Yes, it’s time to travel to Haiti to rebuild and remake another suffering orphanage. Mike Mahon, my partner in Haiti Orphan Rescue Program, and I will be traveling to Haiti end of March for a final look before choosing our next renovation project. A build project in Tabarre we’d launched was recently picked up by the UN, which was wonderful news. And it leaves us with the time and funding for another orphanage renovation. We hope you can support us in our efforts by going to the HORP website where you can find information about HORP’s Haiti success and how to contribute. We’ve managed to make it easy through our Pay Pal account, but we’re always happy if you send us a check through snail mail as well.  So go here and DONATE please. In truth, there are thousands of orphanages that need our help and we could be doing SO MUCH MORE. We just need the funding. So tell your friends, your neighbors, family, everyone you know that that you know of a charity that is REALLY making a difference in Haiti. Haiti Orphan Rescue Program is an 501c (3) tax deductible non profit. Help us help Haiti’s Kids. Visit us on Facebook.

Conventional Framing, or as it is widely known, “stick framing” utilizes dimensional harvested lumber, usually hem fir or douglas fir, in the form of 2×4 and 2×6 studs set 16″ on center for interior and exterior wall framing and larger dimensional 2″ material for floors and roofs. Additional structural materials may be in the form of manufactured products such as laminate beams and posts. Conventional framing is the dominant form of framing in the single and smaller multi family residential construction market. But it can be argued it is a non-sustainable technology and should give way to “greener” construction technologies.

Trilogy Partners recently completed the first zero net energy house in Breckenridge. The home uses various methods and technologies to achieve its zero net goal. To save energy, the home employs a new insulation and framing technology that depends on manufactured lumber made from recycled and trash wood rather than newly harvested trees. Because this lumber is more rigid than conventional studs, these manufactured studs can be set 24″ on center rather than 16″, greatly reducing the amount of “wood” in the typical exterior wall or roof. This allows for more insulation in the wall or ceiling, increasing the efficiency of the wall system. As a result, the home uses less energy for heating and cooling than would be the case in a conventionally framed homed.

Engineered stud walls are more energy efficient than conventionally framed walls. In addition, engineered studs are made from reclaimed and trash wood products rather than harvested trees. In comparison, conventional framing is a relatively unsustainable technology.

Colorado Building Company, sister company to Trilogy Partners, was founded in 2007. Whereas Trilogy is a Design and Build construction company, Colorado Building Company is construction management/general contracting company. CBC specializes in projects where design oversite is the parameter of architects and interior designers not working under the design-build model. Trilogy Partners uses CBC for general contracting services.

The team behind CBC has more than half a century of combined construction experience. CBC is experienced in the construction of high value custom homes.  But smaller projects and remodels receive the same attention to detail and customer service as large projects. CBC also has a commercial division to service non-residential projects.

CBC leads the way in sustainable building and cutting edge construction technologies. CBC built the first zero net home in Breckenridge. CBC leadership is experienced in Structural Insulating Panel construction, advanced green framing technologies, timber frame, log, and conventional framing. CBC is committed to the highest level of quality and customer service.

We’ve talked about the benefits of a timber frame a lot on the Trilogy Partners blog, and we recently came across another great idea for incorporating timber frames into the design of your home on the Timber Frame Magazine website – a timber frame porch. Timber frame porches are an exceptional design idea for adding a bit of definition to the exterior of your home. According to Timber Frame Magazine, timber frame porches be used for a unique entrance into your home, or as a sitting porch, screen porch, or an outdoor living space.

It’s important to note that if you choose to include a timber frame porch into your home’s design, you’ll want to make sure the timber you use is naturally resistant to rot and insect damage. This will ensure that your porch will stand up to the elements and require little maintenance.

Timber frames are great for constructing porches and outdoor living spaces, as seen here in Caleb's Journey.

Using timber frames to create a porch or outdoor living space is a great way to add beauty to your home, as well as incorporate sustainable materials into your home’s design. Whether you are constructing a new home, or thinking about adding a new outdoor living space, consider using timber frames throughout!

