It's Time to Build!

Almost every day I ask myself why more people are not taking advantage of this crazy building market.  By crazy I mean this is a ridiculous buyers market.  The answer seems to be fear.  We can't seem to get away from all the bad news.  Just turn on your tv or your computer and you get nailed with it.  I cannot say if the fear is justified or not.  Each persons situation is unique, and so it is up to them to determine for themselves.  But I can tell you that right now there are some really good opportunities for those that choose to pursue them.  

If you have been thinking of building a new home or remodeling your existing one I suggest seriously pursuing it.  If not, you may just be missing the opportunity of a lifetime.  I have been in this industry for more than a few years now, and I cannot remember any time that the market has been more favorable for the buyer / client.  Here are a few of the big reasons:

• Interest rates are ridiculously low.
  
• Contractors and subcontractors are highly motivated.  In many cases they are working with little or no profit just to keep their good people busy.  And since they are not that busy, they have the time to dedicate to your project.  An associate of mine has had a flood of very high quality contractors practically begging to bid on a bathroom remodeling project.  I have had numerous local contractors request to bid on a project that is several hours outside of our traditional building area.
• Lot costs have plummeted.  Developers are looking to unload.  Indeed the banks now own quite a bit of really nice land.  Call up a few of your local banks and ask for their property listings.  You might find a great deal by buying directly from the bank.
• Many material costs are at 10 year lows.  Since no one is building demand is very low and inventories are up.  Classic over-supply and under-demand.
• Everyone in the process is open to negotiation.  Realtors, Land Owners, Architects, General Contractors, Sub-Contractors, Suppliers, etc.  

Seriously this feels like the perfect storm - as in the perfect buyers market.  A great opportunity to do a beautiful project at the best possible value.  

How long will this last?

Nobody seems to know.  But statistics are beginning to show an improvement in the sales of existing homes and once inventory is diminished construction costs will begin to rise again.  Nobody knows how long this "window" will be open, but we all know it will not be open forever.  

Don't Feel Guilty!  

It is true that the current market allows the buyer to take advantage of the situation.  But at the same time the builders, vendors, designers, realtors that are surviving are truly appreciative of the work.  And if you pick the right team they are going to give you their best.  

Build Smart!

If you decide to proceed with a project, make sure you do it smart.  For instance "McMansions" have a bad name right now and the builders cannot seem to give them away.  This might not be the type of home that will be in great demand even after the turnaround.  Folks are starting to look for a more modest, smartly designed and quality constructed home.  The type of homes as seen below designed by Larson Brenner Architects.

Be Smart!

Utilize the expertise of your professionals (architects / designers, general contractors, realtors, etc.).   Don't try to design and construct the project yourself.  You will get a better outcome and will carry less burden if you have a good team around you.  And besides, right now you are practically getting their services for free!

SIMPLY ELEGANT HOME DESIGNS

Interior Design with Sketchup

Simply Elegant Home Designs is now using Google Sketchup to better describe the interior design elements of their house plans.  

Ron Brenner of Simply Elegant had this to say.  "Better visualization of the product results in more thorough understanding of design intent and better translation by the builders.  We have been using 3d visualization for some time to illustrate building exteriors, and have discovered how valuable that visualization is.  It seems a logical next step to illustrate the interior design elements of a home with 3d.  Nowadays Architects have so many good tools to work with, and so why not use them?  The idea is to use the tools available to us to create a better product and a better service.  I think that some day we may not be issuing 2d plans, sections and elevations, but we will be issuing 3d virtual models.  And some day builders may have a television monitor at the job site in lieu of a plan desk."

The animation below illustrates the interior cabinetry and millwork elements of "The Stillwater", a house plan offered by Simply Elegant Home Designs.

The Mudroom

The mudroom has become an increasingly important space in home design. This space has transitioned over the years from nothing more than a small hallway with a coat closet into a zone that serves multiple needs. I now spend much time thinking about the function of the mudroom zone in our home designs.

