A recent study conducted by the National Association of Realtors has revealed a great deal of information about the types of neighborhoods Americans wish to live in. The Community Preference Survey showed that an astounding number of Americans would prefer to live in a walkable, mixed-use neighborhood, otherwise known as smart growth neighborhoods, over those that require them to drive between work, home, and recreational activities, according to Residential Design + Build magazine.

77 percent of Americans surveyed by the National Association of Realtors said they look for neighborhoods with pedestrian-friendly features like this one in Florida.

The survey’s results revealed that 77 percent of the respondents said they look for neighborhoods with sidewalks and pedestrian-friendly features, while 50 percent noted they would like to see improvements to existing public transportation over new roads and developments. The survey also revealed that consumers would willingly sacrifice square footage space for less driving.

Ron Phipps, the President of the National Association of Realtors, said “Realtors care about improving communities through smart growth initiatives… Realtors understand that different home buyers are looking for all kinds of neighborhood settings and that many home buyers want walkable, transit-accessible communities.”

Image Courtesy of EPA Smart Growth/Flickr via Switchboard.nrdc.org.

Florida’s First Commercial Net-Zero-Energy Building Is Generating More Energy Than It Consumes.

A few years ago in central Florida, John Santarpia had an idea. He was the president and CEO of a credit union and felt he needed to do something to improve its image. He and his colleagues had found a lot in Lakeland, a city of about 100,000 residents, with an ice cream shop on it. Knowing the community wouldn’t be in favor of losing the ice cream shop, Santarpia decided to build a flagship building for his credit union around it. Whatever it was, he wanted to make it green. What resulted was the state’s first commercial net-zero-energy building.

The difference is that Santarpia was interested in new technology and was attracted by the fact that there were no net-zero commercial buildings in Florida yet, Tim Hoeft, a sustainable engineer atStraughn Trout Architects, said. Santarpia wanted his to be the first.

Although it is still loosely defined, net-zero usually means a building that produces as much energy as is consumed. The Department of Energy‘s website lists eight net-zero-energy commercial buildings up and running in the country. Most are small and in mild-weather environments. But the DOE number could be misleading because it relies on owners to voluntarily submit their building’s information. At the New Buildings Institute, Technical Director Mark Frankel estimates the real number could be closer to 25, with about 50 more in construction.

Santarpia’s building is among those not listed by the DOE. Through the construction and rebranding process, the credit union’s name changed from Community First to Magnify, in part to reflect a new, green identity. The decision to make the building net-zero evolved on its own. First, Santarpia and his colleagues looked into certifying the building under the U.S. Green Building Council‘s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. Once they figured out how to do that, they looked into putting solar panels on the roof.

During construction, Santarpia sought help from local design and construction professionals as well as the local utility company. They ended up with a rectangular-shaped building with just over 4,000 sq-ft of space, high ceilings and an upward-sloping roof. It opened in August 2009.

The building combines control systems with its “double roof” concept. Its top layer of solar panels shades it from direct heat gain. The space between the roof layers, along with its slope, helps the hot air convect, or rise and disperse, instead of raising the temperature in the building.

Solar panels on the roof generate energy, although the building still draws from the grid when it needs to. Other energy-saving mechanisms include using Energy Star-labeled appliances, using equipment to shade the inside from Florida’s hot sun and applying high-performance insulation to further reduce solar heat gain. A utility bill in October of last year confirmed the net-zero claim when it found that the building was generating more power than it was using. Forty-five percent of the energy produced in the panels goes back into the grid.

Net-zero has potential in a booming industry

In theory, at least, there is a big pot of money that entrepreneurs with net-zero ambitions can draw from. Each year, more than $600 billion is spent on new construction and renovation of commercial buildings, according to the Commercial Buildings Consortium (CBC). But adding the technology to commercial buildings — which use 40 percent of the country’s energy and make up 40 percent of its greenhouse gas emissions — is a challenge.

Last month, President Obama announced the Better Buildings Initiative, which sets a target to improve commercial buildings energy efficiency by 20 percent over the next decade.

Depending on how they’re defined, net-zero-energy buildings may take what Obama envisions one step further. Usually, net-zero refers to buildings that don’t use any more energy than they produce. Once the buildings are running, they must meet the energy rules set before construction to stay true to the net-zero claim.