I like to design around a story line. It very much simplifies the design process. As a writer and someone who worked in film, the notion of telling a story in home design seems very natural to me. And it helps me determine a design direction for the home. I often ask the home owner to help me invent a story for their house as a part of the initial creative process.

The story behind Calecho, for example, goes like this. Once upon a time (let’s say 1901) an Englishman left the love of his life behind and came to America to seek his fortune in the Silver Mines of Breckenridge, Colorado. He was heartsick leaving his love behind, but he was also a very hard worker, and smart. For years he thought he would never see her again and in torment, he would stand on a hill overlooking a valley calling her name, listening to it echo back across the hills. He built his mine on that hill and in 1905 he struck it rich. In order to entice his beloved to come to America, and to impress her parents, he converted his mine into a grand home. Calecho. Calista’s echo.

This story helps me to establish not only a time frame, but a thematic sensibility for the design of the home. Almost any question I can ask about the design now has an answer because of this story. Ultimately, it as a home built out of a man’s love for a woman. The rest was simply coloring in the details.

Your new home is designed and now it’s time to hire a builder. Before you do, the architect gives you some guidance and tells you that there are two types of contracts that govern construction. One type is called the Fixed Price Contract. The other, the Cost Plus contract.

Fixed Price Contract

The Fixed Price Contract is just what the name implies: the builder agrees to build the house for a fixed price. In order for a Fixed Price Contract to make sense, the builder and the owner must have an clear and similar vision of what the project entails. For example, the level of finishes must be understood as standards will be cost sensitive. The builder will base his price on a very detailed budget and other assumptions then will add a profit margin unknown to the owner. The danger of the Fixed Price Contract is that what the builder assumes may not match what the client is envisioning. This may not become apparent until well after construction has begun. For example, a builder might specify a certain type of shower fixtures throughout the house. When the contract is signed, the owner assumes the amount budgeted (or allowed) for fixtures will be adequate but later, when actually choosing the specific fixtures, determines that the allowed amount is not satisfactory. Many design elements are priced as allowances. In other words, the builder gives an allowance for a specific item knowing that the owner does not, at the time of the contract signing, know exactly which brand and style might be selected. As illustrated, many assumptions, allowances and expectations must mesh perfectly for both the builder and the client to be well satisfied. A Fixed Price Contract can work well if the project is sufficiently simple so that all involved have a clear picture of what the finished project will be. But in the case of higher-end custom homes, a clear idea of the finished project is quite difficult. The design aspects of the house can be exceedingly complicated. If a fixed price contract is governing this type of project, the owner, architect, and builder can come into conflict over expectations and ultimately, money. And the builder may use “change orders” to exceed the amount of the fixed price if the owner’s desires and expectations exceed the builder’s allowances and assumptions.

Cost Plus Contract

The Cost Plus Contract is a contract based on a estimated cost that is not fixed. The builder proposes an approximate budget, and agrees to take profit based on a percentage of the total cost of labor and materials. With the cost plus contract, the owner is given the actual cost of each expenditure and is aware at all times exactly what the builder has spent for labor and materials.During construction, the owner must approve all expenditures. As a result, the owner is very involved in the economics of the project and in fact, is called upon to supervise how and where money is spent. This type of contract allows for project flexibility. For example, if the amount budgeted for excavation is lower than expected, that amount can be, if the owner wishes, transferred to the amount budgeted for, as an example, plumbing fixtures. Though the Cost Plus project depends on an accurate estimate of costs just as does the Fixed Price project, the Cost Plus contract and process allows for greater transparency than the Fixed Price Contract. Of course, the Cost Plus Contract requires that the owner be willing to spend time participating in the supervision of the budget. Costs can escalate if the owner does not make efforts to control spending. The Cost Plus Contract is ideally suited to more complex projects where there is a great emphasis on design, standards, and finishes and quality is of utmost concern.

