Here’s an interesting piece in the LA Times about the award-winning restoration of four Hollywood bungalows.

The homes were nearly demolished before they were restored, with housing for low-income and special-needs tenants in mind. The paper reports that original details include built-ins and pull-down dining tables.

It’s good to see existing properties getting an update and praise for their restoration.

We’re proud to share the story of this contemporary masterpiece we completed with assistance by Woodhouse Post and Beam.

In this case, the home of their dreams was a long time in the making. With thoughts of building a retirement home in scenic Colorado, the owners discovered the marvel of a timber frame home.

The Southern Yellow Pine timber frame is accented by the meticulous attention to detail paid to every aspect of the house. This home is a culmination of what it means to design beautifully, with sustainability in mind and affordably while showcasing the range of timber frame design.

At the heart of the home is a custom fireplace featuring intricate tile work and custom shelving. The windows look out over the Breckenridge Golf Course and across the valley to the Ten Mile Range. Simplicity in decoration enhances the inherent beauty of this house. The porches prove to be a peaceful place to relax and enjoy Colorado’s breathtaking views.

Trilogy Partners used the latest in building technologies and green materials including Murus SIP panels and a hybrid heating system.

We’re focused on our Net Zero Energy home and that focus on sustainability is seen around the world. In fact, skyscrapers may be the next big thing in green building.

Check out this Wall Street Journal story featuring an interview Malaysian architect Kenneth Yeang, winner of the prestigious Aga Khan Award in Architecture for his pioneering work in sustainable building. His insights talk about the challenges in sustainable building and how they’re being handled in Asia.

We build homes for people who appreciate a high level of detail and creativity. This home at 265  Long Ridge Drive is located on the Breckenridge Jack Nicklaus Golf course. Currently for sale, it features 2 stunning master suites and a much sought after location. 300 day a year of sun, world class golf out the back door and all the amenities combined with Trilogy craftsmanship make this a one of a kind, world class mountain retreat.

When you live in Colorado, it’s kind of hard not to be inspired by your surroundings. It’s amazing how much surroundings matter. It’s not only the temperature, wind, weather and altitude. It’s the trees, the mountains, the snow, and the amazing beauty that is the backdrop for everything we do.

Architectural Digest’s feature using one-sentence quotes by architects is a simple way to get inspiration for your own personal home.

Among some of the comments:

“The use of bold color in spaces that you only spend a short amount of time in, such as a foyer, breezeway or gallery, will make them more memorable and interesting.” —John Barman

Focus your energy and budget on the rooms where you and your family spend most of your time. The kitchen, family room and bathrooms should be as beautiful—if not more beautiful—than the living room or dining room. —Allan Greenberg

Allow for the “in-between” spaces to occur by employing light and shadow as a material. —David Jameson

And one of our favorite quotes, which we also have on our Web site, is from Henry David Thoreau: “It’s not what you look at what matters, it’s what you see.”

If you’re wondering about how to judge whether a product is green, here’s five good tips from Residential Design & Build magazine’s John D. Wagner.

1. Improves indoor air quality.

2. Uses recycled/recyclable materials.

3. Reduces water consumption.

4. Is sustainably harvested.

5. Reduces fuel consumption (carbon footprint) during manufacture, delivery, installation and use.

As Wagner writes, it’s easy to separate what’s “green” from what’s “greenwashed” if you keep these 5 basic green principles in mind: “When you do this, you’ll find that green building really is a rather old-fashioned approach to building. It produces tight, well-vented, low-maintenance structures that don’t use lots of fuel to heat and cool themselves, and contain nontoxic products and materials that don’t permanently deplete their sources when harvested.”

Shane Aschan, owner of The Foamers Inc., which is based in Silverthorne, managed the insulation process for Breckenridge’s first custom Net Zero home. He sprayed a high-density closed cell foam insulation under the slabs of the home before the concrete was poured.

We wanted to ensure that the inside of the home was insulated to the highest degree possible and that the in-floor radiant heat will perform efficiently.

The exterior walls of the home were insulated with 3 to 3 ½ inches of polyurethane closed cell foam. The roof was insulated with 6 ½ inches of polyurethane closed cell foam.

Ashcan says: “One of the builder criteria we needed to meet was to produce an event flat surface of the finished foam to help the other subcontractors do their work efficiently.”

Colorado Building Co. insulated the exterior of the home using Dow Building Solutions Styrofoam Residential Sheating.

Karen Durfee with Dow Building Services, which is based in Denver, says that one square foot of properly installed Styrofoam insulation of one inch thick can avert more than 1 ton of CO2 emissions during a building’s average life.

Plenty of other publications and organizations are paying attention to going green in homes, and that includes National Geographic.

Here are few of the tips from National Geographic’s “True Green Home” book on how to limit the need for air conditioning in your home, and they’re things you should consider during the design process.

• Position your home in relation to daily sunlight and wind flow. That will help you use nature to your benefit, National Geographic says.
• Plant trees with a plan, on the sides of the house that get more sun, to reduce the need for artificial cooling.
• Embrace the openness, with patios, courtyards and fountains that can “help create a more comfortable, livable habitat without having to rely on artificial cooling.”

We worked with Joe Sundquist of Sundquist Design Group in Conifer to reduce the need for additional energy in the Breckenridge’s first custom Net Zero home.

“To address the owners and builder’s desire to make this building energy efficient, we wanted to minimize unnecessary framing, while allow for increased insulation wherever possible,” Sundquist says.

We used manufactured lumber products purchased through the Breckenridge Building Center.

• Heavy timer members create the structural framing system.

• Exposed wood beams function as structural support elements.

• Boise Cascade engineered wood products typically uses only half of the wood fiber compared to ordinary lumber. The increased stud spacing and greater insulation coverage, which allowed the home to have about 30 percent more insulation.

Next week we’ll be focusing on the insulation and other areas of the home.