December 2010 | Eco Custom Homes

- December
  11
  2010
- 876
- 0
- By ecocustomhomes
- In Homeowner News
Heat-Pump Water Heaters
Heat-pump water heaters produce more than twice as much hot water per kilowatt-hour of electricity consumed as standard electric water heaters. Not only that, the by product from this heat is free air cooling. I think this type of water heater is a must in our Atlanta climate. In fact if you have a solar pv system, place this unit in the same room as the power inverter. Thus the heat put off from the inverter would be captured and used in your hot water. The cool air emitted from the water heater would chill the inverter and make it more efficient.

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- December
  11
  2010
- 930
- 0
- By Jeff Dinkle
- In Technical News
User’s Manual Key to Meeting Requirements of the Green Standard
“Because of the breadth of the key topic areas covered in the standard – site sustainability, water use efficiency, energy efficiency, indoor environmental quality and the building’s impact on the atmosphere, materials and resources – it is important for users to have a thorough understanding of how they come together to create a sustainable building,” Kent Peterson, former chair of the Standard 189.1 committee, said. “The User’s Manual aids architects and engineers in applying the standard to design; general and specialty contractors in constructing buildings that are in compliance; and plan examiners and field inspectors in enforcing the standard where adopted into code.”

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- December
  10
  2010
- 1192
- 0
- By Jeff Dinkle
- In Homeowner News
Passive House: Old Technique, New Trend
Who would have known a house could be heated with its inhabitants’ body heat, a hairdryer, and the sunlight falling through its windows—rather than a furnace. Most home owners today are in disbelief that such possibilities even exist.

Actually, these are a few rewards that come from following a rigorous German building standard called Passivhaus—in the U.S., better known as Passive House.

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- December
  10
  2010
- 1009
- 0
- By Jeff Dinkle
- In Technical News
armadilha solar: jee – eco efficient window
already in its prototyping and monitoring stage, the product, when compared to a typical window, increases a building’s energy performance by 30% and reduces carbon dioxide emissions by more than 40%. read more

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- December
  10
  2010
- 1012
- 0
- By Jeff Dinkle
- In Technical News
Rumble In The Lumberyard: FSC Wins This Round
Proposed benchmark standards to determine when wood-certification groups would have their programs qualify for points in the LEED rating system failed to win the required two-thirds approval from a special group of USGBCmembers, the organization announced Monday. The 55% “yes” to 42% “no” vote represents the rejection of several years’ worth of work by a USGBC committee and guarantees even more fighting over one of green construction’s most bitterly debated issues.

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- December
  10
  2010
- 1065
- 0
- By Jeff Dinkle
- In Technical News
A Foot-control faucet for convenience and savings
For the past eight years we’ve been able to turn our kitchen faucet on and off using a knee- and foot-control valve from the Canadian companyTapmaster. This may seem like a convenience-only product designed for lazy people. I can’t argue with all of that–and admit that I probably wouldn’t have installed one if I hadn’t received it for testing from the manufacturer after we had reviewed a competing product in Environmental Building News. But I gotta say, I love it, and I’m convinced that it does result in significant water and energy savings.

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Latest Posts

Heat-Pump Water Heaters
- December 11, 2010
User’s Manual Key to Meeting Requirements of the Green Standard
- December 11, 2010
Passive House: Old Technique, New Trend
- December 10, 2010

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Costs of Custom Homes

I receive about 50 inquires a month and the first thing most people want to know is: What does it costs to build a custom home?

New Construction:

Lot costs are typically 30% to 35% of your total budget for a home.
We find construction costs of $180 per sqft + or – 10%, plus a fixed cost of about $30k for site development costs. (Utilities, Driveway, Fencing, Landscaping, etc.) If you want a modern home with flat roofs and steel, you are looking $220 per sqft + or – 10%.
Architectural Fees / Engineering Fees typically are 7% of construction costs, + or – depending on the amount of detail you want designed.
Time to draw plans are 3 to 6 months. Time to permit is about 60 days. Time to construct a home depends on the size of the home, but typically we can do about $70K to $120k of work per month on a home; with a minimum of 6 months to construct a home.

Renovations:

In today’s market we are finding that in doing large renovations/additions to homes are saving 10% to 20% versus a new home.
Typically we see costs for new added space at $200 per sqft. Redoing existing space is about $120 per sqft.
Architectural Fees / Engineering Fees typically are 6% of construction costs, + or – depending on the amount of detail you want designed.
Time to draw plans are 1 to 3 months. Time to permit is about 30 days. Time to construct a home depends on the size of the home, but typically we can do about $60K to $100k of work per month on a home; with a minimum of 3 months to construct a home.