available amount of money at a level well below what will be necessary to complete the project.

When the budget is gone, the construction stops - period. So, here are some of the other costs you need to be thinking about.

 

1. Construction costs

Costs associated with the foundation and the building itself

• HVAC
• Plumbing
• Walls
• Windows
• Lumber
• Hardware (bolts, nails, screws)
• Concrete
• Wiring
• etc

2. Other project costs

Costs associated with financing, permitting, regulatory fees, furnishings, etc. 

• Land Acquisition: Purchase Price, Financing, Legal fees, titling & documents fees; all costs associated with obtaining the land on which the building will be constructed

• Site Planning: Soils Reports, Environmental Studies, transportation studies and surveying for utilities, easements, and topography.  It also includes regulatory agency review fees where applicable for the pertinent federal, state, county, and/or city agencies that have jurisdiction over the site design.

• Professional Fees:  Architect and Civil, Structural, Electrical, Mechanical, Engineers, as well as Landscape Architect, Interior Designer, and other specialty consultants depending on the size and complexity of the project.

• Fixtures & Furnishings / Equipment: Tables, chairs, and anything that is not built-in or included with the actual construction.  This may also include systems that are being installed by others not included in the building construction such as sound systems, communications and wi-fi technology systems, security systems. Window shades are an item that is often overlooked.

• Other: Some projects may require additional legal or special accounting professional, fund raising or grant writing consultants and those fees should also be addressed.

3. Taking action

Be prepared to invest and engage in a Project Programming Phase that includes preliminary project budgeting.  A well-defined Project Budget includes all the possible hard and related construction costs and identifies where the funds are coming from.  At Carlson Studio Architecture we have developed some unique comprehensive tools to assist you in developing the sound foundation of a successful construction project.

Project Programming is defining the needs and goals of the facility that is being proposed.  More than just saying a doctor’s office, coffee shop, or charter school, it is a detailed accounting of people using or working in the space, the equipment and/or furnishings, space relationships and more. 

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CONCLUSION:

The Project Cost is really the sum of all of the above. Your architect may be able to help you plan for everything, not just the hard costs associated to the materials. We help our clients by developing a Project Budget that includes all the possible project components and allows the owner to identify the source of funding for each.  This way the funding for the entire project is identified early and the problems associated with unidentified costs are minimized.

In the initial budget stage these costs will be non-specific, but they should be defined as such, and always be calculated by erring on the high side.

Interested in a project consultation to see if your building idea is feasible with your current budget? Set up a free consultation today!

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(Click HERE to see the green home design shown above)

 

Building a green home with your carbon footprint in mind is key:

Building a green home is a key step to reducing your carbon footprint.  Here in the USA we are about 5% of the world’s population, but we use about 25% of the world’s energy, and much of the energy used has a significant carbon footprint.

Hearing that we're leading the world in energy consumption is nothing new, but the entire world is now striving to be like the USA in their standard of living, consumerism, and energy consumption. If we stay on this carbon based energy trajectory, we will need 9 planets to sustain humans here... which, of course, is not an option.

There is a lot you can do to reduce your carbon foot when you build a new home.  There are also advantages to remodeling your existing home or office building and preserving the embodied energy in that existing structure.

 

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 ANOTHER LIKE THIS: How to Incorporate Embodied Energy into Your Green Building Designs

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Buildings are the largest energy user in the US.

Reducing your home’s energy use is the first and most important factor. This reduces your carbon footprint and saves you money at the same time. It is a win-win, and there are so many ways to conserve energy and reduce your home's carbon footprint!

 

1. Long Term Implications

Think about how long a building would last to provide the greatest return on energy and resources invested. "Forever" is a good time-frame, right?

Of course, "forever" is not possible, but it should stand for many decades, and possibly a century or more. Why not? At least the building envelope itself should. Maybe it's remodeled and repurposed over time, but if we think "long term" at the outset, we're much more likely to end up with something that lasts.