Here are a few of the potentially important features of the mudroom zone:

1. A Bench - Where you can sit down and put on your boots.
2. Lockers - A place where you can quickly drop off your coat and hat.
3. Dump Desk - A storage space for dropping off the mail or briefcase.
   
4. Powder Room - The mudroom zone is a great place for the powder room because it is a more "discreet" location and convenient on your way in or out of the house.
5. Laundry Area - The mudroom zone is a great place for the laundry. This space is convenient to the activity areas of the house, but since it is "around the corner" it is a bit more acoustically separated. Hanging storage for the laundry can sometimes double to serve as a coat closet area.
6. Second Entry - The mudroom zone typically will function as the space you enter from the garage. If the plan layout allows it can also serve as the primary "family entry" from the outdoors. This way the kids don't have to open the garage door to come inside, or worse yet use the front door.
7. Windows - The mudroom zone is an important space, so access to natural daylight here is as important as any other room.
8. Beauty - The mudroom does not to be a "utilitarian" space. It is an important space, so why shouldn't it look as good as the rest of the house?

The image below illustrates a custom cabinet that provides lockers with bench and cubby storage on one side, and provides hanging storage for the laundry area on the other side.

The image below illustrates a typical new multi-functional mudroom designed by Larson Brenner. The bench area is outfitted with hooks above for coat hanging, storage drawers below and cubbies above. A taller cabinet serves as a "dump desk". A powder room is discreetly located behind the storage area. Durable slate tile flooring is installed. The family entry door is just out of view to the right, also washing the mudroom with natural light. A separate stairway leads to a "private getaway" located above the garage. You can also see the kitchen is conveniently located around the corner.

Simple,Unique, Creative and Green House Plans

Embrace Your Wild Side at the Ritz

The Ritz-Carlton in Kapalua, Maui is proud to bring you a brand new program that gets you out there and in the wilderness. The Jean-Michel Coustea’s Ambassadors of the Environment programs allow you to hike through the Hawaiian rainforest, snorkel among Maui’s most beautiful coral reefs, and participate in underwater photography sessions. The program features new environmental and cultural education center with excursions led by experts! It is designed for you to learn about Hawaii’s unique ecosystems while you demonstrate your connection to the larger global scale.

All of the adventurous programs include an educational orientation, transportation, and a gourmet picnic lunch in the field!

Some sample packages include:

Whale Wonders—Join expert naturalists on board the Trilogy’s comfortable catamaran as you unite with Maui’s Humpback Whale. These gentile giants make mammoth journeys each year between the feeding and breeding sites. You will explore an underwater world beyond your imaginations filled with discovery and mystery!

Cities Under the Sea, Underwater Photography—Explore life beneath the waves as experts guide you on an interpretive snorkel over one of Maui’s most pristine coral reefs. You will examine the living communities of fish, coral, and algae, and witness the interdependencies of one species to the next. You will be able to share your experience with all your loved ones with the underwater digital cameras.

Maunalei Magic—Venture into the Maunalei Arboretum for a first-hand wonder at Maui’s forested uplands above Kapalua Resort. Trained hike leaders share their knowledge of Hawaii’s natural and cultural history while they interpret the geological formation and biological speciation along the way! You will also learn about old Hawaii and how the native people learned to thrive in harmony with nature.

If these packages sound exciting and tempting, you must try at least one! There is something for everyone and enough beautiful Hawaiian scenery to enjoy it more than once!

Check out our Ritz-Carlton Kapalua page or home page for more great honeymoon ideas!

Go Green This and Every Vacation

Hi Everyone!

I was just reading a couple of articles online about traveling with our environment in mind. Some of the articles that really caught my eye were online at Travel Weekly by Jeri Clausing and Mexico Premiere by the Mexican Tourism Board. Both are such a great articles and fit in perfectly with our "Go Green" theme this month I couldn't help but share them with you! Please read Clausing's entire Travel Weekly article and The Mexican Tourism Board's article online, but I will summarize some of the great points I found! I decided to separate the posts for easier reading. If you would like to know more about the Mexican Tourism Board’s article see the post “Still Going Strong, Still Going Green.”