Two reports released last month by the CBC detail ways for new buildings to achieve net-zero-energy status.

The CBC, an umbrella organization that includes more than 430 organizations representing commercial building interests, says no formal definition exists for net-zero. Both reports lay out a “directional goal” to get there. One focuses on technology barriers, while the other looks into market barriers like building codes and standards.

Jeffrey Harris, senior vice president for programs at the Alliance to Save Energy, says that the magnitude people are talking about for net-zero is an 80 percent reduction of energy consumption from today’s levels.

Their small, one-story size gives net-zero buildings plenty of daylight. Mild-weather environments allow them to ease use of air conditioning and heat. It’s also hard to put them in urban environments because shading from nearby buildings will affect natural lighting.

‘Keep building standards flexible’

One unintended consequence of building many of these with the available technology could lead to a groups of small, low-level buildings spread out in a sprawl. The CBC doesn’t want this to happen.

A way to avoid this would be to be flexible about standards. A new 30-story building may need 10 times as much energy as a three-story building, Harris said, but it could still produce as much energy on a square-foot basis. That 30-story building may not be self-sufficient, but it would still save energy.

Harris identifies three immediate areas to help achieve net-zero: integrated design, efficient control systems and lifetime performance assurances. In other words, a building’s design process must include input from designers at all levels. Its control systems must work together, and it needs a system to monitor its performance.

Harris describes integrated design as “making sure the new building’s team brings in energy efficiency teams to take account of how changes in one system can affect another.”

Diana Lin, a program manager with the National Association of State Energy Officials, said the process could include lighting designers, engineers, contractors and other “downstream actors.”

“Oftentimes, a building owner comes in with an idea and an architect designs it” and it stays at that, Lin said. What could result is an inability to understand how a building’s many different systems work together. Bringing all levels of designers in at an early stage would give them a chance to provide input. It would also help developers understand how a building’s different systems interact, Lin said.

The Magnify building, which used a lot of the same building processes later laid out by the CBC reports, is an ambitious venture for a credit union. The investment in it won’t pay for itself for maybe 15 years. Santarpia said all the press coverage and attention has led to new customers. But most mid-sized credit unions can’t afford to wait that long for money to come back.

Source: The New York Times– Edited by Amanda McLeman, Consulting-Specifying Engineer, www.csemag.com

Did you know April is considered New Homes Month? If you’ve been thinking about planning and building a new home, now is definitely a great time find information on constructing your dream home! Current homeowners looking to build a new home and prospective homeowners alike can find lots of beneficial information on the National Association of Home Builders website. There you can find resources on the home building process, as well as the basics on financing a home and so much more information that can help make the process of becoming an educated consumer a lot less stressful.

Trilogy Partners can help you create the home of your dreams! Since 1998, we have partnered with our clients to create custom homes throughout the Colorado mountains. We use an integrated design-build process to serve our clients from concept to completion. Visit our website or contact us to learn how we can help you build the mountain home you’ve always dreamed of!

Contact Trilogy Partners to begin planning your new home!

Image Courtesy of Trilogy Partners.

Last month we told you about the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) survey study that was presented at the NAHB International Builders’ Show, which revealed what builders expect new homes to be like within the coming years. That survey study predicted that homes will become greener and smaller by 2015. Recently, the NAHB told Builder magazine exactly how small they expect homes to be in a matter of two years.

According to Builder magazine, the average home is currently about 2,380 square feet in size, but the NAHB expects that number will drop to 2,150 square feet by 2013. Stephen Melman, the director of economic services for the NAHB, noted that affordability is driving all the decisions when it comes to new homes. He said that home buyers, especially those looking at custom homes, are saying “This is how much I can spend. How can we make it fit?”

One way smaller homes will achieve an open feeling as the average home size decreases is through a spacious, open floor plan. Many consumers have noted that a great room, as opposed to several smaller rooms, is the No. 1 item on their wish list for a new home. Additionally, walls are being eliminated, ceilings raised, and brighter, more interesting materials are being used to make spaces fee larger.

We found this information to be very interesting and intriguing. If you would like to read more, check out the article “The Shrinking New Home” on the Builder magazine website.

Photo credit: Nahb.org.

by Bill Sutton | Green architecture is definitely not black and white.   Green architecture is inherently organic and integrated.   There are currently many varying approaches and schools of thought behind this.   I am no architect but I do have a huge appreciation for the art.  I thoroughly enjoy the very few times in my day job as a construction manager when I’m able to sketch out details in the field or use my architectural drawing skills to get my idea across to the team.