Work with your architect to develop an energy saving design from the beginning of the design process.  Use their expertise to help determine where to spend your construction dollars most effectively. 

 

2. Building orientation

Use proper building orientation, a well-insulated and air tight wall and roof system, great windows and doors, and an extremely efficient heating and cooling system that exceeds the code minimum requirements. 

The orientation itself could have huge implications depending on which direction its facing, where your resources are, and some other environmental and emotional drivers. If you're working with an architect that has "sustainability" woven into everything they do, there's very likely a deeper investment in things like getting the orientation of your building to minimize to your carbon footprint and overall personal well-being incorporated into the design.

 

3. Size Matters

Another important factor of your carbon footprint is to control the overall size of the home.

I know it's hard for some to leave room on the table when it exists, but you'll thank me on this later... Do not build more square footage than you need to be comfortable. It has as much to do with being green as the materials and systems.

In fact, the LEED for Homes green building rating system has guidelines for sizing your home, based on the number of bedrooms you need.  LEED has recommended limits to the square footage and rewards you for staying under the limits or penalizes you for going over the limits, on a per bedroom basis.  

This approach makes a lot of sense when you think about it.   If you were to make your home twice as big as it needs to be, and then make it 50% more efficient, you really have not gained anything if terms of energy use reduction or carbon footprint reduction.  

Work with your architect to program the spaces and functions of your home carefully so there is no wasted space.       

 

4. Location, location, location

Where you build your home is another very important factor. The energy and carbon footprint of transportation is the second largest use of energy in the US. Build in a dense area, near to where you work and near to the conveniences you need, such as grocery stores and other services you use all the time. 

Living in the sprawl of suburbia has huge carbon footprint implications.  Commuting back and forth from suburbia to work and services as one person in one car uses a lot of energy and wastes of time.  Put a value on your time.  If you can’t live close to work and services, the next best option is to live near and use public transportation such as subway, light rail and bus services.

Also, water plays another big role in your location. There is a great deal of energy used to treat water to drinkable standards, and to treat the waste water that is discharged into the sewer system.  Remember water = energy usage = carbon footprint.

Also, living in a dense area that already has infrastructure such as central water and sewer service in place reduces the carbon footprint of having to create all that infrastructure and extend it from its current service boundaries. 

 

5. Systems

Once you have built a very energy efficient home, and it is as small as practical, supplementing the energy your home uses with onsite renewable sources is the next step to further reduce your carbon footprint.

Use systems such as photo voltaic panels (to make your own electricity), hydroelectric (creating electricity from the flow of water), solar thermal (using the sun to heat water for you), geothermal (using the ground temperature to aid in heating and cooling your home) and/or wind energy (residential style windmills) to provide your own clean energy directly for your home. 

With these systems you don’t have the transmission losses of a grid distributed energy system, and you are not at risk for paying rising energy prices. 

Again, work with your architect to fully integrate these energy producing and saving features into the design of your new home (hopefully they know these options well). Your design team can also evaluate the return on investment (ROI) of these systems to better understand the life cycle cost implications of installing these systems.

 

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CONCLUSION:

Many of your choices to reduce your home’s carbon footprint are free.  Where you build, how much you build, the orientation of the home, and how you utilize the natural attributes of your site are all free choices. While adding alternative on-site energy sources such as PV Panels or solar thermal to your project may add additional first cost,  if properly integrated into the design, these systems can pay you back (ROI) more than their cost to initially install.  

The most important thing is to work closely with your design team to develop comprehensive design solution that incorporates all the carbon foot print reducing features you desire in your new home.  Do it right and you can reduce your carbon footprint, save money, and move to a more sustainable existence without sacrificing comfort and quality in your life.

Interested in learning more about how to design YOUR green home and reduce your carbon footprint? Schedule a free consultation with Carlson Studio today!

Want more resources on building a green home? Try this ebook on for size!

