Image Credit: www.connectyourhome.com

Saving money is a top priority for many homeowners. And as more people learn about the money savings benefits of high-performance and energy efficient homes and upgrades, the demand for these improvements is growing.

If you are among the growing number of homeowners who are planning to make major energy efficient upgrades to your existing home, or if you are working with your home builder to incorporate high-performance features into your home you may be wondering what the top energy efficient features and upgrades are.

According to ENERGY STAR studies, the average household’s heating and cooling expenses account for more than half of the energy bills, while about 30% goes to lighting and appliances, with the remainder of energy costs are from heating water (source: Bankrate.com). It is important to note how many factors come into play with the efficiency of a heating and cooling system, however: insulation, windows, thermal envelope, duct work integrity, and the heating and cooling systems themselves.

Suzanne Shelton, CEO of one of the top sustainability marketing research firms, the Shelton Group, says when it comes to what buyers are looking for, 47% look for ENERGY STAR appliances, 44% want high-efficiency windows, and high-efficiency HVAC equipment is important to 30% of customers (source: EcoHome Magazine).

While an efficient HVAC might not be the most glamorous selling point on it’s own, when taken into combination with energy efficient window upgrades that are necessary for better performance and are a top point for home buyers, getting control over your home’s heating and cooling is a top priority for the comfort and value of your home-not to mention your pocketbook. That is not to say that appliances and lighting aren’t important, nor should they be ignored-they make up a sizable chunk of your energy costs and should be made a priority as well.

It is important to approach each home and project on an individual basis, beginning with an energy audit especially if the home was built more than 5-10 years ago. You can also find ENERGY STAR partners in St Louis to help your begin your energy efficient upgrades and construction projects to help clarify the process and what is right for your home by searching the ENERGY STAR website..

This custom home, built by Hibbs Homes and designed by Architect Kim Spurgeon, was recognized by the City of Kirkwood as an Infill of Merit.

Building a new home is not about the builder. Sound funny? Let me explain. In my opinion, the builder is only as good as his team. Proof in point – a new home we recently built in Kirkwood, Missouri. The home was just recognized by the Kirkwood Landmarks Commission as an “Infill of Merit,” an award that recognizes a new, single family home that fits comfortably into the existing neighborhood and is found compatible through architectural style, and the use of scale, proportion, materials, textures and details. Since Hibbs Homes is primarily an infill builder these are goals we have for every home we build, but there was special emphasis placed on this home by the team.

You may have noticed I’ve used the word “team” twice, so let me explain what I mean. When the homeowner first selected Hibbs Homes to build their new home, they also selected architect to Kim Spurgeon to complete the team. Kim is well known and respected in the city of Kirkwood, and is an award winning architect who has designed many homes in the community- a community in which she lives.

Working together, as a team, we were able to meet our clients’ goal to design and build a home that fit seamlessly into the neighborhood. That was very important to our client, and as infill builder, it’s important to me. Our client had an idea of what they wanted the home to look like, and after several meetings we were able to flush things out. During the design process, I offered thoughts and suggestions on construction materials, costs and how various design elements would affect the budget. We met frequently during the design process to make sure we were still on track with the design and budget.

This team effort worked to perfection. Not only did we have an award winning home, but one that came in on budget. Building a new home can be a fun and rewarding experience, if you have the right team working in the right direction.

Planning custom spaces for kids or adding eccentric touches to the spaces within your home can create special memories that your kids will remember for years to come. Here are a couple of simple DIY projects that can make your home a creative space for kids, and the best part is that you can do them in one weekend…

Add Some Chalkboard Paint to the Kitchen-Grab a can of magnetic primer and chalkboard paint and get creative. You can convert an old, wooden-paneled fridge into a communications and scribbles center, or create a space on the backdoor for messages and artwork. Start by priming and/or sanding the surface if it is wooden. Add a coat of Rustoleum magnetic primer (available at many hardware stores) according to the directions, and then finish with chalkboard paint.

Hang a Swing from the Ceiling Beams-If you happen to have an area in the basement or garage without a finished ceiling, use hooks and bolts to hang an old fashioned tire swing, a porch swing for two, or a traditional single seat swing you can pick up from the hardware store. If you’re feeling particularly inspired, this project would even work well in a bedroom if you can find a good spot that has a sturdy ceiling beam.

