Consider green building methods for every part of your home design, including your driveway, which can reduce storm water run-off. Source: Houzz

If you’re looking to reduce your environmental footprint as much as possible, then you should consider green building methods for every part of your home design – including your driveway. The following are a few tips for building a green driveway:

• One of the issues with typical driveways is that storm water tends to run down driveways and into a storm drain, where much of the storm water runoff will end up in nearby lakes and rivers. If you’re trying to help out the environment, then you’ll want to figure out a way to redirect storm water into the ground. This will help to prevent erosion caused by runoff. So how do you do this?
• By using a permeable surface instead of asphalt or concrete. For example, using open-cell pavers, which are concrete pavers with holes that are filled with pervious material, such as vegetation.
• Or use pervious pavers, which contain joints filled with aggregate that lets water seep between the pavers.

These are just a few ways that you can reduce water runoff and make your driveway more eco-friendly. For more information about green building techniques and how you can implement them, contact us at Trilogy Builds today.

Concrete, terrazzo, and linoleum are all eco-friendly options for bathroom floor designs. Source: Houzz

If you’re in the midst of planning out your bathroom design, then you’ve probably realized how important the flooring is going to be. Not only does it need to be durable and long lasting, it needs to be slip-resistant and water-resistant as well. If you’re also trying to build green, you’ll want an eco-friendly floor as well. The following are a few eco-friendly bathroom floor options:

• Concrete floor – Concrete is both durable, water-resistant and cost effective. To give your concrete floor some personality, choose a concrete aggregate that contains recycled materials such as porcelain or glass.
• Terrazzo floor – Terrazzo is incredibly durable and provides a unique, beautiful look. The material is basically made from chips of granite or marble that’s set in concrete and then polished. For a more eco-friendly version, choose terrazzo that uses low-VOC sealers and low-impact aggregates.
• Linoleum floor – Linoleum is fire and water resistant and antimicrobial, perfect for the bathroom. Look for adhesives labeled as no-VOC.

These are a few eco-friendly bathroom floor materials that you can use for your bathroom design. For additional eco-friendly tips and for information about our green building services, be sure to contact us at Trilogy Builds today.

There are different types of insulation, and when you pick insulation for your homes, you need to look at the R-value, or the thermal resistance of the insulation.

One of the most important aspects of a green building design is the insulation. Every home needs to be insulated in order to keep heat and cool air produced by your HVAC system inside and to prevent outdoor air from seeping in. This will keep your home at the level of comfort you desire while also preventing wasted energy. The following are a few things to know about insulation.

There are different types of insulation, and when you pick insulation for your homes, whether it’s for your walls, flooring, ceiling or attic spaces, you need to look at the R-value. The R-value rates the thermal resistance of the insulation. The higher it is, the better the thermal insulation will be. The thickness of the insulation as well as the make-up of it can determine its R-value. Often, the thicker it is, the higher the R-value is. The amount of insulation needed in your home depends on factors such as what your climate is, what kind of HVAC system you have, what your budget is, what parts of the home you are insulating and more.

For more information about green building materials, be sure to contact us at Trilogy Builds today.

If you’re struggling to decide on what direction to take with your home design, then we suggest taking a look at some of the current home building trends for inspiration. The following are just a few of the home building trends worth checking out:

• Clean lines and open spaces – Homes are being designed in more contemporary styles, which includes the use of cleaner lines and open spaces, which is accomplished by eliminating smaller rooms and using less hallways. Porcelain tiles are also a great option for achieving a wood look.

• Natural look – Engineered woods that boast lighter, more natural finishes are currently growing in popularity, as are grey, white and washed-wood finishes. Engineered woods allow you to achieve a more exotic aesthetic.

• Green building – Green building will continue to grow as more homeowners look to reduce their environmental footprint and take advantage of the savings involved, including tax credits and lower utility bills. Examples include the use of triple-glazed windows, home automation and LED lighting.  
• Virtual Design and Modeling – The technology now exists to enable a home to be modeled in 3D CAD where homes are perfected and “test driven” before construction. Trilogy Partners is pioneering this strategy with it’s Project Management Modeling. 

Consider some of these home building trends when designing your new house. For more information about implementing these home building trends, be sure to contact us online at Trilogy Partners today.

Green architecture is no trend – it’s here to stay. The benefits of green building are too many to count, from the long-term savings to the environmental benefits. The following are a few green building tips for your home and office:

• The Home – Consider designing a zero energy home. A zero energy home is a home that produces as much energy as it consumes. This means creating a thermal envelope using thick walls, high-quality insulation and energy efficient windows and doors that will keep heat and cool air trapped inside and prevent outdoor air from leaking in. If you’re looking to renovate an existing home, have the energy efficiency of the house tested with blower door tests and infrared camera scans.