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Embrace embodied energy with your green designs:

By designing and constructing more sustainable buildings, it is important to first recognize that these structures are absolutely LOADED with embodied energy. What's that, you ask?

Embodied energy is the energy cost it took to remove something from nature, transport it wherever it goes, manufacture it, and install it.

- From the trees that were harvested to make up the structure, to all the natural resources and manmade components that provide infrastructure, furniture, fixtures, and equipment. All the materials that go into the construction of a building have embodied energy in them, and we should be finding ways to incorporate them whenever possible and practical.

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Each material is extracted, shipped, manufactured, shipped again, and eventually ends up on a job site where it was assembled.

When demolishing an old structure to make way for the new, we lose some of that embodied energy instantly - that which was associated with the building's original purpose and the energy it took to create and transport the materials.

In addition, there's human energy involved. 

So, how do we incorporate embodied energy into our future designs?

1. Redisribute

That's right - let's have others reuse the materials that are loaded with embodied energy. 

As an example, Carlson Studio is advocating for a position of redistributing embodied energy for a house being built in Birch Haven.

Redistribution is a relatively easy and effective goal to realize. Whether a building is in need of remodeling or demolition in order to be re-built with up-to-date technologies and materials, much of the embodied energy CAN be salvaged, even repurposed. There is still value in the materials no matter what their age or condition.

There were also items in the home, such as appliances, fixtures, furnishing, and clothing that found new lives in the salvage effort. Even the aluminum siding made its way to the redistribution pile and was installed on another house.

 

2. reclaim

The Birch Haven home is replacing a 60-year-old lakefront cottage that was constructed using knotty cedar planks that are no longer available except through salvage. Not only did the homeowners and CSA have a strong desire to re-use these gorgeous, native, resilient materials in the new home for posterity’s sake, they were carefully extracted in the demolition process so as much of the material as possible could be saved, salvaged, and included in the new construction.  

The building is on track to receive the highest possible form of certification for sustainability from USGBC- LEED for Home Platinum level. Therefore the waste generated by the project – regardless if it is from new construction materials or existing materials – have been thoughtfully and purposefully kept to an absolute minimum, reducing space in the landfills and trash hauling expenses.

Buildings like this are a living testament that finding new life from structures that are past their useful lifespans is not only possible, but can also be profitable.  In addition to the salvaged wood being able to carry forth its embodied energy into the new residence for the next 100+ years, it will provide a Biophilic presence of the natural material of wood into the interior of the home at almost no cost.  And on an emotional level, the ghost of the prior home will live on and have a constant visible reminder of what stood on the site before 2015. 

 

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CONCLUSION:

Given the combination of salvage, re-use, embodied energy savings, Biophilic design, and emotional connection to the past, this design solution was a winner in so many ways.

Interested in learning more about embodied energy and how it could impact your green design? Set up a free consultation today!

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Biophilic design? What's that?

No, it’s not something you need to see the doctor for – but it MAY actually be the cure to what ails your lackluster green building design. As much as you may care about incorporating energy saving ideas into your building  - whether it be for your love of nature or saving money, integrating nature will help you truly embrace your focus on going green.

We as humans are connected to nature and prefer to be immersed in it, so by incorporating elements of into our structures, we stand to reap all sorts of benefits.

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Before I go into how you can take your green design concept to the next level with biophilia, I want to give credit where credit is due, because although these ideas are woven into the fabric of Carlson, it was a session at Green Build 2015 that inspired me to write this article..

Bill Browning from Terrapin Bright Green was the host of the presentation titled, “Biophilic Design: Applications for Culture & Climate,” while Elysa Hammond of Clif Bar & Company, and Nicole Isle of Glumac Engineering each presented related projects they were involved with. 

