Your design team should include an architect, an interior designer, and a builder. Source: Houzz

Beautiful homes don’t just sprout from the ground. They are the culmination of months, sometimes even years of dedicated planning and preparation. When you are planning a building project, the following are three of the most important tips to follow so that the process will go as smooth as possible.

1. Choose a design team. Your team should include an architect, an interior designer, and a builder.
2. Identify features and size. From the number of bedrooms to the wine cellar and game room, itemize the general framework of what your home will look like.
3. Create blueprints. Once your architect has the overall feel for what you want, have them draft blueprints you can review and amend.

Once all of these tasks are complete, construction can begin and since your team has worked together from the start, they will be able to finish your home quickly and to the precise specifications you have created together.

Planning a building project? Contact Trilogy Partners and we will be happy to show you some of the homes we have recently completed in the area and tell you more about the planning that went into them.

Windows and skylights allow more light into the home and reduces the reliance on electric lights during the day. Source: Houzz

Green housing solutions are the hottest trend in construction and Trilogy is helping our clients “green up” their lifestyles. From carefully selecting the light fixtures to upgrading the appliances they use, the following are some ways you can use green design to your advantage.

• More Windows and Skylights. This allows more light into the home and reduces the reliance on electric lights during the day.
• Repurposing. Old wood can be made to look new and stylish. A little elbow grease is all it takes to turn the old into fabulous furniture, flooring, or paneling.
• LEED Certified Appliances. From dishwashers to refrigerators, the higher the LEED rating, the more efficient the unit will operate. Not only do these appliances looks stylish, most will pay for themselves over their lifespan.
• Zoning. Zoning the home’s HVAC system gives you greater control over the interior climate. This allows you to “shut down” rooms when they’re not in use so that you’re not wasting energy throughout the year.

Trilogy can help you build the green housing solutions you desire. We encourage you to contact us for more information about this year’s trends and the features we recommend including in your plans.

Eco-friendly decorating is a specialty we’ve honed to ensure our client’s mountain homes have as little impact as possible. Source: Houzz

Designing and decorating a new home requires careful consideration of not only the materials to be used, but their environmental impact as well. To that end, eco-friendly decorating is a specialty we’ve honed to ensure our client’s mountain homes have as little impact on the Rockies as possible.

One of our favorite services is to repurpose old materials by giving them new life. Reclaimed wood is a popular choice in Colorado because it lends itself well to the creation of a rustic appearance. another popular choice is to use burlap and linen that can be embroidered and personalized with everything from family crests to a favorite motto.

Perhaps most common is the use of vintage and/or antique furniture. Crafted during an era where quality was paramount, we select pieces that have aged well. With these, the nicks, scratches, dents, and dings fade into the background of rich wood grains and the patina that has formed around hardware and fittings.

Eco-friendly decorating can transform your mountain home into a truly magnificent place to live. We invite you to contact Trilogy Partners to learn more about this year’s most stylish design options that have a minimal environmental impact.

Planning your home for home automation will not only help make your home more convenient, it will also help make your home more energy efficient as well. Source: Nest via Facebook

One of the features that many homeowners are beginning to implement when they plan their custom home designs is home automation. Planning your home for home automation will not only help make your home more convenient, it will also help make your home more energy efficient as well.

There are a lot of ways in which home automation can save energy around the home. Take for example a smart thermostat. While many homeowners have programmable thermostats, few actually take advantage of it in order to save energy. However, with a smart thermostat, you can control the programmable thermostat from your smartphone, making it much more convenient and easier to set the thermostat. This allows you to adjust your settings on the go. For example, maybe you forgot to program it before heading off for a two week vacation. You can now do so from your phone.

There are plenty of other ways you can save energy as well. You can control your home’s lighting from your smartphone through home automation, meaning you’ll never forget to turn the lights off again.

Consider home automation in your home design and contact us at TrilogyPartners for more information about home automation.

Check out these amazing energy-efficient homes and contact us at Trilogy Builds for more information about designing a custom energy efficient home today. Source: Houzz

When designing a custom home, you should strongly consider making it as energy efficient as possible in order to not only reduce your environmental footprint as much as you can, but to save a substantial amount of energy costs over the long term. The following are three examples of energy-efficient homes that we hope will inspire you:

• The R-House – This house was built to meet Germany’s passive house principles, which means that it is airtight deu to its super insulated exteriors that boast minimal thermal bridging, heat-recovery ventilators and highly insulated windows. Electrical consumption in this house is roughly 70 percent less than a typical home in the Syracuse area.
• The TED House – This three-story house uses closed-cell spray foam insulation in addition to a zip-panel air barrier, densely packed cellulose, R-10 windows and a metal panel rain screen to achieve passive house standards.
• Live/Work/Home – This uniquely designed home boasts a retractable front screen that helps maintain privacy and filter sunlight. It also makes use of linear single-story plan instead of combining parcels like other passive homes.

Check out these amazing energy-efficient homes and contact us at Trilogy Partners for more information about designing a custom energy efficient home today.

Green building codes are meant to protect the environment that the building’s community is located in. Source: Houzz

Different communities have different building codes. These building codes are meant to ensure the safety of the homeowner. There are also green building codes that you will have to abide by in different communities that are meant to help protect the environment that the community is located in.

Communities all over the country deal with various issues, from flooding and water pollution to droughts and smog. In order to keep these issues from occurring – or from getting too bad – green building codes are implemented. These codes establish a set of minimum standards for air quality, water consumption, storm water management, building efficiency, the toxicity of materials and general waste reduction. So, for example, in order to meet water conservation codes, you might have to meet certain requirements for your plumbing fixtures and landscape designs.

Many green building codes often help reduce the environmental impact by also prohibiting certain local plants and trees from being killed during the building of a new home. This would require you to take into account the environment of your property before beginning construction.

Keep green building codes in mind and be sure contact us at Trilogy Builds for more information about green building today.

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.

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.