Modern. Sustainable. Atlanta. 404.303.7280

    • April

      21

      2013
    • 1833
    • 0

    Sustainable Development could be outlawed in Kansas

    Most people think that sustainability is a pretty good idea. The accepted definition goes back to the Brundtland Report of 1987:

    Sustainable development is development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs.

    Others think it is a code word for the United Nations taking our freedom away. We can’t have that, so in Kansas, the Committee on Energy and Environment has proposed a bill that would, as Tom Randall of Bloomberg notes, ” prohibit spending on anything that won’t set Kansas on a course to self-destruction.”……..

    • April

      21

      2013
    • 2593
    • 0

    Modern Sprout: A Decorative Hydroponic Planter for Your Windowsill

    Modern Sprout has created a windowsill planter box that’s simple, self-sustaining and naturally stylish. Its hidden hydroponics system automatically waters and feeds your plants for you, making it perfect for space-conscious city dwellers, absent-minded gardeners and armchair agrarians.

    • March

      24

      2013
    • 1594
    • 0

    Real estate appraisers have a new form to analyze green home features

    Real estate appraisers have an updated tool to analyze the values of energy efficient home features, which will help those features be reflected in the appraised value. In March 2013 the Appraisal … Read more…

    • March

      22

      2013
    • 2107
    • 0

    ECO-Cycle Aquaponics Kit Turns Any 20-Gallon Aquarium Into an Indoor Garden

    The ECO-Cycle ™ Aquaponics Kit is an innovative retrofit system that turns an aquarium into a productive garden . Sized for a standard 20-gallon aquarium and suitable for smaller tropical aquarium fish and goldfish, the ECO-Cycle engages families and students in a fun, creative and productive form of sustainable agriculture .

    • March

      21

      2013
    • 1866
    • 0

    City Of Atlanta, New Stormwater Ordinance Passes

    If you are thinking of building a new home or making an addition to your home, including most pools. You need to read further. The following is an excerpt from the Department of Watershed Management:

    Land development permanently alters the way in which stormwater flows across a site due to grading, compaction, and the installation of impervious cover. In order to mitigate these impacts, the City of Atlanta requires, in accordance with Chapter 74, Article X. Post Development Stormwater Management, that stormwater management measures be utilized when constructing a new home or an addition that is greater than 1,000 square feet of impervious surface.

    • March

      21

      2013
    • 1929
    • 0

    5 Ways To Kick Off Your Green Spring Cleaning With Feng Shui Principles

    HAPPY FIRST DAY OF SPRING! I don’t know about you, but I’m ready for winter to come to an end. Adios thermal underwear, hello shorts! Happily, the spring equinox occurs on March 20th this year, which is today! The equinox marks the two times each year at which day and night are equally balanced. In Feng Shui philosophy, the vernal equinox indicates the moment at which the excess of dark, cold, passive yin energy shifts into balance with the bright, hot, active yang energy. We move away from the extended hours of darkness and move into the longer daylight hours. Most importantly, it symbolizes a time for a new cycle of growth and ………………….. Read The Rest Here.

    • February

      10

      2013
    • 1832
    • 0

    Automate Your Garden With HavestGeek’s Plant Monitoring Technology

    The urban gardening movement is quickly entering the Information Age. Designed by Mike Alt, HarvestGeek is a program that monitors the condition of your fruits and veggies in order to produce the greatest yield.

    • February

      10

      2013
    • 2323
    • 0

    5 Ways to Celebrate Chinese New Year with Feng Shui

    This year, Chinese New Year falls on Sunday, February 10th. We say goodbye to the dragon and welcome the year of the snake. There are magnificent parades, dancing in the streets, dragon costumes all around, and the entire continent of Asia is in celebration. But what is Chinese New Year all about? This momentous occasion marks the beginning of spring in the Lunar calendar, a time for new beginnings and renewal. To ring in this new year, why not make some feng shui adjustments to bring some balance to your home? Feng shui is an Asian art……..

    • February

      10

      2013
    • 2495
    • 0

    Go To Sleep in a Sleepbox

    When I first showed the Sleepbox in 2009, I wondered if the concept would ever get to reality. In 2011, The Arch Group showed a working model in Sheremetyevo International Airport, Moscow. It has proven to be such a success that they have built a hotel out of them in…………

    • January

      25

      2013
    • 2291
    • 0

    An Intro to Passive House

    The world must decrease its carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions considerably, in the range of eighty to ninety percent over the next few decades. Every use of energy is now under review, and we are finding that the greatest producers of CO2 are not automobiles and airplanes but buildings. As a consequence, developers, architects, and planners are looking for solutions to build structures that employ considerably less energy than even the top rated green structures of today.

    If you are interested in getting more information on passive house contact Eco Custom Homes at 404 303 7280 or email to info@ecocustomhomes.com, and we will be happy to provide you with a free educational seminar.