To help you understand where biophilia can be found, here are the 14 elements that they identified, broken down into 3 categories:

 

Nature IN the space

1. Visual Connection to Nature
2. Non-Visual Connection with nature
3. Non-rhythmic sensory Stimuli
4. Access to Thermal & Airflow variability
5. Presence of water
6. Dynamic & diffuse light
7. Connection with Natural Systems

 Natural Analogues

8. Biomorphic Forms & Patterns
9. Material connection with nature
10. Complexity & Order

 Nature OF the space

11. Prospect- able to see all the space, understand the environment, and see any danger
12. Refuge- protected space to call your own
13. Mystery- a promise of more information being revealed if pone proceeds
14. Risk/Peril- a perceived threat or risk, accompanied by a safeguard

 Now, lets talk about some REAL benefits!

 

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EXAMPLES OF BIOPHILIC DESIGNS BY CARLSON STUDIO ARCHITECTURE:

Wellness Community - see showcase gallery

Medical office - see showcase gallery

Residence in construction - see showcase gallery

 

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Biophilia sets the tone

Biophilic design gives us a framework to consciously integrate nature into our design work.  Embracing the climate and culture of a place makes our solutions more appropriate and better for the people that use the buildings.  People feel better, are more stimulated, more comfortable, and happier in places that they love.

 

Nature has Presence

Take a minute, and try to think beyond the attributes of water that we focus on day in and day out. Think beyond how it’s wet and quenches our thirst… and focus more on the actual presence of water.  

We can see it, feel it, and taste it, but we can also hear it. In fact, we LOVE to hear it. It adds noise to our environments, but actually makes us think it’s quieter than having no sound at all.

Imagine water in a pool, fountain, lake, pond, or rapidly moving river - a waterfall, or a trickle of a brook over a rocky stream bed.   Or, have you ever been to a spa where they have a small fountain with trickling water?

 

It flat out makes us feel better

Now think about the presence of natural daylighting in a similar way. How does it make you feel?  From the impact of the light itself on our mood, to the warmth of the sun shining in and warming that floor on a cold winter’s day.   

We all get these concepts, whether we realize it or not.  We enjoy nature and being in nature.  We feel better.  We are rejuvenated.  Our minds are clearer.  We do our best thinking while we are  in nature, whether on a beach in Florida, a birch forest in Minnesota, or walking a mountain trail in the Olympic Peninsula near Seattle.  

 

Why it's so important

Living in our modern world, we spend about 90% of our time indoors.  We need to make the most of that time by inviting nature inside, or by connecting to nature beyond the walls of the buildings that we live or work in.   Your architect should be able to consciously recognize these opportunities and take full advantage of them to benefit those who inhabit the spaces they design. 

In other words, they should blur the lines between  indoors & outdoors.

 

Getting started

First, we begin with defining the goals we are trying to achieve.  To do this, think of the 14 patterns as a palette of options to select from.   Not all 14 patterns may apply to your goals, but many very well likely will.  They could include things like stress reduction, cognitive development, emotion/mood/preference, healing and regeneration, increased productivity, etc.  

They will change based on your culture or climate, or both.  In most climates there is a practical necessity to create a physical separation between the inside and the outside. In the hot humid climates in the Southeastern US, we desire to control temperature and high humidity to keep moisture from damaging the interior of the structures.  In colder, northern climates the need to create heat inside and keep it there, and to keep the cold out is equally important to controlling humidity in the sub-tropical south.  The techniques differ, but the concept is the same. 

 

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CONCLUSION:

Biophilic design is a great way to embrace nature in the places where we spend the large majority of our lives. The benefits are numerous, and since you're already thinking in terms of sustainability, it's good to think about applying those concepts to your own personal well-being.

Interested in a free consultation for your next green design project?

 

Check out our ebook on designing a green residential project HERE:

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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.

 

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

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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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MORE LIKE THIS: Why Choose a Green Roofing System

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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:

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Sustainable home design intuitively points toward saving the planet, but what you may not know is that you're actually saving yourself.

