Homeowner News Archives | Page 10 of 13 | EcoCoastal Homes

- December
  30
  2012
- 2999
- 0
- By ecocustomhomes
- In Homeowner News
In a Lime Plaster Job, a Leonardo Moment
What do the Sistine Chapel, the Brooklyn Bridge, the Appian Way and the outside of the straw bale house we’ve been buildinghave in common?

According to Ryan Chivers, a natural plaster guru, they’re all made with lime.

“I’m a big time research geek, so I spent a lot of time on the Internet researching stuff and reading books,” said Ryan, who runs Artesano Plaster in Boulder, Colo.

He grew up working for his family’s drywall company in Salt Lake City. There he learned to use a hawk and trowel, the traditional tools of the plasterer. Then he became involved with tree sitters fighting clear-cut logging in British Columbia.

“That kind of set me off on, ‘Why are we cutting down all these trees?’ ‘Because we are building all these houses in the states.’ So I thought I could take some action on that front and got into natural building,” Ryan said. “Because I was doing drywall, the plastering thing was a natural….

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- December
  27
  2012
- 2063
- 0
- By ecocustomhomes
- In Homeowner News
New consumer guide illuminates home energy savings
“Save Money, Save the Earth.” That motto has appeared on the cover of every edition of the Consumer Guide to Home Energy Savings since the first book was published in 1991. It’s a big promise, and one that appears on the 10th and newest edition of the book from the American Council for an Energy-Efficient Economy (ACEEE) and New Society Publishers (NSP).
But is it true? According to Jennifer Thorne Amann, ACEEE buildings program director and lead author of the Consumer Guide: “Every kilowatt-hour you avoid using saves over a pound of …..

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- December
  19
  2012
- 1655
- 0
- By ecocustomhomes
- In Homeowner News, Uncategorized
When Should Your Replace Your Windows.
Given the considerable enhancements in window technology over the past years, determining whether to replace, repair or renew windows can be as hard as making a decision on whether to replace or repair an aging car engine or go for a brand new car.

As with the car comparison, there are a number of aspects to think about when deciding the future of aging windows. This contains comfort, energy consumption, acoustics, aesthetics and function.

Discomfort related with old or insufficiently performing windows is a general criticism among building owners, managers and tenants. Windows that let a lot of heat inside during summer times or are cold in winter not only bring about

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- December
  18
  2012
- 1620
- 0
- By ecocustomhomes
- In Homeowner News, Uncategorized
When to Build or When to Renovate.
The practice of new construction, with all of the advanced green building techniques, is a lot quicker than renovating an existing structure.

But when you take into consideration having an existing building and infrastructure, we also need to know which has the greatest environmentally impact. While the simplicity of new construction might be desirable, the greater potential for decreasing the carbon impact during a renovation compared to a new construction is very evident over a 75-year life span of a home or building. The National Trust for Historic Preservation newly mentioned that the greenest building could be …….

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- December
  16
  2012
- 14967
- 0
- By ecocustomhomes
- In Homeowner News
6 celebrities with deep green homes
Celebrity power couple Gisele Bundchen and Tom Brady’s chateau-inspired hovel in L.A.’s chichi Brentwood section managed to raise a few eyebrows earlier this year not just because of its elephantine size — a staggering 22,000 square feet — but also that Bundchen, a noted environmentalist, reportedly planned to outfit it with as many eco-friendly bells and whistles as possible including solar panels, rainwater recycling systems and energy-efficient lighting and appliances. This, of course, led to the inevitable question: Can a $20 million palace with eight bedrooms and a six-car garage still be considered “green?”

The jury is still out on that one, but we do know that chez Bundchen and Brady would be a heck of a lot greener if they shaved, oh, about 15,000 square feet off the home’s total size. But hey, at least they tried. And look at Larry Hagman. The recently passed actor best known for playing a despicable Texas oil tycoon went and built himself

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- December
  16
  2012
- 2249
- 0
- By ecocustomhomes
- In Homeowner News, Technical News
Energy efficiency within reach
A Building Revolution: The Super Insulated Passive House is a guide to the methods that builders, architects and homeowners around the U.S. and Europe have used to drastically reduce home energy consumption. The movement isn’t new, and neither are most of the construction practices, which, as the film states, were first employed in the U.S. and Canada in the 1970s when the first energy crisis reared its head, threatening greatly increased home heating and cooling bills. The change was short-lived, waning in …….

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Costs of Custom Homes

The first thing most people want to know is: What does it costs to build a 3000 sqft custom home in the Atlanta, GA. market? The first thing you have to calculate is the square footage you want. Once you have that, the numbers below give you a good starting point.

Adjusted Square Foot Calculation:

Above ground finished conditioned space is 100% of actual sqft
Basement level finished conditioned space is 40% of actual.
Garage space is 50% of actual
Covered Patios / Porches are 70% of actual
Decks are 20% of actual sqft.
So a 3000 sqft home with 1000 sqft of finished basement, a 550 sqft garage and 250 sqft of covered or screened porches will have an adjusted SQFT of 3850.

New Construction:

Lot costs are typically 30% to 35% of your total budget for a home.
We find construction costs of $200 per sqft + or – 10%, plus a fixed cost of about $30k for site development costs. (Utilities, Driveway, Fencing, Landscaping, etc.) If you want a modern home with flat roofs and steel, you are looking $240 per sqft + or – 10%.
Architectural Fees / Engineering Fees typically are 7% of construction costs, + or – depending on the amount of detail you want designed.
Time to draw plans are 3 to 6 months. Time to permit is about 60 days. Time to construct a home depends on the size of the home, but typically we can do about $70K to $120k of work per month on a home; with a minimum of 6 months to construct a home.

Renovations:

In today’s market we are finding that in doing large renovations/additions to homes are saving 10% to 20% versus a new home.
Typically we see costs for new added space at $210 per sqft. Redoing existing space is about $135 per sqft.
Architectural Fees / Engineering Fees typically are 6% of construction costs, + or – depending on the amount of detail you want designed.
Time to draw plans are 1 to 3 months. Time to permit is about 30 days. Time to construct a home depends on the size of the home, but typically we can do about $60K to $100k of work per month on a home; with a minimum of 3 months to construct a home.