What is a green home?
Green homes are often visually indistinguishable from conventional homes. The difference is in the details. Designed and constructed to provide a variety of health and ecological benefits, green homes offer:
- Healthier indoor air quality – by using low toxic building materials and finishes, supplying good air flow, limiting potential for mold growth and maximizing use of hard surfaces
- Energy and water efficiency – by optimizing home and garden design and utilizing appliances that conserve energy and water
- A cleaner environment – by reducing waste, pollution and emission of greenhouse gases
- A smaller ecological footprint – by using sustainably harvested and recycled resources, as well as minimizing environmental impact from site development
- Reduced maintenance costs – through lowered utility bills and use of the highest quality durable materials
- Reduced construction impact – minimizes environmental impact from site development
Some of the environmentally conscious green features we incorporate in our developments include:
- Wood Floors – Bamboo wood flooring – fast growing high tensile strength tropical plant, grows to maturity in substantially less time than traditional hardwoods.
- Toilets – dual flush toilets throughout home (1.6/0.8 gallon), able to reduce water usage by 67%.
- Sinks – water efficient sink fixtures rated at 2.5 gallons per minute
- Showcase Windows – Low E (emissivity) Insulated Glass with double panes (Energy Star compliant)
- Daylighting – 98% of living spaces and closets are day-lit with windows and skylights
- Roof System – Techshield Radiant Barrier in roof to minimize heat gain and loss thru roof system
- Shingles – rated 30 years, light colored for low heat absorption; Metal Copper-cote roof (LEED & Energy-Star)
- HVAC – Multi-zoned 14 SEER air conditioning system, CFC Reduction in HVAC Equipment, supply and return air ducts located in interior spaces for better energy efficiency
- Insulation – High R factor insulation exceeds minimum code R-13 requirement; R-15 exterior walls, R-30 ceilings; R-26 common-walls
- Garage and Attic spaces – Insulated walls and ceilings
- Paint – Low-VOC paint (lower emissions, better Indoor Air Quality) – ICI Dulux
- Building materials – Local / Regional building materials used which require less transportation impact
- Appliances - Energy Star rated to lower annual energy usage impact
- Lighting – CFL light bulbs used in kitchens and closets and garages and exterior light fixtures, an energy efficient alternative that emits soft soothing white light
- Exterior – Traditional Mediterranean white masonry stucco – the 3 layers of concrete minimizes heat absorption and is easy to maintain
- Construction process – majority of the cardboard, glass, plastic, aluminum and metals were recycled during the entire development process. Benefits of recycling were conveyed to tradesmen and sub-contractors during the building process
- Recycling bins provided for city neighborhood recycling programs
- Site plan – sustainable small in-fill footprint, built around surrounding native trees
- Landscape – Use of native vegetation and gravel beds to minimize use of water and irrigation