Green Build 2015 in Washington DC just finished up. It was the 13th straight USGBC Green Build Conference I attended since its humble but powerful beginning in 2002. With nearly 30,000 attendees today, the conference is starting turn heads in more than just the architectural community, and it was really exciting to see so much enthusiasm for sustainability.

 

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I have often argued that humankind and nature are not separate, and that when we say we want to save the planet, our interests are actually much more self-centered than that. The planet is going to be fine, and it can and WILL take care of itself.  It may need to make adjustments that we don't like in order to heal, which may impact the way of life we are clinging to.

Deepak Chopra, our opening speaker, was actually very clear on this point. He said that we are literally one with the environment, and that there is no separation from ourselves and it. From the smallest code in our DNA to the planet, to the Universe, we are all made of the same stuff. 

There were many inspiring education sessions this year, but two really stuck out to me. The first is Barry Svigals, Architect - whose topic was “The Seeds of a Renewed Commitment."

Mr. Svigals’ firm designed the replacement school for the Sandy Hook Elementary school in Monroe, Connecticut.  This is what he had to say:

 

1. a global crisis exists on two fronts

Both natural and social ecologies are in crisis.  Citing Henk Ovink, of the Netherlands, who believes we don't have the will to solve our problems right now, he stated that this is an ongoing topic.

Can we solve our own problems before the natural and social ecology crises cause devastating effects on our lives?  Do we have the foresight to act now in a pro-active manner, or are we destined to react when our efforts will be less effective and more costly?

 

2. who we are and how we do matter

It's not just what we do, but how we participate in what we do that makes a difference.  There is no "THEY".  There is only us.  Mr. Svigals talked about social affection that occurred natural in the US during the early days of this country.  There were social networks where everyone cared for everyone.  He gave the example of John and Abigail Adams who were famous for their social affection.

As he spoke of the design for the New Sandy Hook School it was inspiriting to hear the community has chosen to rebuild their school and their sense of community based on goodness, hope, love, and openness.  Remembering the tragedy, one would not blame them if they wanted to build a bunker, a fortress, or a prison to separate the outside world from their students.  But that would be a perspective of fear, and they instead opted for hope.  

 

“We will not protect what we do not love”
- Barry Svigals

 

The second architect I heard speak was Sarah Susanka, author of The Not So Big House.  I have always been interested in this topic, and have advocated to build the correct amount of space, and no more, a core theme to the book.

If you are familiar with the LEED for Homes Rating System from the USGBC, you'll know that one can receive bonus points for a home smaller than a size determined by the LEED standard, and is penalized for building something larger. This is based on the number of bedrooms the home will have, so a 2 bedroom home as a different square footage goal than a 5 bedroom home.

Interestingly, our current Birch Haven Residence project is seeking LEED for homes platinum certification. It has 5 bedrooms, but exceeds the recommend square footage in the LEED system, so we are absorbing some negative penalty credits due to the size.  It is forcing us to make the home more efficient in other ways to make up the difference and still get to Platinum level certification. 

Ms. Susanka believes everyone is searching for a sense of ”Home” built better not bigger; built to last, built to inspire,  built for how we really live. Current trends she is seeing include no formal living room, and no formal dining room.  These spaces no longer get much use because they do not fit the way we live.  Her recommendation is to build 1/3 less space than you think you need, and put every SF in use every day. 

Ms. Susanka has written a new book entitled The Not So Big Life: Making Room for What Really Matters, which she also spoke in great detail about in her lecture. In her book she describes how we reach our full potential, by doing simple things like putting ourselves on the calendar (make time for our own growth), and looking with the eyes of a student (everything is a learning opportunity that should be seen in a fresh light).  Ask yourself, “What can I learn about this thing in my life?”  Drop the reaction, and think what I can learn from this- See that the world is reflecting ourselves back to us.

 

NOW is the only time.  Prior is remembering, future is projecting.  Be present.  We can change things faster than we think we can.

