Steamboat House and Japanese Garden

These 10 elements are key essentials for sustainable homebuilding.

1. A Leadership Attitude – The owners of the home are the leaders of the effort toward sustainability and must be willing to enforce sustainable standards and practices during design and construction.
2. A Commitment to Preserving Environment and Resources – A willingness to confront the environmental and resource issues created by putting a structure where there was none before.
3. A Sustainable Lot – Choose a lot which makes sense. Some building sites are inherently better for building sustainably. Consider orientation, exposure, topography and accessibility. For example: choose a southern exposure in a cooler environment. Choose an accessible lot to minimize resources expended on infrastructure. Don’t fight the topography. Embrace it.
4. A Supportive Community -Does your community or owner’s association support sustainable standards and practices. Some towns and subdivisions restrict the use of solar panels or wind turbines.
5. An Interest in Research – Sustainable Practices and Principles require study. Technologies change quickly so it’s important to stay current.
6. A Sustainable Design Team – Do available Architects, Designers, and Engineers have the knowledge and commitment to support a sustainable project?
7. A Sustainable Build Team – Do available Builders have the knowledge and commitment to support a sustainable project?
8. A Reasonable Concept – Is your concept compatible with sustainablility. Are you willing to compromise to achieve sustainable objectives?
9. A Reasonable Budget – Is your budget adequate to fund a sustainable project. Sustainability is seldom less expensive than standard construction standards.
10. A Reasonable Timeframe – Designing and Building the sustainable home takes time. Inflexible deadlines don’t allow for design optimization or project planning.

A major addition is in the works for the National Renewable Energy Laboratory (NREL) in Golden, Colorado.  The new building will cover nearly 175,000 square feet and will make up nearly a third of NREL, it will also add 24 labs and up to 250 jobs.   The National Renewable Energy Laboratory is the U.S. Department of Energy’s primary lab for renewable energy and energy efficiency research and development.  Its goal is to find new energy efficient ways to power our homes, business and cars.

The new Energy Systems Integration Facility will be designed and built by J.E. Dunn Construction Group to meet LEED Gold certification.  “We are eager to begin construction on this unique facility that will help speed the adoption of renewable energy for everyone’s everyday use,” said Dan Arvizu, lab director.

Volcanoes have been nothing but a hassle for the last several weeks.  The Eyjafjallajokull volcano caused mayor problems for Europe with the canceling of more than 100,000 flights costing the airlines over $2 billions.  This past weekend Iceland’s main international airport was closed for three days due to the erupting volcano.

Indonesia is looking to turn the negative effect volcanoes have into a positive one.  According to Inhabitant.com, the Indonesian government recently announced plans to generate 4,000 megawatts of geothermal energy from volcanoes by the year 2014.  This could potentially offer power to 35% of Indonesia’s population who are currently without electricity.

Inhabitant.com states that, “Indonesia is really the perfect place to develop large-scale geothermal projects: the archipelago’s 17,000 islands hold hundreds of volcanoes, and all that heat could be converted to renewable electricity. But while the country holds about 40 percent of the world’s geothermal energy potential, it currently lags behind countries like the US and the Philippines in developing the technology.

Geothermal’s main limiting factor is its high upfront cost. Geothermal plants cost about twice as much as coal-fired power plants, and establishing enough plants to add 4,000 megawatts of energy will cost about $12 billion. Still, if developers can raise the dough, producing electricity from geothermal energy has lower overhead costs and causes far less pollution than coal plants.

Leaders plan to seek the funds to develop more geothermal plants from private investors, the World Bank, the US and Japan.”

Wikipedia.org writes that, “Geothermal wells release greenhouse gases trapped deep within the earth, but these emissions are much lower per energy unit than those of fossil fuels. As a result, geothermal power has the potential to help mitigate global warming if widely deployed in place of fossil fuels.”

"Sun, Earth & Science" - Creating a Zero Energy Home

We are pleased to invite you to a free environmental seminar entitled…

“Sun, Earth and Science” – Creating a Zero Energy Home

Join us for a free workshop on Saturday, Feb. 27 from 2 to 4 pm with Apres Ski Reception following, and Sunday, Feb. 28th from 1-3 pm at 238 Timber Trail Road, Breckenridge. This private custom home will be open to visit on Feb. 27 & 28 from 10 am till 5 pm.

Preview the energy saving systems inside Breckenridge’s First Zero Energy Luxury Mountain Home before the drywall goes in.  Through the collaborative efforts of an experienced team of building, design, and engineering professionals, we are pleased to invite you to see first-hand a variety of creative solutions that reduce the expected energy footprint of this 8,000 squae foot Custom Mountain home to zero!

• Learn how renewable energy systems integrate and support one another, e.g. how solar electric energy can power the pumps for a geo exchange space heating and cooling system.
• See the high performance insulation inside and outside the walls that increase heat conservation by 40%
• See various examples of engineered lumber that use 30% less material and allow for increased insulation capacity.
• Understand how to transform lighting control systems into energy management systems.

Meet the team of installers and suppliers to ask questions regarding application for your home, business or client.

Hear short presentations from:

• John Rath – Trilogy Partners, Colorado Building Company
• Joe Sundquist – Sundquist Design Group – Engineering
• Jeff Sexton – Boise Cascade – Engineered lumber package provide by Breckenridge Building Center
• Shane Aschan – The Foamers, Inc. – Insulation Technologies
• Barry Engleman – George T. Sanders – Heat calculations, piping and control layouts for mechanical systems
• Eric Atcheson – EWA Mechanical – Installation of space heating back up systems and domestic hot water
• Jim Dexter – Summit Professional Services – Geo Exchange for space heating and cooling; interior environmental control
• Dave Parker and Dave Lyskawa – SolSource,Inc. – Solar PV design and installation
• Ryan Rewitzer – Electronics by Design – Integration of whole house controls
• Chad Ballard – Paradigm Systems – Vantage energy management and lighting controls

Please join us for an Apres Ski Party directly after the Saturday seminar.  To get an accurate food count, we would appreciate your RSVP.  Please RSVP by leaving a comment on this blog, send an e-mail to  melindaf@trilogybuilds.com or by call us at 970-453-2230.

DIRECTIONS: From Frisco follow Hwy 9 South to Breckenridge.  Highway 9 will turn into Main Street after the round-about.  Go to the 2nd stop light this will be Ski Hill Road. Turn Right on Ski Hill Road and continue up the mountain for 1.3 miles to 4 O’Clock Run Road.  Turn left on 4 O’Clock Run Road.  Turn Right on Timber Trail Road and the home is located on the Right.

We look forward to seeing you Saturday, February 27th or Sunday, February 28th.

Building materials for this project were purchased from Breckenridge Building Center, Trilogy’s preferred supplier.