DSC05441,
originally uploaded by edavid3001.

I was on an airplane from Los Angeles today and chatting with the fellow seated next to me about things to consider when designing and building a house. I told him that even if you were not designing a house from scratch, but simply buying a builder’s model home plan, there were avoidable mistakes you could sidestep. He nodded knowingly and said he had an example of one that he realized only too late. (more…)

      Houses built in northern climates should be designed to capture natural light, to brighten and warm the rooms used during daylight hours. Winters can be gloomy and light deprivation can cause a wintertime depression. By simply allowing as much daylight into the house as possible, a properly oriented house can relieve these symptoms and lower the consumption of electricity required to operate artificial lights.  (more…)

      Want to have some fun drawing on your computer? Check out SketchUp. It’s an easy to use, intuitive program that not only lets you draw easily on your computer, it lets you draw in three dimensions! Google bought SketchUp a short time ago and it is now offered in a free version with a lot of functionality. (more…)

       Recently, substantial increases in energy costs and a renewed awareness of our environmental responsibility have been quickly changing the way we think about our way of living and the methods and materials we use for construction. More and more, people are interested in building “green.” (more…)

    Sustainable and Green are terms that are being tossed around more and more frequently, especially in the world of construction and home design. If you have a product to sell, labelling it “green” is the first consideration in your marketing plan. But just what do these terms really mean?

    Wikipedia defines Green Building as “the practice of increasing the efficiency with which buildings use resources.” (more…)