Build a Clubhouse Under the Stairs-Now this is a project that can be as simple or elaborate as you’d like. Kids love to have their own special spaces, hence the childhood fascination with forts and clubhouses. So why not transform that awkward, unused space under the stairs into a clubhouse? You can simply add some small furniture and curtains to create the space, or you could go all out and add drywall, windows, doors, and a siding like the one pictured left from Oleana Boutique’s blog. Either way, we can guarantee this will become your little one’s favorite space in the house (and it might even encourage your kids to keep their toys out of the main living space!).

A thermal image from an energy audit, credit www.energytribe.com

As the price of energy continues it’s perpetual climb, the only way you can really combat the rising costs is by decreasing your usage. Many St Louis families are trading in their gas guzzling vehicles for better fuel efficiency, and an increasing number of our clients are paying closer attention to the energy efficiency of their new custom homes as well.

While energy efficiency may seem like a  like a nebulous concept, there are tools available to homeowners that measure their home’s energy efficiency and to help determine what steps can be taken in order to reign in their usage. Whether you’re considering a small upgrade or a complete energy efficient renovation, the first step towards improving your home’s energy efficiency is performing an energy audit.

One of the most common energy audits on the market today is the Home Energy Rating System, or HERS. This audit can be completed by an authorized professional and assigns each home a score to determine the it’s efficiency. The HERS score takes into account many energy efficiency factors such as on-site energy production (such as solar panels), and energy usage such as that by lighting and appliances, and the results of a blower door and infrared camera test to evaluate the home’s thermal envelope and how many times the air within the home is exchanged with the outside. You can learn more about what happens during an energy audit by checking out our interview with Marc Bluestone, a registered energy auditor with Home Green Home.

After factoring together the audit results homeowners can determine and prioritize which upgrades and renovations can be done to save hundreds, and even thousands of dollars each year on home energy costs. While most often performed during the construction or renovation of a home, these test are also becoming increasingly common during the inspection phase of a home’s sale so many homeowners are opting to have these test done prior to listing to correct any issues, and even to help aid in the marketing of their homes.

You can find a home energy auditor by contacting the St Louis Home Builder’s Association, or by contacting your local gas or electric utility. It’s perhaps one of the best tools a homeowner has to combat the rising costs of energy.

Unfortunately there are also many storm chasing, fly-by-night operations that are poised to take advantage of homeowners who have found themselves in a bind and in need of repairs.

When hiring a contractor for a home renovation or repair project the most important thing you can do is a little bit of homework before making their selection – it can save thousands of dollars and can help make sure you get a quality job for your money.

Here are a few important tips for selecting a general contractor for your storm repairs, renovations, or additions:

Keep it Local – Avoid the storm chasers who roll into town specifically to take advantage or storm victims and support your local economy by hiring a contractor in St. Louis, and preferably one headquartered within a reasonable driving distance to your home. By keeping it local you may also shave some costs and time off of your project because subs and materials are more likely to come from local suppliers.

Check Credentials – Make sure that your contractor is a member of a nationally recognized, professional organization such as the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), the local chapter of the Home Builders Association (HBA), or National Association of the Remodeling Industry (NARI). It’s easy to determine their affiliation by looking for membership affiliation on their website, or simply by asking them during your initial conversation. Many organizations will also list member companies and contractors on their websites, which can also be a great way to start your start your contractor search. These memberships are important because they support their reputation, but many of the associations also require ongoing education as part of their membership, meaning you can be confident your builder is up to date and knowledgeable.

Check the BBB – One of the best resources for customers who are considering doing business with anyone new, it only takes a few seconds to search for a builder’s name or company on the Better Business Bureau’s website to see if there are any past complaints, to check out their rating, and make sure they are approved.

Nothing Beats a Referral – Happy clients develop a good relationship with their contractor over the course of their home project, and the contractor should be happy to pass along contact information for a few past clients. But be wary if they can’t, or won’t, give this information to you – this red flag could mean they haven’t been in business very long, or that they have a series of bad projects in their past.

When hiring a general contractor it may be tempting to jump to the lowest bid blindly, however taking a company’s track record and qualifications into account when making you decision can prevent a lot of hassle, wasted money, and disappointment.

