Here are some handy eco-friendly tips to help your kitchen get the best lighting. Source: Houzz

Every kitchen looks better when illuminated properly. Thankfully, you don’t have to choose between sustainable living and a brightly lit space. These eco-friendly lighting tips will cast a beautiful glow on your kitchen without using too much energy.

• Installing multiple switches allows you to illuminate just the part of the kitchen you’re currently working in. You can turn on as many or as few lights as you need at any given time.
• Dimmer switches also offer flexibility in lighting. Turn the lights down to conserve energy and set the mood when you’re dining, or up when you’re chopping veggies.
• Accent lighting adds visual interest to your kitchen and illuminates corners, so you don’t have to add as much overhead lighting. Have your accent lights on a separate switch, so you can turn them on only when they’re needed.
• Include large windows in your design. This way, you can bask in the glow of natural sunlight during the daytime. Sunshine is an unlimited resource, and its free.

If you’re building a new kitchen, Trilogy Partners would love to help make it the kitchen of your dreams. Contact us to learn more about our design and building services.

Insulating your home, installing energy-efficient windows, and letting lots of natural light into your home are three ways that your can save energy in your home.

Energy efficiency seems to be on everyone’s minds these days. From reducing electricity consumption to reducing fuel costs, saving energy is good for your wallet and for the planet, especially considering that most of the electricity in the US comes from burning coal. Here are a few energy saving tips to take your sustainable lifestyle to the next level.

• Insulate your home flawlessly. The better insulated your home is, the less energy you’ll need to maintain a comfortable temperature. Blown-in insulation is great for filling gaps and reducing air gaps. Spray foam insulation is also a good choice, especially in areas where moisture is a concern.
• Choose glazed, energy-efficient windows. Homes lose a lot of heat through windows. Choosing windows designed specifically for energy efficiency means reduce heat loss through he glass itself and the gaps around the window frame.
• Include plenty of windows to let light in. Sunlight heats the home and also reduces your reliance on light bulbs. Consider including a pull-down apparatus that can cover windows on chilly days to reduce heat loss.

Saving energy does not have to be time-consuming or inconvenient. Build and live responsibly, and you can minimize your energy use day after day.

When designing your home’s kitchen, here are some tips to help you choose the perfect eco-friendly appliances for your home.

Whether you’re designing a completely new kitchen or simple remodeling your existing one, choosing eco-friendly appliances is important. Not only do energy-efficient appliances lower you energy bills, but they also reduce your impact on the environment.

When selecting a refrigerator, choose an appliance that meets your needs in terms of size. A fridge that’s too small will have to work harder to keep food cold while it’s packed full. Buy too large of a fridge, and you’ll be paying to cool empty space.

Both gas and electric cooktops have environmental impacts, since most electricity in the US is generated from coal. An new eco-friendly choice is a magnetic induction cooktop, which transfers heat to pans through magnetism, meaning less heat is wasted.

Make sure any dishwasher you choose is Energy Star-rated and ensure has multiple wash cycles. You can use the “light wash” cycle to save water and energy.

The way you use your eco-friendly appliances is important too. Always fill your dishwasher completely before running it, don’t open the fridge for longer than needed, and cook in large batches to minimize oven use. With a little effort and good choices, you can live more sustainably every day.

These are several handy tips you’ll want to bear in mind for your next home remodeling project.

Remodeling your home can be stressful and time-consuming, but if you go about it in the right way, you are guaranteed success. Here are a few home remodeling tips to ensure your newly fashioned home turns about absolutely stunning.

• Hire a build-design team who has been in the business for a while and has experience creating the type of home you’re seeking.
• Be honest and clear with your remodeling team about what you want and what you don’t want. Make your needs and desires known, so that they can tailor their plans to them.
• Spend plenty of time looking online and in magazines for design ideas before you make your plans. This way, you don’t run across an idea you never thought of and wish you’d included it.
• Remember that open floor plans and spaces are popular right now, and for good reason. They make it easier for family to be together and make your home feel more welcoming.
• Include one or two “splurge” items in the design that you want, but don’t really need.

Start planning your remodel today, because only after what you establish what you really want, is it possible to achieve it.

Here are some of 2015’s hottest interior design trends. Source: WSJ.com

A new year brings new interior design trends. If you’re thinking of remodeling or building a new home this year, keep these trends in mind as you create your own designs.

• Metals are very trendy right now. Creating a layered mix of silver, gold and bronze is a unique way to call attention to your space.
• Rugs patterned with irregular shapes and swirls, similar to those you would see in a Monet painting, are great for both dining rooms and living rooms.
• Indigo blue is more popular than ever, especially when used with lighter colors such as coral and sage green.
• When choosing glass items, be sure to opt for smoky glass rather than clear glass. It gives the room a mystical, refined look.
• Graphic tiles are popular both indoors and outdoors for 2015. Unique, colorful concrete tiles are perfect for those who want to share a little bit about their lives and passions with visitors.

Start planning your remodel today, and be sure to include some of these stunning ideas. Whether you create an indigo and sage living room or a kitchen with metallic decor, you’ll have a home to be proud of in 2015.

