December 30th, 2009 by Matthew Leonard
Mechanical systems can sometimes fail. It’s a fact of nature. There are good and reliable mechanical systems and most are easily fixed but none are perfect.
This fact is true is especially true with your home. Any number of things can cease to work properly causing various frustrations and when the safety and comfort of your family is tied to a mechanical system, a passive backup system gives great peace of mind.
What would happen in your home if a simple part of your heating system failed late at night and your furnace couldn’t supply heat? Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Air Sealing, Insulation, Passive Solar Design, Serious Windows, SIPs, Structural Insulated Panels
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Green, Save Money, Uncategorized, Windows
October 26th, 2009 by Matthew Leonard
We’ve often been asked how much more a home built using green materials and ideas costs over a typical home. There’s a lot more to that question than what might appear because we need to define what green is in order to answer completely. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Green, Save Money, Structure, Uncategorized
September 19th, 2009 by Matthew Leonard
When you’re looking for a SIP Home Builder to design and/or construct your new home with Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs), do you want a builder that says they offer them but tries to sell you something else or do you want a builder that COULD build with SIPs or do you want a builder that has ALWAYS built with SIPs and has years of experience in this type of construction? Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: SIP Construction, SIP Home Builder, SIP Panels, SIPs, Structural Insulated Panels, Structural Panels
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Green, Save Money, Structure, Uncategorized
September 14th, 2009 by Steve Homa
There are many types of insulation options. They range from fiberglass, cellulose, extruded foam, expanded polystyrene foam, closed cell and open cell spray foam. Polyurethane foam can also be used but is not as common and produces off-gassing. Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Green, Save Money, Structure
July 29th, 2009 by Matthew Leonard
With eminant rising energy costs, more people are looking to minimize or eliminate those ever increasing monthly payments to the utility. Some longer term thinking people are actually figuring out that they can become a utility themselves and collect money versus paying it. All of those people are our customers and they love comparing their utility bills with their neighbors.
- Does it cost a small or large fortune to get to this level?
- Will your home look strange and without windows to get there?
- Do you need so many solar panels on your roof that the reflection blinds pilots as they fly over?
Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Energy Producing, Net Zero
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Green, Save Money, Structure, Uncategorized, Windows
July 15th, 2009 by Matthew Leonard
Because of our experience in building extremely energy efficient homes, we’re often asked what materials and methods are best for building the exterior shell. The three types of construction most commonly asked about are structural insulated panels (SIPs), insulated concrete forms (ICFs) or stick framed with cavities filled with foam.
We have experience building with all three methods as well as others and depending on your goals and budget, we can guide you in the best direction. I’ll break down each system and how we have found they work best for our customers.
Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Green, Save Money, Structure, Uncategorized
June 10th, 2009 by Matthew Leonard
Over the last few decades the trend in building homes has been a stepping stone approach. The main goal in building a home was not to live in it long term but Read the rest of this entry »
Tags: Sustainable Construction
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Green, Structure, Uncategorized
May 30th, 2009 by Matthew Leonard
When someone decides to build a new home, many times they interview architects to find one that is a good fit for what style and level of details they desire and is a good personality match.
Through months of work with the architect, the design has been painstakingly worked out Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Save Money, Structure, Uncategorized
May 30th, 2009 by Matthew Leonard
There’s so much out there about being “green” and everybody has an angle on how their product is environmentally friendly. So when building a new home, where do you get the most bang for your buck? Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Green, Save Money, Structure, Uncategorized
May 30th, 2009 by Matthew Leonard
That’s a saying that has been around the building community for many years. It finds its roots in the fact that the most available windows are roughly Read the rest of this entry »
Posted in Energy Efficiency, Green, Save Money, Structure, Uncategorized, Windows
