Achieving a net-zero-energy home means that you’ll be paying zero dollars on your energy bills, while also having quite a positive effect on the environment. Source: Houzz

If you want your home to be as energy efficient as possible, then you should look into creating a zero-energy home. Achieving a net-zero-energy home means that you’ll be paying zero dollars on your energy bills, while also having quite a positive effect on the environment. The following are a few tips for achieving a zero energy home:

• Increase insulation – Make sure that you have insulated your walls, floors, ceilings, basement, attic and even your duct work and piping. This helps reduce the amount of energy that your home loses.
• Seal all holes and cracks – By using caulk and weatherstripping, you should have all the holes and cracks around your home sealed to prevent outdoor air from leaking in and indoor air from escaping out.
• Replace old windows – Upgrading your windows is an easy way to help make your home more energy efficient since older windows often leak energy through the glass or their frames.
• Replace light bulbs – Use CFLs of LEDs instead of old incandescent bulbs. These use less energy, produce less heat and last longer.

Use these tips to help achieve a zero energy home. For additional eco-friendly tips, contact Trilogy Builds today.

Eco-friendly countertops and sinks in your bathroom spaces often utilize recycled glass, rubber, and other like materials that combine to form a sleek, modern look for your bathroom’s interior design. Source: Houzz

If you’re planning on designing a sustainable home, then you should consider green building materials for every aspect of your home design. For example, using eco-friendly countertops and sinks in your bathroom spaces. The following are a few examples of eco-friendly countertops and sinks you could use:

• Countertops – Countertops made out of recycled glass combined with cement and additives as well as other recycled materials are not only a eco-friendly, but also a great way to introduce a beautiful and unique aesthetic to your bathroom design. In fact, there’s a lot of visual options when it comes to creating a recycled glass countertop, which means it’s a very flexible choice for whatever bathroom design you are planning.
• Sinks – There are many eco-friendly sink options to choose from. A rubber sink is a great way to add a sleek, modern look. For something a little more rustic and homey, use  a salvaged sink or a recycled copper or bronze sink. You can use a lot of salvaged materials for your sink, like wood or even porcelain.

Consider these eco-friendly countertop or sink ideas and be sure to contact us at Trilogy Builds today for additional eco-friendly tips.

Consider green building methods for every part of your home design, including your driveway, which can reduce storm water run-off. Source: Houzz

If you’re looking to reduce your environmental footprint as much as possible, then you should consider green building methods for every part of your home design – including your driveway. The following are a few tips for building a green driveway:

• One of the issues with typical driveways is that storm water tends to run down driveways and into a storm drain, where much of the storm water runoff will end up in nearby lakes and rivers. If you’re trying to help out the environment, then you’ll want to figure out a way to redirect storm water into the ground. This will help to prevent erosion caused by runoff. So how do you do this?
• By using a permeable surface instead of asphalt or concrete. For example, using open-cell pavers, which are concrete pavers with holes that are filled with pervious material, such as vegetation.
• Or use pervious pavers, which contain joints filled with aggregate that lets water seep between the pavers.

These are just a few ways that you can reduce water runoff and make your driveway more eco-friendly. For more information about green building techniques and how you can implement them, contact us at Trilogy Builds today.

Concrete, terrazzo, and linoleum are all eco-friendly options for bathroom floor designs. Source: Houzz

If you’re in the midst of planning out your bathroom design, then you’ve probably realized how important the flooring is going to be. Not only does it need to be durable and long lasting, it needs to be slip-resistant and water-resistant as well. If you’re also trying to build green, you’ll want an eco-friendly floor as well. The following are a few eco-friendly bathroom floor options:

• Concrete floor – Concrete is both durable, water-resistant and cost effective. To give your concrete floor some personality, choose a concrete aggregate that contains recycled materials such as porcelain or glass.
• Terrazzo floor – Terrazzo is incredibly durable and provides a unique, beautiful look. The material is basically made from chips of granite or marble that’s set in concrete and then polished. For a more eco-friendly version, choose terrazzo that uses low-VOC sealers and low-impact aggregates.
• Linoleum floor – Linoleum is fire and water resistant and antimicrobial, perfect for the bathroom. Look for adhesives labeled as no-VOC.

These are a few eco-friendly bathroom floor materials that you can use for your bathroom design. For additional eco-friendly tips and for information about our green building services, be sure to contact us at Trilogy Builds today.

If you’re struggling to decide on what direction to take with your home design, then we suggest taking a look at some of the current home building trends for inspiration. The following are just a few of the home building trends worth checking out:

• Clean lines and open spaces – Homes are being designed in more contemporary styles, which includes the use of cleaner lines and open spaces, which is accomplished by eliminating smaller rooms and using less hallways. Porcelain tiles are also a great option for achieving a wood look.

• Natural look – Engineered woods that boast lighter, more natural finishes are currently growing in popularity, as are grey, white and washed-wood finishes. Engineered woods allow you to achieve a more exotic aesthetic.