    • January

      25

      2013
    • 1834
    • 0

    New mobile app gives Energy Star ratings

    “The CodeGreen Energy App is just the kind of tool we have been waiting for. It makes finding and comparing Energy Star Scores of thousands of buildings so quick and easy. Making this data transparent is a dream come true for the Energy Efficiency Marketplace,” said Robert Sauchelli, national program manager, Energy Star Service and Product Provider Partnership.

    • January

      25

      2013
    • 2388
    • 0

    Happy 100th Birthday, Formica

    It has lined the interiors of everything from greasy spoon cafes to luxury cruise liners, from hospital wards to train cabins – bringing a fusion of wipe-clean practicality and sleek modern style. And now Formica is celebrating its 100th birthday. The brave new seamless surface of the future is officially an antique.

    While it may now be synonymous with the retro glamour of 1950s compact kitchens and roadside diners, the origins of the miracle material are much more mundane. Invented in Cincinnati in 1913 by engineers Daniel O’Conor and Herbert Faber, Formica laminate was designed to be an electrical insulator, to serve as a replacement for the silicate mineral mica – hence “for mica”. (The fact that formica was a pre-existing Latin word for a type of ant seems to have hampered the brand little.)

    Formica originally consisted of layers of fabric bound together with resin; later, it was made with thick pieces of paper laminated with melamine. This tougher substance could resist heat and abrasion, while the paper opened up a wealth of possibilities for printing colours and patterns, which proved key……

    • January

      25

      2013
    • 1784
    • 0

    Simply solar: Sharing lessons learned off-grid

    Simply solar: Sharing lessons learned off-grid Silver City Sun News The air heats up as it rises over a sun-heated black sheet of metal encased in the “window” frame, and exits into the house through a vent at the top, which in turn draws more cool air into the bottom of the unit, to continue the process. “It's a …

    • January

      25

      2013
    • 2420
    • 0

    V3Solar’s Spin Cell Cones Could Produce Electricity for the Insanely Low Cost of Eight Cents per kWh

    When V3Solar released information about their Spin Cell photovoltaic cones last year , the details already looked remarkably impressive; a smaller physical footprint combined with the capacity to generate up to 20 times as much energy as the flat solar panels of the same surface area. Now Clean Technica has estimates for the Levelized Cost of Electricity from these cones, and—if V3Solar’s calculations are correct—the Spin Cell could be truly revolutionary

    • January

      13

      2013
    • 1774
    • 0

    Efficiency Tax Credits Are Back Just in Time

    Just in time for tax season, Congress has given American homeowners and businesses a chance to keep a little more of their hard-earned money. Late on January 1, 2013, the “fiscal cliff showdown” ended with the House passing a bill to avert income tax increases for Americans and large cuts in spending for government programs. What many might not have noticed is that the bill, titled the American Taxpayer Relief Act of 2012, includes extensions …..

    • January

      13

      2013
    • 1985
    • 0

    Flower Power: A Bluetooth-Enabled Smart Sensor That Monitors the Needs of Your Plants

    Now and again, even the best green thumb could use a little help taking care of their plants. French electronics company Parrot just unveiled a new gizmo at CES 2013 called the Flower Power that makes it easy to monitor the health of your leafy friends. The small branch-shaped device can be inserted into ……….

    • January

      13

      2013
    • 2206
    • 0

    The Greenest Office Building In The World Is About To Open In Seattle

    The Greenest Office Building In The World Is About To Open In Seattle Co.Exist “Everything” includes 100% onsite energy use from solar panels, all water provided by harvested rainwater , natural lighting, indoor composting toilets, a system of geothermal wells for heating, and a wood-framed structure (made out of FSC-certified wood).

    eattle’s Bullitt Center is being heralded as the greenest, most energy-efficient commercial office building in the world. It’s not that the six-story, 50,000-square-foot building is utilizing

    • January

      13

      2013
    • 2572
    • 0

    The Butler-Nissen Passive House replaced a Walker and Weeks mansion

    The bigger question raised by the Nissen-Butler house is whether the architectural requirements of Passive House design have negative implications ……..

    • December

      30

      2012
    • 1801
    • 0

    Why Plastic Foam Insulation Is Like a Twinkie: Lessons Green Builders Can Learn From Michael Pollan

    Green building means different things to different people, but improved insulation and reducing energy use is certainly up at the top of everyone’s list. Some of the most effective insulations are made from plastic foam, either in rigid boards or sprayed foams.

    But there are concerns; Architect Ken Levenson recently wrote a controversial article, Why Foam Fails. Reason #1: Dangerous Toxic Ingredients, which was the start of a series that is very critical of foam insulation. I wrote about it inDoes Foam Insulation Belong in Green Buildings? 13 Reasons It Probably Doesn’t and at the Green Building Advisor, the discussion almost turned into a flame war between those who think that plastic foam does a great job, and those who agree with ……….

    • December

      30

      2012
    • 2586
    • 0

    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….

Search
Latest Posts
facebook instagram House Pinterest Twitter LinkedIn YouTube

© Copyright EcoCustom Homes | 5784 Lake Forrest Dr | Suite 216 | Sandy Springs, Georgia 30328 | 404.303.7280
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:

New Construction:

Renovations:

×