Green home design -
the promise of sustainable living - with contemporary inspiration
Your home should be an oasis - a green refuge.
Let us help. We plan to simplify home life. Affordably. Beautifully.
How to do it? - via the efficiencies of a "whole system" design approach to architecture and site development - and absolutely individual, site-specific building geometry and detailing.
We can help you reach - and exceed - your energy goals - all the way to Net Zero Energy*:
- climate-specific building geometry, siting - and landscaping
- passive solar heating and cooling strategies
- daylighting - window-walls, skylights, clerestories
- super insulated envelopes; high performance glass
- Energy-Star appliances and LED lighting
- solar thermal and solar electric systems
* also, DOE Zero Energy Home (ZEH).
The "provenance" of solar design? - as old as civilization - and still the premier strategy for building comfort and well-being!
Diagrams from DOE publication Passive Solar Design for the Home. |
 Diagram
2: Passive solar design using a trombe wall. |
Consider lending
your support to the "solar rights" bill - H.R.2848
Solar Opportunity and Local Access Rights Act - making it unlawful to
prohibit or penalize solar installations on single family dwellings. We
did!
High-performance building design requires a team.
We want to be yours.
Tell us about your project. Or call us - at 505-877-8047, in Albuquerque. We help you build:
- NEW CONSTRUCTION - off-grid cabins, grid-tied intentional communities, single family homes
- ADDITIONS - barns, greenhouses, courtyards, ramadas, rain harvesting systems, xeric landscapes
- PERFORMANCE UPGRADES - vintage housing, tract and historic renovations and utility remodeling
Need help troubleshooting your existing home or office? We do on-site consulting.
STEP 1: Planning
sessions
- outlining the design process
- envisioning your green home
- setting a project budget
- discovering your architectural style
- selecting the site; land ethics
- building envelope optimization
- heating and cooling strategies - and the solar option
- government incentives* for energy efficiency
- household electronics selection
- landscape - ethics and esthetics - and edible gardens.
* Tax Incentives - State, local, utility, and federal - see DSIRE
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Planning - a wholistic Design process: The process begins with conversations between you and our design professionals - to identify, then 'materialize' the project vision into planning documents. You are central to our "visioning" of the best possible outcome - an architectural production that gratifies your goals while preserving the ecological integrity of your project site and the well-being of your family and community. Planning - to clarify goals and material processes. Designing - to inspire, gratify, and nurture. |
STEP 2: Preliminary drawings Based on choices you make in the verbal Planning sessions, we prepare preliminary drawings - a first draft of proposed floor plans and elevations. We communicate with you regularly during the Preliminary drawings phase, minimizing Revisions. And if envisioning your project requires more dramatic graphics, we will produce renderings and 3-D models at this stage. |
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STEP
3: Building Plans
Developed from the Preliminary drawings you have approved, we draft final Building Plans and specifications. These are the design documents submitted for a Building Permit.
Our standard Building Plan Set includes:
- structural drawings - site, floor, foundation, roof, typical wall and foundation sections, elevations
- basic electrical and plumbing layout
- construction notes and specifications
- heat loss calculations*
- optional - cabinet elevations, window and door schedules, framing
details, finish & hardware schedules, LEED specifications**
* Building and HVAC systems designed to New Mexico Energy Code
** If seeking LEED rating - see LEED Green Building Rating for Homes (2 MB file) for certification process.
Your Project's Key sustainability
features:
- solar orientation - for natural light, passive heating; photovoltaic options
- minimum building footprint - prioritizing site preservation/remediation, minimum impact, community connection - and the psychological benefit of views!
- on-site energy production for Net Zero Energy profile
- recyclable, renewable, low embodied-energy materials
- super insulation; wall and roof system performance optimization
- high-performance windows - Heat Mirror, low-E, warm-edge spacers, inert gas
- ventilation heat recovery; natural ventilation
- fluorescent and LED lighting; solar day-lighting
- Energy Star rated appliances and fixture selection
- low to no-VOC interior finishes and furnishings
- xeriscaping and food garden provisions
- rainwater harvesting ; on-site treatment and re-use strategies
- and little things that add up - water heating and other household behaviors
Survival may be a fitness contest.
Living is still an art.
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