• Green building – Green building will continue to grow as more homeowners look to reduce their environmental footprint and take advantage of the savings involved, including tax credits and lower utility bills. Examples include the use of triple-glazed windows, home automation and LED lighting.  
• Virtual Design and Modeling – The technology now exists to enable a home to be modeled in 3D CAD where homes are perfected and “test driven” before construction. Trilogy Partners is pioneering this strategy with it’s Project Management Modeling. 

Consider some of these home building trends when designing your new house. For more information about implementing these home building trends, be sure to contact us online at Trilogy Partners today.

Choosing to build a net zero energy home can have a huge effect on not just reducing your environmental footprint, but on the cost of your home over its entire lifespan. You may have to invest more money into building a net zero energy home, but that the savings you’ll experience over the home’s life will be well worth it.

Source: Shutterstock.com

Once you factor in utility incentives or tax credits, your net zero energy home will only cost between 5 and 10 percent more to build than a normal home. The leftover difference will be recouped over the next 5 to 10 years in energy savings.

One of the key aspects to designing a net zero energy house is to build the most efficient building envelop that you can afford. The building envelope is the thermal barrier between the inside of your home and the outside of your home. The more effective it is, the less heat will leak out during the winter and the less cool air will escape during the summer.

Consider the benefits of designing a net zero energy home and contact us at Trilogy Builds for advice on selecting the green home design for you.

The bathroom can be one of the least eco-friendly spaces of your home if you’re not careful. Just think about how much water and energy is wasted in the bathroom everyday – not to mention the materials used in the design of the bathroom. If you’re looking to design a more eco-friendly bathroom, then consider some of the following bathroom remodeling tips:

via Houzz

When remodeling your bathroom, try to use materials that are eco-friendly. For example, using local materials, such as stone, instead of ordering materials from far way. Materials that are shipped to you have to be transported, which means that you are contributing to the use of gas and the release of exhaust. You may also want to think about using recycled materials – you can find some beautiful wood to repurpose for your vanity, for example.

Don’t forget about your fixtures either. Look for low-flow faucets and dual flush toilets. These fixtures help to reduce the amount of water that is used without sacrificing performance.

Consider some of these eco-friendly bathroom remodeling tips. Be sure to contact us at Trilogy Builds today for more information and advice concerning eco-friendly bathroom design and green building in general.

Sustainable homes have become more and more popular over time, but their appeal cannot be understood without answering two simple but not so straightforward questions. What is sustainability and why has it become so important?

Source: Trilogy Builds

Sustainability is sometimes said to be about maintaining a balance between human interests and the well-being of the planet. However, this is too simplistic, not least because human interests are reliant on the continuing well-being of our planet. Instead, it is more accurate to describe sustainability as using natural resources to meet human needs in a manner ensuring that said resources can continue to be used for said purpose in the future.

In short, sustainable practices consider the interests of a much-expanded number of stakeholders. For example, being sustainable when it comes to building a home means considering the interests of both the homeowner and the home-builders in addition to the people whose lives will be impacted as an indirect consequence of their economic choices. That said, it is important to note that sustainable practices do not provide less value to their practitioners. In fact, such practices provide more.

If you are interested in learning more about sustainable homes, please contact us at Trilogy Builds.

Green building is something that more and more homeowners and home builders are looking to employ, and for good reason. Not only are more people aware of the need for sustainable living than ever before, but implementing green building practices will end up saving you money! Green building techniques are improving every day as well – just check out the innovation of self-repairing concrete.

Source: Trilogy Partners

According to the EPA, the use of bricks and insulation uses up a lot of resources. In fact, both residential and commercial building contributes upwards of 40 percent of landfill wastes, with roughly 40 percent of global carbon dioxide emissions being linked to the construction industry.

Thankfully, new technology such as self-repairing concrete could help cut down on those numbers. Self-repairing concrete is created with an engineered bacterial that releases a calcium carbonate when mixed into the concrete as part of its waste process. This material will then fill in cracks and holes within the concrete.

Self-repairing concrete is just one of many green building innovations. For more information about green building and how you can implement it into your home design, be sure to contact us at Trilogy Builds today.

Using green building materials is a great way to lower your environmental impact. Here are 3 energy-efficient building materials that we recommend for every home project. Source: Pixabay

If you’re concerned about the impact you’ll have on the environment when building your home, then you should strongly consider using energy-efficient building materials. The following are three energy-efficient building materials that we highly recommend for every home project:

1. Recycled steel – Wood is not a very environmentally-friendly option, and a house that’s 2,000 square feet large would require between 40 and 50 trees to build. Instead, use customized recycled steel beams and panels, which also happen to be incredibly durable and resistant to high winds.
2. Cool roofing – Cool roofing materials tend to be a little more expensive, but they help reflect heat during the summers, helping to keep your home cool and efficient. This helps cut down on that expensive electricity bill.
3. Insulating concrete forms – These are basically concrete walls that are cast in place and that are inserted between two layers of insulation. Insulated concrete forms can end up cut down your energy usage by 20 percent.

These are just a few of the green home building materials that we recommend you use for your home building project. For all of your home building needs, be sure to contact us at Trilogy Builds today.