Here are some great “green” tips to help you make the most of recycled tiles in your kitchen. Source: Houzz

Tile is pretty much a fixture of kitchen décor. However, if you’re redoing your kitchen or building from the ground up and want an environmentally conscious space, you can’t do much better than recycled backsplashes. You can get the beautiful look you want and make sure your kitchen was completely sustainably sourced. Use these tips from Trilogy Partners to learn more about common types of recycled tile.

• Use glass tile for a backsplash if you want a more modern look. While you might see some variation between tiles, it’s generally very pleasing to the eye, and is often the case with new tile as well. Recycled glass tile also uses only 30% of the energy required for new glass tile.
• Consider ceramic tile for your backsplash if you prefer a more uniform look. Unlike some recycled tile, ceramic is typically made into a uniform color that’s ideal for clean décor styles and bold, bright or darker colors, as well as white.
• Try metal tile for a bold, sexy look! Making recycled metal uses just 5% of the energy needed for new metal tile too.

Contact Trilogy Partners to learn more about recycled backsplahes and tile for your kitchen.

For anyone looking to upgrade their kitchen BUT remain eco-friendly, here are a few “green” kitchen appliances that you’ll want to consider. Source: Houzz

The appliances you install in your kitchen make a huge difference in how the overall space looks. They also say a whole lot about you as a homeowner. That’s why many people are looking for eco-friendly appliances for their kitchens. If you’re building a home or upgrading your kitchen, consider these appliances for your space. They’re good for the environment and they can make your space look great. Use this guide from Trilogy Partners to help figure out which ones are right for you.

• Consider family size when buying a refrigerator. An eco-friendly refrigerator that’s too small is going to have to work harder to cool your food when it’s packed full. Most families can use a refrigerator of about 25 cubic feet efficiently.
• Think about a magnetic induction cooktop if you use the stove a lot. You might be used to a standard gas stove, but they aren’t quite as environmentally because of how natural gas is sourced.
• Buy an oven that’s the appropriate size. They usually come in 24, 27 and 30-inch sizes, but if you don’t cook much, small works just fine. Convection ovens also use less energy.

Contact Trilogy Partners to learn more about eco-friendly appliances.

There are plenty of reasons why you’d want to “go green” and create a more eco-friendly home. Here are some tips to help you get started. Source: Houzz

For a lot of homeowners, the first things that come to mind when they hear “going green” tend to be big, expensive, and time-consuming. Examples range from installing solar panels to building walls with straw bales. However, it is important to remember that going green doesn’t have to be complicated.

So get started with these green home tips:

• Awnings can have enormous impact on household operating costs because sunlight hits the Earth at a steeper angle in summer. This means that awnings placed in the right positions can let in less sunlight in summer and more sunlight in winter, thus reducing cooling and heating costs in the respective periods.
• Likewise, it never hurts to improve the insulation on the sides of windows with a little foam. Instead of a can, invest in a foam gun for both superior control and a reduction in waste.
• Using recycled products is beneficial for the environment, but using reclaimed and repurposed products is even better. You may even find such products appealing to your sense of aesthetics, since so many of them tend to be so full of character.
• Finally, avoid products that contain contaminants such as VOCs.

Please contact us for more information.

There are plenty of perks for installing a radiant heating system, including how eco-friendly it can be. Source: Houzz

Radiant heating means that the home is heated using plastic tubing circulating warm tubing usually placed beneath the visible flooring material. . Under the right circumstances, it can make a home more comfortable to live in while also reducing its heating bill because less heat is lost while being moved to where it needs to be. In a high altitude or cold weather environment, radiant heating has become the standard choice. Trilogy Partners uses radiant heat in all its high country homes.

Here are some of the most important considerations when installing a radiant heating system:

• Since radiant heating is less common than convection heating, you should choose a contractor with experience installing such systems.
• Most heating systems of this kind are installed beneath the floors. Therefore, you may need to vacate your home for a couple of months depending on the extent of the installation.
• You need to choose your flooring material so that the electromagnetic waves can pass through. Tile and concrete are perfect, but layered engineered wood can also work.
• Learn about how such heating systems are best used. For example, they need time to heat up, meaning that they are best when continuously run at lower temperatures.
• Ask an energy-efficient consultant to study the effects on your home’s overall efficiency before you have one installed.

To learn more about less common heating systems such as geothermal heating, please contact us at Trilogy Partners.

We’re going to “bust” some of the common green roofing myths that you may have heard. Source: Houzz

When it comes to green building, there are a lot of myths out there that often dissuade people from investing in it. For example, there are more than a few green roof myths out there. However, they are just that – myths. Green roofing is actually quite beneficial. The following are a few green roofing myths to avoid:

• Green roofs only work for green buildings – Your home doesn’t have to be completely green for a green roof to be effective. In fact, a green roof can be the only green feature your home has and it will still provide you with a ton of environmental benefits.
• Green roofs cause structural issues – Your roof isn’t going to be more prone to leaks if it’s a green roof. In fact, green roofs often have longer lifespans since they add a layer of protection to your waterproof membrane.
• Green roofs are too expensive – It doesn’t cost as much as you think, and the benefits are worth the cost – including the fact that some green roofs can last twice as long as normal roofs.

Avoid these green roof myths and contact us at Trilogy Partners for more green roofing information.