The Bottom Line

The home owner must make take very seriously the contract phase of the home building project. In the past, the Fixed Price Contract was often the instrument of choice. As custom homes become increasingly more complicated and thus difficult to budget with exact precision, the Cost Plus Contract provides flexibility and transparency that the Fixed Price Contract cannot. The Cost Plus Contract has become the contract of choice for complex custom home projects.

This years Summit County Builder’s Association Parade of Homes is scheduled for the weekends of September 17 and 18th and 24th and 25th. If you’ve never attended a Parade of Homes, make this year your first. Between 15 and 25 new and remodeled custom

single family and multi family homes are open to the public. It’s a showcase of architecture and interior design, sustainable building, and the latest technologies and building process. The homes compete for various prizes including site design, architecture, interior design, and green building practices. Want another reason to attend? Proceeds from the Parade of Homes $10 admission fee go to the Summit Foundation, Summit County’s primary charity. So make sure you put the 2011 Parade of Homes on your 2011 Calendar.

Timber Frame Construction, compared to stick built or conventional framing, is a very sustainable building technology. Unlike stick building, the materials used in a timber frame will inevitably be reclaimed and recycled. In fact, many timber frames are made from reclaimed and recycled frames from barns, bridges, warehouses, and factory buildings. An argument is sometimes made that Timber Frames use old growth lumber. In fact, some do. But Timber Frame homes typically last much longer than conventionally framed homes. Timber Frames in Europe and Asia are more than 1000 years old. One way to preserve old growth forests is to build homes that last a lot longer so fewer trees will be cut for construction purposes. One other fact about Timber Frames is that they are frequently build from fast growing farm raised southern yellow pine which is kiln dried. Farm raised Southern Yellow pine is a renewable resource.

Further supporting Timber Frame as a sustainable building method is that Timber Frame combined with SIP panels provides a highly insulated, tight structure that uses much less energy for heating and cooling than conventionally framed structures.

A Timber Frame home, though generally more expensive to build than a conventionally framed home, also brings with it the beauty of posts and beams, open floor plans and soaring ceilings. So Timber Frame construction is not only good for the planet, but beautiful as well.

Trilogy Partners is on Facebook and we would love for you to join us there! Our Facebook page is a great place to connect with us, keep up with our projects and the latest in sustainable building practices, design tips and trends, and much more. We always post links to our blog posts on our Facebook page so you’ll never miss out on what’s going on. There you can find other useful information, such as our contact information and photos of our work.

If you haven’t joined Trilogy Partners on Facebook yet, head on over to facebook.com/TrilogyPartners and click the like button at the top of our page to add us to your profile. While you’re there, do us a favor and suggest our page to all of your friends. Also, be sure to like The Haitian Orphan Rescue Program, which is a charity co-founded by Trilogy Partner Michael Rath that builds permanent shelter for orphaned and abandoned Haitian children.

We hope to connect with you on Facebook soon!

Connect with Trilogy Partners on Facebook!

It’s really a shame. No, it’s more than a shame. It’s Un-American. Millions upon millions of U.S. citizens might as well give up forever on their dream of owning a home. These are people who are qualified. Better credit, better income than most of those who’ve defaulted on millions of home mortgages in the past few years. Before the sub prime mortgage debacle, these people would have had no problem getting a mortgage. And they would have paid their debts. On time and in full. Now, they’re never going to get a chance to do that. Or if they do get a chance, it’s going to be years from now.

Locked Out Forever

The authors and commentators all agree: the banks and Wall Street in a cabal of greed conspired to bring about the home mortgage debacle. Many financial gurus lost their jobs when storied companies collapsed. But the real victims are those who dreamed of owning a home. Because credit has tightened to the point that only those who’ve saved substantially large down payments of 20% and sometimes more, and only those with stellar credit reports and I mean, stellar. Only those with guaranteed jobs and more than enough income, only these best of the best home buyers are going to be able to get a loan in the coming several years. That leaves millions upon millions of potential home owners, perhaps as many as 10,000,000 potential buyers, out in the cold. And that simply is not American. But at least for now, it is the American Way.