• The Office – There are a lot of green classifications out there for office buildings, but one we recommend is the Living Building Challenge. Its requirements include that the building can’t contribute waste to the environment, that it generates all its own energy, that all materials be locally sourced, and more.

Be sure to keep these green building tips in mind when designing a home or office. Contact us at Trilogy Builds for additional green building advice.

Choosing to build a net zero energy home can have a huge effect on not just reducing your environmental footprint, but on the cost of your home over its entire lifespan. You may have to invest more money into building a net zero energy home, but that the savings you’ll experience over the home’s life will be well worth it.

Source: Shutterstock.com

Once you factor in utility incentives or tax credits, your net zero energy home will only cost between 5 and 10 percent more to build than a normal home. The leftover difference will be recouped over the next 5 to 10 years in energy savings.

One of the key aspects to designing a net zero energy house is to build the most efficient building envelop that you can afford. The building envelope is the thermal barrier between the inside of your home and the outside of your home. The more effective it is, the less heat will leak out during the winter and the less cool air will escape during the summer.

Consider the benefits of designing a net zero energy home and contact us at Trilogy Builds for advice on selecting the green home design for you.

The bathroom can be one of the least eco-friendly spaces of your home if you’re not careful. Just think about how much water and energy is wasted in the bathroom everyday – not to mention the materials used in the design of the bathroom. If you’re looking to design a more eco-friendly bathroom, then consider some of the following bathroom remodeling tips:

via Houzz

When remodeling your bathroom, try to use materials that are eco-friendly. For example, using local materials, such as stone, instead of ordering materials from far way. Materials that are shipped to you have to be transported, which means that you are contributing to the use of gas and the release of exhaust. You may also want to think about using recycled materials – you can find some beautiful wood to repurpose for your vanity, for example.

Don’t forget about your fixtures either. Look for low-flow faucets and dual flush toilets. These fixtures help to reduce the amount of water that is used without sacrificing performance.

Consider some of these eco-friendly bathroom remodeling tips. Be sure to contact us at Trilogy Builds today for more information and advice concerning eco-friendly bathroom design and green building in general.

Sustainability has become more and more of a hot topic over the last two decades as the extent of the problem has become clearer and clearer. Since each of us contributes to the human impact on the planet, it is up to all of us to be part of the solution.

Source: Shutterstock.com

Use these tips to become more eco-friendly:

• Replace old, incandescent light bulbs with their compact fluorescent counterparts, which last longer while using up less power.
• Set up a bin for composting. Something like a trash can with a lockable lid and 20 to 25 holes drilled in its side should more than suffice.
• For shorter distances, you can either bike or walk. For longer distances, you should do all of your weekly errands in a single trip rather than spread them out over multiple trips.
• Be sure to turn off your lights as you leave the room.
• Even something as minor as using reusable bags rather than their disposable counterparts can help.
• Likewise, purchase a reusable water bottle that can be refilled again and again rather than stock up on plastic water bottles.

Please contact us for more eco-friendly tips about making specific parts of the home more sustainable.

Sustainable homes have become more and more popular over time, but their appeal cannot be understood without answering two simple but not so straightforward questions. What is sustainability and why has it become so important?

Source: Trilogy Builds

Sustainability is sometimes said to be about maintaining a balance between human interests and the well-being of the planet. However, this is too simplistic, not least because human interests are reliant on the continuing well-being of our planet. Instead, it is more accurate to describe sustainability as using natural resources to meet human needs in a manner ensuring that said resources can continue to be used for said purpose in the future.

In short, sustainable practices consider the interests of a much-expanded number of stakeholders. For example, being sustainable when it comes to building a home means considering the interests of both the homeowner and the home-builders in addition to the people whose lives will be impacted as an indirect consequence of their economic choices. That said, it is important to note that sustainable practices do not provide less value to their practitioners. In fact, such practices provide more.

If you are interested in learning more about sustainable homes, please contact us at Trilogy Builds.

A lot of things need to be considered when planning out your home design. For example, what building materials do you want to use? If you’re looking to add both warmth and texture to your home design, then we highly recommend the use of stone.

Source: Trilogy Builds

Stone can be used in so many different ways throughout your home design, whether you simply want to use it as an accent for the front of your home or if you want to use it as the main building material for your house. The great thing about stone, besides its beautiful aesthetic, is the fact that it is a sustainable and natural material. Stone will last as well and won’t be prone to some of the issues that other materials such as wood are prone to, such as rot or termites.

Stone doesn’t necessarily have to be used for your walls either. Stone can be used indoors for your floors, your countertops or even for your fireplace surround. It doesn’t necessarily have to be used in the structure of your home either – for example, you could use gravel for your driveway.

Consider using stone and contact us at Trilogy Builds for additional advice.