Travel Weekly--My favorite part was that it highlights two of my favorite resorts! The Banyan Tree Mayakoba and Hacienda Tres Rios. Like you will find the article mentions, I didn't even realize all the actions are being taken to "Go Green" at these locations!

These hotels are romantically earthy. You are in the heart of nature, feeling intimacy like never before. Most people hate traveling, or going to Islands because they think of the commercialization. Even Florida has sky scrapers and buildings all over the coast line! However, you have the opposite feel at these resorts. The corporate VP of the Americas for Banyan Tree, John Searby states it perfectly, "This is the antithesis of Cancun." Myakoba goes above and beyond the typical resort considerations of sustainability.

Clausing highlights the resort’s efforts of maintaining and improving the surrounding water resources and conservation. Now you can tell your friends you’re doing a lot more than just turning the water off when you brush your teeth—you’re conserving on your vacation. Environmentalists need to vacation in style too after all!

Some of the major issues Clausing highlights are some of the things that you, like I, may not even realize a hotel is doing to stay Green. However, we want you to know the facts; we want you to appreciate all the efforts these resorts are doing to preserve the wilderness.


“

To minimize the resort’s carbon footprint, local materials were used wherever
possible for construction and furnishings. Everything from its cooling plants to
construction techniques were designed to take the environment into account. Although there is plenty of water in Mexico, the resort pumps all of its water from the ocean, then purifies it in a desalination plant rather than drawing water from underground aquifers. The hotel also uses cold water from deep wells to pre-cool its air-conditioning system. The same system then captures the heat from the air-conditioning system to warm water to within 10 degrees of the temperature needed for hot showers.
Parts of the buildings were prefabricated, which helped reduce the amount of equipment on site.
"Normally during construction, animals move away," said Gabriel Santoyo, Tres Rios’ environmental officer. "We had a higher count because we created a new aquatic ecosystem, so now, many migrating birds stop here."
Mazarambroz said Mayakoba had seen a similar increase in birds and wildlife. Santoyo knows there are new birds because part of his job is to constantly monitor the flow of the rivers and lakes as well as the plant and wildlife on the resort grounds and adjoining park.
During construction, the resort rescued 4,000 plants representing 11 endangered or protected species and now maintains a nursery to nurture many of them. It also recycled all construction-related materials, right down to the bottles containing the water consumed by workers.
The resort was developed by Orlando Arroyo Marroquin, whose Sunset Group also owns the Sunset Lagoon Resort & Yacht Club in Cancun, the Sunset Fishermen Spa & Resort in Playa del Carmen and 20 other tourism-related service companies.
Many green features in the guest rooms are not apparent. For instance, there is no slot that requires a key card for the electricity to work. With such systems, Santoyo said, a guest need only leave a business card in the slot to keep the air conditioning and lights running.
Instead, each room has motion detectors that shut things down if there is no
movement within a certain period of time. Likewise, there is no card instructing guests on options for changing towels. The maids in my room left me piles of clean towels, but used towels that were left hanging were not removed.
There are no recycle bins, but resort officials said all trash was sorted before
being taken out.”

Sustainability isn’t just a trend, it is here to stay. Companies globally are recognizing the responsibilities to the environment and wild life. These hotels are two of the first in their industry to take the bull by the horns. They are serious about being green, and are constantly finding new ways to improve the existing policies and practices.

The article starts off:

