You should consider how green the community you are in is as it tends to affect how green your lifestyle can actually be. Source: Houzz

The term “green” building is something that is generally associated with environmentally friendly building practices. Many people define it as a concept for making a home less harmful to the environment and more sensitive to the space around it. There are hundreds of different ways that you can do this when building or renovating a home.

In addition to implementing green building practices when designing a new home or renovating your old one, you should also consider how green the community you are in is. Living in a green community affects how green your lifestyle can actually be. For example, building a new home near a mass transit system will help reduce the amount that a personal vehicle is used. Urban density has the same effect. While many people would prefer to have large acres of space, living closer together helps reduce the amount of time spent in a vehicle, which has a great impact on the environment. Neighborhoods with a lot of nearby amenities also help reduce vehicle use.

Individual homes aren’t the only places going green – entire communities are as well. For more information about green building practices, be sure to contact us at Trilogy Builds today.

Bill Ashley

• Position: Construction Manager
• Experience in the Construction Industry: Two Decades in luxury and high concept Residential Construction
• Education: Colorado Mountain College – enrolled in Bachelor of Science Business Administration
• Years in Summit County/ Colorado: 20 years
• Hometown: Richland, Washington
• Favorite Things: #1 camping and skiing with my family #2 hunt, snowmobile, and dirt bikes
• The best thing about working here is: Sense of family with coworkers
• The best thing I’ve learned is: Ask the question
• Where do you want to be in 5 years: Do what I’m doing now, only better.
• Most Notable Memory While at Trilogy: Knowing that professionally I am doing what I love to do and what I do best.

Leo Rosario

• Position: Design Coordinator
• Education: BA Civil and Environmental Engineering at UW-Madison 2014
• Years in Summit County/ Colorado: 1
• Hometown: Milwaukee, Wisconsin
• Favorite Things: Exploring new places on my skis, bike, and feet; live music; and spending time in quality places with quality people
• The best thing about working here is: Getting to be creative and use my degree while living in the mountains
• The best thing I’ve learned is: Organization and persistence are key
• Where do you want to be in 5 years: Enjoying my work and surroundings with good people
• Most Notable Memory While at Trilogy: Leaving client meetings knowing that everyone is inspired and satisfied 

There are plenty of ways that you can practice stylish responsibility. Simply buying used furniture pieces means that you aren’t contributing to additional manufacturing processes. Source: Houzz

We believe in making sure that your home is as environmentally friendly and sustainable as possible, but don’t be mistaken into thinking that this means that you can’t add a bit of style to your interior design. Adding style and sustainability is something that is called stylish responsibility, something that is beginning to catch on more and more.

The thing that’s great about implementing stylish responsibility into your home is that it helps to create a very eclectic and unique interior design instead of having all of your furniture look like it was processed off on an assembly line. There are plenty of ways that you can practice stylish responsibility. Simply buying used furniture pieces means that you aren’t contributing to additional manufacturing processes. You can also build your own furniture out of reclaimed materials, which also helps give it more character and warmth. Looking for old furniture, used decor pieces and reclaimed materials at small antique stores and shops is more fun than ordering out of a generic catalog as well!

When designing your home’s interior, practice stylish responsibility for an eclectic and personal look that’s environmentally friendly. Contact us at Trilogy Partners for more interior design tips today.

Oceanside glass tile, Trend USA tile, and Fireclay tile are three eco-friendly materials that you should consider when preparing to incorporate tile into your home. Source: Houzz

Tile is a great material to use throughout your home, whether it’s flooring or walls in the bathroom or the backsplash in your kitchen. The durability and resistance of tile makes it perfect for these two spaces, and the flexibility in design makes it easy to incorporate into any style. The following are a few eco-friendly materials that can be used for your home’s tile:

• Oceanside Glass Tile (Tessera) – This hand-crafted glass tile is produced from a combination of recycled glass and silica sand, which is an abundant natural resource.
• Trend USA Tile (Feel) – For a glass mosaic tile that has a gorgeous sot, smooth and velvety surface, take a look at the Trend USA tile, which is produced using 78 percent internal and post-consumer recycled glass.
• Fireclay Tile (Debris Series) – Made out of recycled ceramic tile, fireclay tile is produced using 60 percent resourced recycled materials, not to mention that the manufacturing process itself is sustainable too.
• Metal Tile (Eco-Friendly Flooring Inc.) – This metal tile, which looks great on kitchen backsplashes, is made out of 100 percent recycled aluminum.

Consider these eco-friendly materials and be sure to contact us at Trilogy Builds for more sustainable home design ideas.