A shot of the exterior of the ranch home we will be renovating to a 1.5 story, energy efficient home in Olivette, MO

With the recent economic downturn, and subsequent drop in home values, many homeowners are deciding to stay put and renovate their existing homes, and recent reports show that this trend will continue. And as you might guess, the process of providing the tight thermal envelope needed for an energy efficient home becomes a little more challenging with a renovation project.

We are just beginning an interesting home renovation in Olivette, Missouri-an older community about 15 miles west of downtown St. Louis. We are working with a wonderful young family to turn a 60-year-old ranch into a story and a half, “new” home. Part of the project will include removing the existing roof and adding attic trusses for a three bedroom, two bath second floor with a loft.

As they say, this is a perfect home for the project because it has good “bones.” But, as our energy audit found, this home does not have a good thermal envelop. A home energy audit helps assess how much energy your home consumes and evaluates what you can do to make it more energy efficient. Part of that process is a blower door test which showed an air exchange rate of 11. That means the air inside the house is replaced 11 times in one hour which is not efficient. We are currently building new homes with air exchange rates below 3, and our goal with this renovation project is to cut the air exchange rate to less than two-which will save the homeowner substantially on their utility bills, make the home more comfortable, and improve the indoor air quality.

An energy audit showed that the home was cycling air 11 times per hour-over three times more often than a new, energy efficient home.

As the demo process began, we quickly found what was causing the problem – no wall insulation and there wasn’t any kind of sealing package. This is not unusual as many older homes have been built with little or no insulation. This retrofit will include a very thorough caulk/seal and insulation package. The home will also be Energy Star rated and verified green through the National Association of Home Builder’s National Green Building Program.

The entire renovation should take about 3-4 months and we invite you to follow the process on our blog. We’ll let you know what we’re doing and why as we work through the project. This is a terrific “old” home, and we look forward to making it “new” again.

In this rendering from architect Jeff Day you can see how Active House utilizes natural lighting and energy via windows and lot placement to conserve energy.

We are in the middle of two very exciting and important weeks in the construction of Active House USA. As you can imagine, it takes a team of highly skilled hardworking people to partner together to build a new, custom home. And with all of the industry leading technologies and techniques that are going into Active House USA, the partners involved in the project are as enthusiastic as they are dedicated to making this project successful.

Over the last few months architect Jeff Day has worked closely with the homeowners, as well the Hibbs Homes and Verdatek Solutions crew and project partners, to design an innovative green home that also blends seamlessly with the surrounding, historic neighborhood of Webster Groves, MO. Visually the home is at home with it’s neighbors, however the energy efficiency, indoor air quality, and the attention to the surrounding environment are features that the rest of the block would be hard pressed to keep up with. In fact, the design fits within in the neighborhood so well that Active House project manager Matt Belcher of Verdatek Solutions overheard many people who visited at an Active House Alliance conference booth in Europe commenting on how traditional and all-American the design of the home is compared to the other prototype homes around the world.

Consulting partner & Active House project manager Matt Belcher with homeowners David, Thuy & Cameron Smith.

To make way for Active House USA, the previous house on the lot was torn down yesterday, and the homeowners were there along with friends and family to watch this very important first step towards their new home take place. Homeowner David Smith was even manning the equipment during the first few swipes, taking down the front porch and front facade before turning it over to the pros.

Next week marks another important Active House milestone-groundbreaking! Hibbs Homes, Verdatek Solutions, Active House Alliance members, will be there along with local leaders and the homeowners to mark the official start of construction on May 2 at 10:00am. In the weeks following the ceremony, construction crews will start getting to work, and the goal is to have the home certified, the homeowners moved in, and have Mizzou’s monitoring set and ready to go by this fall.

You can find out more about the project and follow the progress by heading over the the website ActiveHouseUSA.com, and find out more about Active House and the Alliance by heading to ActiveHouse.info.

Image credit: Microgrid Energy

As St Louis Cardinals baseball fans, we have a lot to be proud of-a World Champion Team, Willie McGee, and the fact that our home team is one of the teams in the MLB that is one of the leaders in sustainable operations. In addition to the ball club’s efforts in recycling and reducing energy usage, they have recently stepped up their game and made a massive energy overhaul by becoming the sixth team in the MLB to install solar panels in their park.