"RIVIERA MAYA, Mexico-- One of the first hings I noticed when we pulled off the
highway between Cancuna nd Playa del Carmen onto the new Hacienda Tres Rios
resort was the driveway.
Instead of being paved with asphalt or concrete, it was made of crushed limestone, like the paths and roads that serve nearby ancient Mayan ruins. The drive winds through an eco-park of flora, wildlife and rivers, then pulls up to what looks like a typical modern, all-inclusive Riviera Maya resort.
But Tres Rios, like the nearby Mayakoba resort, is anything but typical. Both are examples of a new breed of environmentally conscious resorts being developed around the world. They combine all the creature comforts of traditional four- and five-star hotels with nature and behind-the-scenes technologies that go far beyond the towel-and-sheet reuse programs that until recently defined most hotels’ environmental efforts.
Tres Rios and Mayakoba are hybrids in the world of environmentally friendly
hospitality. They are not eco-resorts in the strict sense of the word, the kind
found in places such as Costa Rica, which tend to supplement electricity needs
with solar power and serve only locally grown foods. But they have incorporated
the latest in green construction, technologies and practices.
By employing water desalination plants, special cooling machines that reduce air-conditioning costs and ultramodern construction techniques such as pilings that enable large hotels to be built over underground rivers without disturbing their flow, these two resorts are transforming development along the Yucatan Peninsula.”
“Javier Aranda Pedrero, director of the Riviera Maya Destination Marketing Office, said that after observing the development of Mayakoba, and then Tres Rios, local, state and federal officials are in the process of writing new development rules for the area.
"Mayakoba is the model," he said, "and the people from Hacienda Tres Rios have worked very, very well with sustainable development of hotels and protecting all the area that they have for mangroves."
While hotel development here, like in much of the world, is in a lull because of the economy, Aranda said he expects it to pick up again in 2010. By then, he said, the government should have new development guidelines based on lessons learned at the two resorts.”

This is an extremely interesting and exciting article. I suggest you read it and send a link to a friend. Visit the AskAboutHoneymoons home page or the Mayakoba or Tres Rios pages to learn more about the hotels and packages we’re offering.

Its the Energy Stupid!

I ran across this criticism of Architects and the green movement the other day.  http://www.buildingscience.com/documents/insights/bsi-007-prioritizing-green2014it-s-the-energy-stupid/?full_view=1

It was written by Joseph Lstiburek; a renowned building science expert and royal smart ass.  Many Architects and Engineers do not like Mr. Lstiburek because of his criticisms.  I think mostly because he is all too often right; and he always has facts to back his claims up.

Lstiburek's basic criticism is this.  Architects and Engineers are creating "Green Monuments".  Buildings that are hailed Green and win awards; and yet they statistically are not saving any energy over their non-green counterparts.

I tend to agree with many of his criticisms.  I have felt for some time that we get caught up in all the new exciting technology - so much so that we forget the basic principles of good environmental design that the Ancients knew, and that Edward Mazria re-taught us over 30 years ago.  This is why I try to focus on the basics - see http://simplyeleganthomedesigns.blogspot.com/2009/01/top-10-green-things-to-do-when-building.html

I think our industry should be open to criticisms like his.  If we really want to do good, then we should verify that we really are doing good; and just not convincing ourselves of it.

Green Links

I just wanted to pass on an FYI that I have now posted links for various green resources along the sidebar of the Simply Elegant Home Designs Blog.  Over the next weeks I will be refining the listings.  Since there are so many green resources available to us I want to try to edit the list down to provide useful "common sense green" information, and to eliminate as much redundancy as possible.  I will also be adding a links page to my Simply Elegant Home Designs website.

Again, you can see the links along the right sidebar of the Simply Elegant Home Designs blog.  And by the way, I welcome your suggestions.

View your home in Google Earth

Simply Elegant Home Designs is offering a new service to help potential plan purchasers visualize their house plan within the context of their own site.  For a nominal fee they can provide images of the desired house plan at their site address.  The images below provide an example of how this can work.  They depict various google earth views which increasingly zoom in on a specific site address in which a 3d house plan model has been inserted.

This service can be particularly helpful for a potential plan purchaser because it allows them to get an idea of how the house plan might fit into their own unique site location prior to purchasing the full plan set.  Also, because google earth provides 3d terrain, it can also help to understand grading issues or identify special foundation conditions that might be required.  

Simply Elegant Home Designs offers pre-designed home plans that are creative, simple, elegant, unique and green to individuals, builders and developers.  Their goal is to provide the most discriminating home designs available and to be the most service oriented organization in the pre-designed house plans business.  They can be reached at www.simplyeleganthomedesigns.com or 612-669-6411.

Architects Have Great Tools!

