Top 10 Green Things to Do! When building your new home.

In my real job (non-blogging) I am finding that more and more people are interested in building a more environmentally responsible and healthy home.  Leaving political discussions and arguments about “climate change” behind (I don’t like being preached to and I don’t like preaching), I believe there are many common sense reasons to build a “Green” home.  Here are two pretty good ones:

• Save you money $$$ in the long run
• Reduce your stress level – improve your quality of life

If you want to build a Green Home there is an abundant amount of information available to you.  But start investigating Green and you begin to realize there can be a daunting number of decisions to make – and they all impact your construction budget in some way.  Building Green can start to look incredibly complicated and expensive - and neither of these notions is inherently “Green”.  Well it does not have to work that way.

So what I want to do, starting with this posting is to help you simplify things.  I am starting out with a top 10 list of green things to do.  This will give us some focus for more detailed discussions to follow.  Those discussions will provide more detail on my top 10 list.  So here goes.

Top 10 Green Things to do! – When building your new home.

1. Hire an Architect or a very competent designer that understands “Green” (and is not a jerk) – They will be able to assist you with all the following items and help you in sorting out priorities.
2. Hire a Builder who is committed to your Green house (and isn’t a jerk).  In the end you will be much more successful if your entire team is on the same page.
3. Build close to your work and / or close to community services.  A short commute means less stress, less gas money and more time for your fam.  That’s good isn’t it?
4. Build a “just the right size” house – The classic “Goldilocks”.  Size and surface area significantly impact heating, cooling and maintenance costs – not to mention construction cost.  So don’t build too big.  But don’t build it too small either or it might not be functional and that’s not green.
5. Build a home with quality.  Remember the 3 little pigs?  A quality home lasts longer, costs less to maintain and definitely holds up better when the big bad wolf is blowing.  Ok, that’s enough of the kid stories. 
6. Build a thermally efficient home.  Warm is good.  Believe me, I am writing this on a 20 degree below zero day in Minnesota.  I have relatives in Phoenix that say Cool is good!  Thermally efficient also means less money from your pocket to the local Utility.
7. Use an energy efficient Heating, Ventilation and Cooling (HVAC) system. You don’t have to spend many dollars here to reap some good $$$ savings.
8. Develop a landscape plan that reduces erosion and water use. Who wants to spend the entire weekend mowing and watering?  I’d rather be playing Guitar Hero, or Twittering or something.
9. Consider your homes building product and material choices.If it smells bad don’t use it.  You are going to be married to that floor for a long time.
10. Install energy efficient appliances and electrical (lighting) systems.  Once again small investment for good gains.

So that’s my Top 10 Green Things to Do list.  You may notice that I don’t specifically mention solar panels, photo-voltaics or geo-thermal systems.  Well those items might be a great addition to an overall sustainable building plan, but the initial costs are high and the payback is longer.  I’ll discuss more in future postings.

By the way, if you want to buy a “green” house plan that you can build.  You might start at Simply Elegant Home Designs.  All of the plans in their portfolio have been designed keeping many of the green principals listed above in mind.

New Simple Yet Dramatic Home Design

I just completed a new home design for a client that will be built in "Tapestry at Charlotte's Grove"; a new community in Lake Elmo, Minnesota.  This modern cottage house plan is a classic example of the kind of work I love to do.  Simple yet dramatic in form.  Clean detailing inside and out.  Open and connected spaces.  Efficient in it's use of space and relatively affordable to construct.  Here is a sneak peek at the exteriors.

Look for a variation of this design to be offered soon at  Simply Elegant Home Designs.

Decorating Tips And Foyer Design Furnitures

A foyer is an entryway to your home. The careful design and decoration of foyers is often neglected as these areas are sometimes considered just to be a pass through space. But it is necessary to keep in mind that foyers give guests the first impression about your home. And more importantly, it is the place to greet YOU when you come home.

Foyer Decorating Tips

1. You could try painting your foyer a different colour from adjacent rooms. Warm colours appear more inviting.

2. It is advisable to use lighting with adjustable brightness. Though you need the foyer to be well lit, you don’t want it to be glaringly bright. If you want something ‘high impact’, experiment hanging a chandelier. Keep in mind the limitation of the space, when choosing lighting.

3. Hang a mirror in the foyer to show attractive features on the opposite wall and to give an effect of increased space.

4. You could also display a gallery wall of artwork, photographs or showcase a beautiful piece of sculpture or bronze on a foyer table.

5. In order to bring a bit of ‘life’ into the space you could place plants inside. It is ideal to consider ones that are ‘tall’ and do not occupy too much floor space .

Pictures of Beautiful Foyers

Attic Spaces Design For Minimalis Home

Most attics live and die without ever having an identity of their own. If planned well, they can be put to good use. The attic can be transformed into an office or a lounge. It can either act as your study or just a room where you can chill out. If you are an artist, the room can be a great place to brainstorm. Its basically the seclusion of it from the rest of the house which makes it such a big hit. If you have been toying with idea of what to do with your attic take a look at the pictures below. You can apply a fresh theme to the room(like the car room) or use very rusty colours to give it a worn out, old vintage feel. Whatever you choose, the place which once was smelly won’t be the same anymore.

Attic Spaces DesignThe Estate of Things

Attic Spaces Design House Dreams

Attic Spaces Design For Kids

Attic Spaces Design Anton Lepashov

Attic Spaces Design For Kids

This is from a house we covered more in detail here: Beautiful French Country House

Attic Spaces Design Via

Attic Spaces Design

Attic Spaces Design Via

Attic Spaces Design Via

Attic Spaces Design Via

Attic Spaces Design Cars themed kid attic

Attic Spaces Design Via

Interior Home Design Colection 3

Interior Home Design Colection 3

Interior Home Design Colection 2

Interior Home Design Colection 2

Interior Home Design Colection 1

Interior Home Design Colection 1

Home Designs in Cliff On the Beach

Home in Cliff On the Beach

Home Design Ideas - Split the Garage!

At Larson Brenner Architects I am currently working a client on a new home design to be constructed in Rochester, MN.  Here we have run into a very common dilemma.  What to do with 3 1/2 cars worth of garage?   

If you put all of that garage to the side of the house you get one very wide plan.  If you put all of that garage forward of the house you get one very deep plan.  Many lots cannot accommodate either one of those plan arrangements.  So what I have proposed to do here is to split the garages into two separate structures.  The main two car garage is directly connected to the house via the mudroom zone.  The additional 1 1/2 car garage is placed on the opposite side of the lot; resulting in a nifty little entry court.  See sketches below.

Here you can see a birds eye view of the layout.  Notice the roof between the garage and house is low.  This helps to reduce the mass of the house.  Pulling the garages a bit forward of the front porch creates a nifty little courtyard.

view from street

view approaching courtyard

nice little composition

So when you develop your next house plan - please think about the impact of that garage and look for creative solutions.

Home Design Ideas - Floating Stair

Here is another nice home design idea - a floating stair. The residential design world tends to do things the same way over and over while commercial building design tends to be more experimental. Below is an example of an interesting floating stair that would be well suited to any contemporary / modern house plan.

The stair is supported be a series of steel stringers which span from floor to landing. By holding the bottom of the riser above the tread one gains the illusion of "floating". The flat wood paneling at the interior wall and the commercial grade "storefront" window system beyond add to the modern aesthetic.

So when you working with your Architect on the design of your new home, ask him / her to think about the details in a unique way. It is the details that will make your home truly special.

Free New Modern Home Design Pictures

Free New Modern Home Design Pictures

Free New Modern Home Design Pictures

Free New Modern Home Design Pictures