I have started to notice the following trends in the green architecture arena.

1.) Passive Design – Orienting the building so that it is able to use the natural warmth and light from the sun. Just as important is the proper insulation of the building so comfort is preserved throughout the day.  Another critical item is to make sure that the most efficient windows are used on the exterior of the building. The passive house (haus) system has become widely popular and they are able to use these methodologies to save over 80% energy usage when compared to conventional design. Here is a link to their website:http://www.passivehouse.us/passiveHouse/PassiveHouseInfo.html .

  • Trombe walls
  • Thermal bridge free construction
  • High efficiency glazing
  • Conserving resources through design

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KMfaSJBy4Bg&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]


2.) High Performance Design – High performance design includes pushing the limit in all areas of the building. This includes the most efficient and typically most expensive envelope (exterior skin of the building), mechanical system, the electrical system, the lighting system, and even the plumbing system. ASHRAE publishes a truly great resource called High Performance Magazine which spotlights these types of buildings throughout the world, for more information visit here: http://www.hpbmagazine.org/

  • Geothermal (Ground Source) heating & cooling
  • Chilled beam technology
  • Integrated design
  • Technology pushing performance

    • [youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hIX-J83lmaI&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

3.) Smart Design – Smart design refers to the proper sizing of the building and it’s systems to fit the needs of the occupants. Traditionally buildings and their systems have been grossly oversized when compared to their actual needs and functionality. We are starting to see more homes and commercial buildings being built with this simplistic approach which can have major benefits for the environment and energy usage. My favorite local example of this is the Lofts at 909 –http://loftsat909.com/lofts/ . They used an old abandoned school and converted it into ultra modern, compact urban apartments. They look really awesome.

  • Shared spaces
  • Multi-Functional spaces
  • Easily convertible spaces
  • Emerge Alliance

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f-iFJ3ncIDo&feature=player_embedded[/youtube]

    Feel Free To Share Others!

  • Once Deborah Maher took out her whirlpool tub, she was able to add extra cabinets and expand the shower. Elisabeth Arriero – earriero@charlotteobserver.com

Lake Norman resident Starr Miller considered getting rid of the whirlpool tub in her master bathroom when she realized her housekeeper was in it more than she was.

“She has to climb in it and clean it every week. It’s a total dust magnet,” said Miller, who works as an interior designer in Davidson. “Every time I walk by it all I think is, ‘That’s 42 square feet of wasted space.'”

Miller is not alone.

Patricia Dunlop, a spokeswoman for the American Society of Interior Designers, said many people are opting to replace their oversize tubs and Jacuzzis for extra vanity, shower and storage space.

“We all have more products and appliances in the bathroom than we used to,” said Dunlop. “We want the space to be calm and relaxing, so having the ability to put those items away and keep the space clear and serene is important.”

And while most interior designers and real estate agents agree it’s still important to have at least one tub in the house for bathing children, animals and other needs, oversize tubs are now seen as a frivolous use of space.

Dunlop cited one study that found the average whirlpool tub is used only seven times during its lifetime as reasoning for the shift in home design priorities.

Residents would rather invest in shower amenities that will create a spa experience, such as multiple shower heads, benches, steam showers and jets, said Miller.

Huntersville resident Deborah Maher said remodeling the master bathroom was her first priority when she moved into her home in Birkdale.

While the bathroom had an elegant whirlpool tub with stone work all around, it also had a vanity with only one drawer and a tiny shower.

Maher decided she was through with large tubs after living at her previous residence in Cornelius, she said.

“All I ever did was dust it and put decorations around the edges,” she said. “I never used the thing.”

So Maher worked with Miller to redesign her bathroom. With the help of sub-contractors, they removed the tub, expanded the shower by 2 square feet and added plenty of cabinet space for the couple’s bathroom supplies.

Maher said she’s most pleased with the shower, which now features a bench, a rain shower head, a handheld shower head and a built-in shelf.

Miller said she has many clients like Maher who are opting for larger showers over whirlpool tubs. Still, Miller said homeowners should be cognizant of how the remodeling will affect resale value.