Architects have many great tools that they can work with.  And under skilled hands they can be a great benefit to their clients.  One such tool is a software program called Google Sketchup.  Sketchup is a 3d modeling program that is surprisingly easy to use.  The images you see below are of a house designed by Larson Brenner Architects in Stillwater, Minnesota.  The images represent a series of color studies that were performed with Sketchup.  The basic design had already been completed and we were now at the stage of finalizing materials and colors for the roofing, walls, windows.  The top image is pretty much where we ended up and the images below represent the various intermittent studies.

Pretty cool huh?  It is a great way to visualize your end product.  For more sketchup examples you can see the plans at 

Simply Elegant Home Designs

Top 10 Green Things to Do! When building your new home.

In my real job (non-blogging) I am finding that more and more people are interested in building a more environmentally responsible and healthy home.  Leaving political discussions and arguments about “climate change” behind (I don’t like being preached to and I don’t like preaching), I believe there are many common sense reasons to build a “Green” home.  Here are two pretty good ones:

• Save you money $$$ in the long run
• Reduce your stress level – improve your quality of life

If you want to build a Green Home there is an abundant amount of information available to you.  But start investigating Green and you begin to realize there can be a daunting number of decisions to make – and they all impact your construction budget in some way.  Building Green can start to look incredibly complicated and expensive - and neither of these notions is inherently “Green”.  Well it does not have to work that way.

So what I want to do, starting with this posting is to help you simplify things.  I am starting out with a top 10 list of green things to do.  This will give us some focus for more detailed discussions to follow.  Those discussions will provide more detail on my top 10 list.  So here goes.

Top 10 Green Things to do! – When building your new home.

1. Hire an Architect or a very competent designer that understands “Green” (and is not a jerk) – They will be able to assist you with all the following items and help you in sorting out priorities.
2. Hire a Builder who is committed to your Green house (and isn’t a jerk).  In the end you will be much more successful if your entire team is on the same page.
3. Build close to your work and / or close to community services.  A short commute means less stress, less gas money and more time for your fam.  That’s good isn’t it?
4. Build a “just the right size” house – The classic “Goldilocks”.  Size and surface area significantly impact heating, cooling and maintenance costs – not to mention construction cost.  So don’t build too big.  But don’t build it too small either or it might not be functional and that’s not green.
5. Build a home with quality.  Remember the 3 little pigs?  A quality home lasts longer, costs less to maintain and definitely holds up better when the big bad wolf is blowing.  Ok, that’s enough of the kid stories. 
6. Build a thermally efficient home.  Warm is good.  Believe me, I am writing this on a 20 degree below zero day in Minnesota.  I have relatives in Phoenix that say Cool is good!  Thermally efficient also means less money from your pocket to the local Utility.
7. Use an energy efficient Heating, Ventilation and Cooling (HVAC) system. You don’t have to spend many dollars here to reap some good $$$ savings.
8. Develop a landscape plan that reduces erosion and water use. Who wants to spend the entire weekend mowing and watering?  I’d rather be playing Guitar Hero, or Twittering or something.
9. Consider your homes building product and material choices.If it smells bad don’t use it.  You are going to be married to that floor for a long time.
10. Install energy efficient appliances and electrical (lighting) systems.  Once again small investment for good gains.

So that’s my Top 10 Green Things to Do list.  You may notice that I don’t specifically mention solar panels, photo-voltaics or geo-thermal systems.  Well those items might be a great addition to an overall sustainable building plan, but the initial costs are high and the payback is longer.  I’ll discuss more in future postings.

By the way, if you want to buy a “green” house plan that you can build.  You might start at Simply Elegant Home Designs.  All of the plans in their portfolio have been designed keeping many of the green principals listed above in mind.

Bayport Bungalow Animation

Another new animation has been added to the Simply Elegant Home Designs website and to You Tube.  You can get more information on the "Bayport Bungalow" as seen below by following the link.

New Animation Added

Simply Elegant Home Designs has added another Animation to their website.  The animation is of the "Bayport Bungalow" in their design collection.  The company plans on providing animations of their entire house plan design collection.