BUILDING FOR THE FUTURE: ENERGY-EFFICIENT AND SUSTAINABLE BUILDING PROCESSES AND PRACTICES

Learn more about building or remodeling a green home.

Building a green home is more than just putting solar panels on your roof or using non-toxic finishes. It is a complete, integrated process, thoughtfully approached and designed to maximize benefits for both the homeowner and environment. A big component of a home being “green”, is reducing energy costs. There are many ways to make a home more energy efficient and several different levels of third party certification a home can attain such as Net-Zero Ready, Net-Zero Certified and LEED Certifications.

Bend Craftsmen Company is proud to work with Earth Advantage and the Energy Trust of Oregon to help homeowners reach their desired level of energy efficiency and take advantage of special tax incentives and rebates that are offered.

Where does it begin?
The first step in building a new green home is proper orientation on your lot. Taking advantage of both winter and summer sun angles therefore reducing the energy needed to heat or cool your home.

The building envelope.
The next step in building a green, energy efficient home is a thoughtful design of the building’s shell or envelope. The goal here is to make it tight. We do this by using advanced framing techniques, installing triple pane windows, proving thorough air sealing measures and more. All this works together to create a well insulated, air-tight home that provides a higher level of comfort and reduced energy use throughout the entire home.

Systems and Fixtures.
The goal here is to reduce consumption. This is first done by careful design and analysis of heating, cooling and water needs prior to construction. Proper design and layout of where things are going to be placed and knowing where not to put things such as your furnace or water heater can have huge impacts on energy use. The follow-through is installing high performance systems and appliances. We strive to be leaders in using the latest technologies in these areas in an effort to reduce consumption. Some examples include; ductless heat pumps, energy recovery ventilators, solar hot water systems, LED lighting, water-wise plumbing fixtures and more!

Air Quality.
A well built, tight home should also be a healthy home. Air quality is of utmost importance for proper performance of an energy efficient home. Using Energy Recovery Ventilators (ERV’s), your home will always have fresh air coming in and stale air going out, also removing bacteria, pollen and other air borne allergens, creating a pleasant, easier to breathe atmosphere throughout your home. Other measures that we strive to make are by using low or no VOC paints, products and finishes, reducing the initial toxicity and off-gassing that sometimes comes with new homes.

The Environment.
One of Bend Craftsmen Company’s core beliefs is that the Earth does not belong to us, We belong to the Earth, and although there will always be some waste generated in building or remodeling a home,we strive to reduce and recycle as much of this waste as we can. Other sustainable building practices include using sustainably harvested lumber (FSC), WaterWise plumbing fixtures, low-impact site planning and construction methods, WaterWise irrigation and native plant landscaping practices and protecting the surrounding vegetation and natural environment as best we can.

Looking to talk further about building or remodeling your dream home. Give us a call today! 541-728-8214