 he energy efficiency and overall comfort of any home is a function of the home's architectural design, the choice of building materials and the quality of the construction methods. It is our firm belief that everyone who has the luxury of building a new, custom home should take energy efficiency very seriously, both from the environmental standpoint  and to increase the home's year round comfort and livability.
We have researched and tested many materials and methods over the last 30 years and have developed our approach to custom home design and construction that includes strategies in each of these categories:
ARCHITECTURAL DESIGN FOR YOUR LAND + CLIMATE
Before we begin designing a new home, we study the local climate, the topography and vegetation of the building site and develop a design strategy for supplemental, natural winter heating, summer cooling and day lighting that compliments the other design criteria for the project.
 As we proceed through design, the relationship between indoor and outdoor space is considered so that the indoor living areas comfortably extend onto patios, decks and porches.
These outdoor spaces are planned for the local climate so that proper shade, sunlight, insect control and prevailing breezes work to increase the comfort and usability of the space.
We design homes with abundant day lighting because we know what a difference it makes in the way the home feels to live in.
All of our homes have extensive day lighting and super insulation for energy efficiency and comfort. In addition, properly sized overhangs protect your home from unwanted direct gain in the spring and fall when temperatures are warmer.
Depending on the needs and wants of our clients, we design homes that are moderately passive solar heated or fully functioning passive solar, off-grid photovoltaic powered homes.
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