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CONCLUSION:

The reality is that when we say we want to save the planet, we are, in effect, saying that we prefer self-preservation over extinction, because it's true... nature will find a way to get back on course, and she's not going to make it easy on us. In fact, the more we tear her apart, the more healing will be necessary.

If we look around us and take inventory on what we can change today, we might be able to preserve ourselves for a little while longer.

Carlson Studio Architecture prides itself on being green to the core. Interested in learning more? Schedule a free apppointment today!

Ready to kick off your green home design? Check out this free resource to help you get it going:

 

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The 21st Conference of Parties (COP 21) has begun in Paris, and will continue through December 11th.

 

The governments of nearly 200 countries are gathering to discuss a new global agreement on climate change, with participation from an estimated 40,000 attendees. More than half of the countries there will be represented by their heads of State, and 170 countries have already submitted their plans.

 

In other words, this is a really big deal!

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The path to climate destruction:

 

Scientists have warned us for decades that if greenhouse gas emissions continued to rise, we would pass the threshold beyond the point in which global warming became catastrophic and irreversible.

 

That threshold is estimated to be a temperature rise of 2C above pre-industrial levels, and based on current emissions trajectories we are barelling toward a rise of about 5C (which equates to approximately 9 degrees Fahrenheit).

 

Some nations are already feeling the impacts of climate change even now, at the current level of almost 1°C warming. Conflicts exacerbated by extreme weather are on the rise, and some are seeking official climate refugee status based on weather-related events occurring in their homeland.

 

One of the COP's core initiatives is to support vulnerable countries and communities in adapting to the impacts of climate change that are happening right now as well as looking into the future.

 

To help you understand the significance of the event, I'm going to highlight a few critical moments in history.

 

1992

Governments met in Rio de Janeiro and forged the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. That agreement, still in force, bound governments to take action to avoid dangerous climate change, but did not specify what actions were required.

 

1995

The first UN Climate Change Conference (COP1) was held in Berlin.

 

1997

Kyoto protocol (COP3). The pact required worldwide cuts in emissions of approximately 5%, compared with 1990 levels by 2012, and each developed country was allotted a target on emissions reductions. Unfortunately, developing countries, including China, South Korea, Mexico and other rapidly emerging economies, were given no targets and allowed to increase their emissions at will.  Al Gore, then US vice-president, signed up to the protocol, but it was never ratified by the US Congress.

 

2009

Copenhagen (COP15)- The conference did not achieve a binding agreement for long-term action.  It only produced broad stroke agreements that fell far short of intended goals.

 

what others are saying

I found that Ricken Patel’s article, "The Paris climate summit is a real test of humanity," summed it up quite well.  Mr. Patel states, “Climate change is in many ways a crucible. It is the greatest threat we have ever faced, and will require us to come together as never before, in the most ambitious solution we’ve ever attempted.

 

The solution is clear, and it's the only answer we have: to transform our economies to be powered by 100% clean energy.

 

But will we be wise enough, skilled enough, brave enough, to answer the call of our people, of our children and their children? For 20 years we have talked in these climate conferences. Progress has been glacial.

 

The largest corporations in the world are almost all oil companies. The top four have the same budget as the government of China. The top 10 have the same budget as the US government. They are states, superpowers unto themselves. And to save our species from the threat of catastrophic climate change, they must radically change, or die. So far, most of them have chosen to fight for shortsighted profit, and our demise.”

 

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How we're celebrating:

 

Here at Carlson Studio Architecture, we are celebrating this important international event that supports sustainability with an open house and holiday party at our office on December 3rd, 2015.  This date also happens to be the day in the conference that will focus on Buildings, so we will be paying especially close attention. 

 

We share a vision with each other and our clients, as we want to make a difference in the world we live in.  Being conscious of and combating climate change is the number one reason why we do what we do, and we pledge our support to the COP 21 in hopes that this is a landmark year that spurs important decision-makers to take meaningful action.