The position of the windows of your home can help you save energy during the winter and summer months. Source: Houzz

Here at Trilogy, we focus on designing eco-friendly buildings. If you are interested in designing an environmentally-friendly custom home design, then we suggest checking out some of the following green building ideas for inspiration:

• Sustainable flooring – The use of cork or bamboo are both sustainable options that provide the same kind of durability and beauty that more traditional hardwood flooring provides.
• Radiant ground floor heating – Radiant heating can be much more efficient than traditional furnaces and duct systems due to the fact that heat is created below the floors. Since heat rises, heating your home this way will help spread heat more evenly around the home.
• Face the home the right way – The position of the windows of your home can help you save energy during the winter and summer months.
• Insulate the home – Keep energy from leaking in or escaping out by using thicker walls, more energy efficient windows and higher quality spray-foam insulation.
• Use low-VOC products – Low-VOC products are not only better for the environment, their less damaging to your health as well.

Consider some of these ideas and be sure to contact us at Trilogy Builds for more information about custom green home designs today.

Here are some of the home green projects you’ll want to consider for your next home renovation project. Source: Houzz

If you’re trying to make your home more environmentally friendly, then there are plenty of smaller home green projects that you can do. You don’t necessarily have to build a LEED-certified home to go greener, after all. The following are some of the green home projects you might want to consider:

• Install another window – Even just adding one more window to your home can help you to add more natural light to a space, thereby reducing your dependence on artificial light in that room.
• Upgrade your kitchen appliances – Newer appliances provide more and better function. They also look better and use less energy than older appliances, which not only helps your kitchen become more environmentally friendly but will also help you save a substantial amount of money over the long run in energy costs.
• Use repurposed wood – When installing new flooring or building new furniture, use repurposed wood. Using new wood contributes to deforestation as well as pollution resulting from manufacturing and transportation.
• Go with white – A room designed in white better reflects light, helping reduce your use of artificial light.

Consider these home greening projects and contact us at Trilogy Builds for more information about environmentally friendly home design.

Making sure that you face a view, use unpainted wood, and having reconfigurable furniture are all elements that can have a positive effect on your home office. Source: Houzz

When it comes to setting up a home office, many people will just throw up a desk wherever they have space and call it a day. However, the design of a home office is important, especially if you use it frequently. A poor design makes it difficult to work, after all. The following are a few home office tips to make your home office work better for you:

• Face a view – If it’s possible, face the desk so that you can see outside. Being able to look out at nature is important because it helps to relax you, thereby reducing your stress as well as restocking your mental energy.
• Use unpainted wood – The use of unpainted wood in your home office, even if it’s just a wood desk, helps provide a calming feel.
• Reconfigurable furnishing – Furniture that you can easily move around, such as light desk components or a rolling chair, makes it easier to rearrange your office. Studies have shown that the ability to do this can help to improve professional performance.

These are just some of the home office tips that we recommend you keep in mind. For more interior design advice, contact us at Trilogy Partners today.

An area rug, a place to sit, and mirrors are all elements you’ll want to consider for your bedroom. Source: Houzz

The bedroom is an area that you should put a lot of thought into when designing it. It needs to be a space that’s relaxing and inviting since it’s where you get your rest. The following are a few tips to help you create a better bedroom:

• An area rug – The last thing you want to do when you get out of bed in the morning is to step down on a cold floor. Get an area rug that will provide cover for both sides of the bed. When putting it down, don’t bother to pull it all the way to the wall by the end of the bed. You can stop it by your end tables.
• Somewhere to sit – A comfortable chair where you can read is a nice feature to have in your bedroom. If you have little space to work with, consider a swivel chair, which can easily be moved when needed, or a bench at the end of your bed.
• Mirrors – Most people don’t want to see themselves while in bed, so we suggest positioning them to the sides of the bed.

Use these bedroom design tips and contact Trilogy Partners Design for additional interior design advice.

Passive solar power works when the house captures sunlight, then converts it to energy to be used after the sun goes down. Source: Houzz

When designing a new home, solar power is something you should really consider. Passive solar power is something many new homes are implementing. What is passive solar power? It’s basically a system in which the house is designed to capture the maximum amount of sunlight, which it traps inside and then releases when the sun goes down. The benefits of a passive solar powered home are huge – you’ll save a substantial amount of energy, which leads to much lower energy bills. So let’s go over how new homes are designed to be solar powered.

One of the most important factors of a home that is effective at being passively solar powered is its orientation. A house in the northern hemisphere should be oriented to the south and vice versa. One such house planted deciduous trees on the same side so that during the summer months, the sun’s heat would be filtered through the trees, while during the winter months the threes would be bare, making it easy for sunlight to enter the home. This house also used minimal openings on its north side in order to contain internal temperatures.

Our Project Management Modeling Process allows us to energy model every home we design and build, insuring our homes are optimized to their environments and to the client.

For more information on solar power designs, contact Trilogy Partners today.