“It’s more about how you do it than whether you do it,” she said. “If you take it out and do something fabulous with the rest of the bathroom, you can come out even or above. If you take it out and don’t do anything, I would suspect you’re taking value out of your home.”

Kathy Byrnes, a Realtor with Re/Max Executive at the Lake, said most real estate agents still consider a bathroom to be a full bath even if there is no tub. What really decides the classification is whether there’s a shower in the room, she said.

Source: Charlotte Observer

If you haven’t heard of green architecture, you might be living under a rock, which is actually a pretty green way to live, taking advantage of the natural coolness of a rock-formed shelter. And if you’ve heard more than enough about eco-conscious, environmentally friendly and green stuff, test your knowledge and see if you’re retaining the information or are still green behind the ears. To take the quiz go here.

Have you connected with Trilogy Partners on Facebook yet? If not, be sure to stop by our page the next time you log into your Facebook account and click the like button on our page. By liking our Facebook page, you’ll receive our posts in your newsfeed, so you’ll never miss an update. Our Facebook page is the place to be for all the news and information in sustainable building practices, design tips and trends, events and happenings, and so much more!

Once you’ve liked our page, do us a favor by suggesting it to all of your Facebook friends. We currently have 78 people following us on Facebook, and we’d love to see that number rise to 100 over the weekend, but we need your help to accomplish that goal. Also, be sure to like The Haitian Orphan Rescue Program on Facebook, too. The Haitian Orphan Rescue Program is a charity co-founded by Trilogy Partner Michael Rath that provides permanent shelter for orphaned and abandoned children in Haiti.

We hope to see you around the Trilogy Partners Facebook page soon!

All that glitters at Toronto show

BY DANIEL DROLET, POSTMEDIA NEWS | What’s hot in interior design this year? The recent Interior Design Show in Toronto highlighted four scorching trends:

Bling, the show was awash in glitter and gleam.

Crystals, often Swarovski, were embedded in bathroom fixtures, sprinkled on window blinds and wallpaper, sparkling as ember beds in gas fireplaces and twinkling as buttons in upholstered furniture. What wasn’t decorated with crystals was shiny, as in gleaming glass kitchen counters, polished surfaces and flashy accessories.

“We treat faucets like jewelry,” says Robert Calabrese of Aquabrass (aquabrass.com), a Concord, Ont.-based distributor whose new line of bathroom faucets called AquaCristal brings bling to the bathroom.

Sun Glow Window Coverings of Canada (mysunglow.com) is adding Swarovski trim and pulls to some of its window blinds for what the company calls “delicate shimmer.”

“It’s a fun decorative element,” says Sun Glow’s Diane Nevins of the crystal, adding the bling is particularly popular with young people -“a generation of bling and everything that sparkles.”

Black

Black is still a big neutral. IKEA, for example, cast aside its Swedish reserve and presented an all-black kitchen that positively radiated edge: black counters, cupboards, sinks, faucets, pots, pans and backsplashes, even a black stove (well, anthracite, actually).

“Black is sexy and cosy,” says IKEA’s Andrea Mills, explaining that with its black kitchen, IKEA was trying to “kick it up a notch and show the maturity of IKEA’s design.”

Anna Portanova of Frini Furniture in Woodbridge, Ont., says black speaks to glamour, which is coming to the fore as we shake off our recent economic funk. It is also -along with white and grey -part of a palette of neutrals that can be used to show off textures, geometric patterns and shapes, and be a base for bursts of colour.

Things may be black, but they are often shiny, or accompanied by gleaming mirrors, metals, Plexiglas and acrylics. (See Bling).

Bespoke

The word means custom made, and it speaks to the sense of luxury that is finding its way back into design.

Paul Smith of Kravet Canada (kravetcanada. com), a firm that sells fabrics and furnishings, talked of “quiet sophistication and understated elegance” in the new fabric designs, which include linens, silks and ethnic motifs.

He also talked of a return to colours, including lilac, mauve, and strong greens and blues.

Strong colours were in evidence at Elte (elte.com/ Furniture), a Toronto furnishings company whose Second Life rugs combine the green mantra of “reduce, reuse” with cuttingedge appeal and unique products.

Second Life rugs are Persian carpets that are 40 to 80 years old, explains Elte’s Ken Metrick. The carpets are stripped of their initial colour and redyed in vibrant contemporary hues.