 

Interested in learning more about why green building design is so important? Check out this free ebook on Green Home Design:

 

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6 DIRECT BENEFITS OF A GREEN ROOF:

How do you define a "green roof"?

A green roof can have one or more of the following characteristics, depending on the goals of your project.

1. Long Lasting
2. Heat Reflective
3. Vegetative
4. Habitat Creating
5. Storm Water Management
6. Proper Orientation

Before I continue, here are some related materials that will help you with your research on the benefits of green building:

• How Do I Make My Own Home Sustainable or Green?
• Why It's So Important To Make Your Home Sustainable?
• How To Schedule A Consultation With A LEED Accredited Professional?

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MORE ABOUT THE BENEFITS OF A GREEN ROOF:

A roof that is long lasting provides the best value (ROI) over a roof’s lifetime.  A long lasting roof is a roof that does not need to be manufactured, shipped and installed, then removed and taken to the landfill, and then manufactured, shipped and installed, then removed and taken to the landfill, over and over again.   Beside the cost of transportation, labor and material each time, the embodied energy of the entire process takes an environmental toll beyond the individual building the roof is protecting.   It is a linear process that begins with extracting raw material and ends in a landfill.   It is less sustainable.  A good example is shingles vs. metal roofing.   If metal cost twice as much as shingles, but last 3-4 times as long, the metal roof is the less expensive roof option.  Metal roofing can be made from recycled content, and the metal can be recycled at the end of its roofing life to become something else. Shingles cannot. 

 

A second advantage is reflecting heat.  The roof should be able to reflect heat verses absorbing it.  Absorbed heat gets conducted into the building, increasing the buildings energy use, and also radiates outward impacting the micro-climate of the site, the surrounding area, and even whole cities.  Think about black asphalt parking lots- they do the same thing.   LEED-NC v2009 recommends a Solar Reflectance Index (SRI) of 29 or greater for Steep slope roofs (greater than 2:12 pitch) and SRI of 78 for low sloped roof (less than or equal to 2:12 pitch).    Refer to Sustainable Site Credit SS 7.2 for more information about the LEED requirements.  High solar reflectance in roofing is typically a light colored roof such as white, off white, light beige, or light gray.  There are also coating manufactures who are making darker colors that have a high SRI value.  Our HGTV Green home has a metal roof on it that is a terra cotta color, but still has a SRI that would meet the LEED-NC criteria.

 

A vegetative roof (sometime called a “green roof”) has many benefits.  It is long lasting and can have a life expectancy that is almost unlimited. It can reduce the heat island effect of roofs by not absorbing the heat from the sun.  It adds a layer of insulation that make your building more energy efficient.  A vegetative roof with thoughtful native plantings may provide habitat for any number of local species.  It can help your project with storm water management as it can collect rainfall and slow the run off and discharge of rain water from the site.  Check out this Green Roof Handbook to help even further.

 

Vegetative roofs are not new technology.  In fact, they are the oldest roofing technology.  One should work closely with an architect, structural engineer and a landscape architect to design a superior green roof.  They are not as heavy as you would think.  Their “soil” is not like the soil of natural earth.   Picking the proper planting for the climate of the project is very important.  Get an expert involved.

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CONCLUSION:

Proper orientation is a critical factor for any type of green roof.   This is a design characteristic  that is free, but must be integrated into the design from the beginning.   All building should be design to take advantage of a southern facing roof orientation to allow for maximum efficiency in solar orientation for the placement of photo voltaic (PV) systems and solar hot water systems.   LEED for Homes recommends the roof be facing within 15 degrees of facing due south.  (So the EAST/WEST axis of the building is with 15 degrees of EAST/WEST).   Whether or not you plan to install photo voltaic (PV) systems and solar hot water systems during construction or not, one should always set up the building to have those systems installed in the future.  All buildings will be retrofitted for onsite energy generation in our children’s lifetime.

 

Remember to use the button below to speak with a certified expert and get all of your questions answered:

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