“St. Louis Cardinals’ fans may not taste the difference, but the next hot dog they consume at Busch Stadium could be cooked with power from solar energy,” said Microgrid Energy’s website. According to an recent post on Microgrid’s site, the team worked with Microgrid Energy, Electrical Connection, and Sachs Electric to install 106 solar modules on the roof of the ticketing building and a concession area canopy in the Ford Family Plaza that has the capacity to produce 25,000 Watts (W) total power, and around 32,000 kilowatt-hours (kWh) of energy annually.

The power collected from the panels is mixed with traditional energy in the stadium’s system and though it might just be a small percentage of the stadium’s overall energy usage, when looked at over the life of the stadium and combined with all of the other green and sustainable efforts the club has tackled, the St Louis Cardinals are hitting a home run for the environment.

And this weekend, when the Brewers come to town, they will be celebrating the 42nd anniversary of Earth Day and teaching fans about solar energy and recycling during their 3rd annual Green Series, April 27-29.

Simple Human Recycling Trash Can-Separating your recycling can be a pain if you don’t have a proper set up inside. If you have limited space but want to install a recycling center in your home, Simple Human has a series of recycling trash cans that have double liners perfect for separating your waste from your recycleables – and they even have specially sized liners that will fit perfectly in the smaller can.

Algreen 50 Gallon Rain Barrel with Top Planter – An increasingly popular fixture in backyards and home gardens, and great way to conserve and reduce your water usage, are rain barrels. These barrels affix to your gutter down spout to capture runoff, which can then be used to water gardens and landscaping. Though many are simply designed to look, well more or less like a barrel, this urn shaped rain barrel looks like a garden decoration and even doubles as a planter.

Solar Powered iPad Charging Case – Electronics and their chargers are notorious for being power vampires.We recommend unplugging unused charging cords and appliances, or even better you can start using the natural energy of the sun to charge your iPad-straight form the case. The leather material makes for a great looking case, and the innovative solar panel saves electricity while keeping your battery from running on empty.

Going green can still be gorgeous…and with these great green home products convenient too!

Here is a shot of a home being built in the Contempri Homes factory in Pickneyville, IL.

I’ve written before about modular home construction, and how more and more of our clients are asking about the process. To help them learn more about it, I had to do my homework. And the more I’ve learned, the more I realize it’s a legitimate way to build a new home.

Part of my homework included a trip to Contempri Homes in Pinkneyville, Illinois. There I was able to see the construction process in person. What impressed me the most was the concept of building a custom home backwards. That may sound funny, so please let me explain.

When homes are built in a factory, manufacturers install the drywall first, then work backwards installing exterior sheathing and siding last. This allows the crews to work from the back side, paying close attention to properly caulking and insulating the structure for an air-tight envelope. This is critical when building high performance homes. In addition, using full lengths of unbroken drywall at all wall intersections and corners helps improve the thermal envelope. Drywall also comes first when building the roof and it runs to the exterior edge of the walls so there are no air gaps at the ceiling perimeters which can be very difficult to seal.

Here you can see studs in to the drywall from the exterior of the modular home.

I already knew of the other benefits to modular construction – working in a controlled environment which is not susceptible to the weather, being able to control and reuse waste, new homes being built in a matter of weeks instead of months, and that a modular home undergoes more inspections than a site built home. But what excites me the most is that modular homes are also being verified green through programs such as the National Green Building Standards, Energy Star, and USGBC’s LEED.

I’m sold and ready to build our first modular home, and fortunately we have a client interested as well. They are a wonderful young couple from South St. Louis County who already have a lot. They’ve taken a very active role in learning about modular construction as well, having already visited two modular factories.

The Hibbs Homes crew stops for a photo opp with the Contempri Homes crew.

They’re interested in building modular for several reasons – a better built home, environmentally friendly construction, and saving money. The modular industry says you can save up to 15% building a modular home and we’re going to put that claim to the test.

We’re going to share information about the project from start to finish, writing about all phases of the construction process here on the blog. You can follow our journey by subscribing to the blog via our RSS feed using your favorite reader, or you can have it delivered right to you by subscribing via email. It should be an interesting one, and hopefully you’ll come along for the ride!