Metrick explains that people are buying neutral furniture and using the carpets to give their rooms a colour pop.

As for carpets that are too worn to be reused in whole, they get cut up and the pieces are sewn into patchwork carpets and redyed.

Also very distinctive -and high-end -were gorgeous textured wallpapers by Roya Manufacturing and Supply Canada (royacanadainc.com). Roya’s Prime Walls wallcoverings (primewalls.com) includes its Shardana collection featuring embossed metallic surfaces and handplaced beads. (Did I mention shine was a trend?)

British

One of the most visited collections at the show was of British-inspired furniture from UpCountry, (upcountry.com).

A traditional-looking sofa upholstered to render a Union Jack attracted a lot of attention -and so did travel trunks with the same design.

UpCountry’s Andrew Ward says the wedding this April of Prince William and Kate Middleton is stirring up interest in all things British.

There was a vintage feel to the British collection, and it made use of several reclaimed or repurposed pieces. (Repurposed or reused pieces were every-where at the show).

Like so much else, the UpCountry collection -however traditional in feel -was set off by shimmering crystal lamps.

That British appeal wasn’t limited to the living room: Victoria + Albert (vandabaths.com) is a British company that was in Toronto to present a new line of luxury bathtubs and sinks. Made of South African limestone, the tubs and sinks are actually a mix of powdered rock and resin crafted in slim, fluid forms.

The company’s Jonathan Carter says the rock and resin mixture is naturally warm to the touch and as a result these sleek bathtubs keep their heat longer.

After a weekend at the show, a nice hot bath sounded like a fine idea.

© Copyright (c) The Calgary Herald

Sturm College of Law | As the “green movement” in America progresses, many devotees of architecture and preservation are envisioning tall glass buildings made of copper, stone, or other materials that will save the environment or our wallets.  However, one inevitably wonders why we are building new “green” structures when we could just use the ones we already have.  Reusing an old water bottle instead of buying a new one is a great idea.  Why not reuse the old building instead of building a new one?

That is exactly what the National Trust for Historic preservation and preservationists across the country are advocating.  America has thousands of commercial and residential structures simply lying in ruin or waiting for new use or restoration.  The catch phrase amongs preservationists is now, “the greenest building is the one already built.” Many historic structures are uniquely suited for being brought up to LEED certification.

With this in mind, the National Parks service is considering cost effective options for many of its historic sights including Ft. Sumter, which sits in Charleston Harbor, South Carolina.   A preliminary project is underway to evaluate the feasibility of installing solar panels and a backup fuel cell generator.  The Fort currently runs on diesel and saps power from the local power grid.  The team is considering installing the panels on a pier or on the roof of the museum as to not disturb the historic structure.

The major challenge facing green builders is striking a balance between new green construction, refurbishing historic structures in a sustainable way, and outright traditional preservation efforts.  Many warn about confusing a building fad with the true work of preservation.

These two schools of thought clashed recently in New Orleans.  Against the wishes of the Vieux Carré Commission (a preservationist group that works to protect New Orleans’ famous French Quarter structures), the New Orleans City Council approved the first use of solar panels on a house in the French Quarter.  The Council required panels to be black and angled in a particular way to best blend in with the house’s roof.  And despite the protests of the Vieux Carré Commission, many New Orleans residents remarked that the Council’s decision is consistent with the goal of making the French Quarter a vibrant, livable community.  One remarked, “The French Quarter is not some sort of outdoor museum.”  People live and work in New Orleans and it should not be made into Williamsburg, Virginia.  Also expressed were the property rights of an owner of a historic structure

In the meantime there is still no better way to build green than using what already exists.  Building techniques can be utilized to reduce harm to the original structure while newer and more efficient technologies can be integrated into the building.  Green buildings allow their occupants to appreciate the past and utilize a sustainable structure that has its place in the modern world.

Royce DuBiner majored in History at Goucher College and is currently pursing his JD at the University of Denver Sturm College of Law.  His interests are History, Preservation, and the South.

Source: triplepundit.com

965 N Ten Mile Dr. , Unit A1 Frisco, CO 80443
 Phone: 970-453-2230

Email: information at trilogybuilds dot com
 Facebook: TrilogyPartners
 Twitter: @trilogybuilds
 Instagram: trilogybuilds
 Youtube: The Trilogy Partners Channel
 Houzz: trilogy-partners

 
↑