College City Homes: New Home Bronze

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New Home Bronze

College City Homes

We built our certified green home in Shakopee and enjoyed being part of shaping the pilot program.  At College City Companies we feel it is our social responsibility to understand how to build green homes and green remodeling projects and present these ideas to our customers.

We discovered during the process different ways to do things that were cost effective. One of these ideas was different ways to insulate a home.  We have been able to use this idea and present to new customers on ways to improve the efficiency of their home.  As we went through the program we have found other situations like this that someone might not be doing a certified project, but we could bring green aspects to the project by understanding better ways of doing things.

Since completing the project we have presented green seminars with our Trade Partners to potential customers, designers, realtors, and mortgage officers.  What we found is there is a great variation in people’s knowledge and the expectations of what a green home should be.  Many of them have a greater understanding that all green homes do not have to have geo thermal, solar power and wind generators, to be considered to be green.  Even though these are viable alternatives there are many different ways to do a green project.

By Steve McDonald, College City Homes

For more information on this project visit www.collegecityhomes.com.

Showcase Renovation/SALA Architects: New Home Silver

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New Home Silver

Showcase Renovations

Showcase Renovation Inc. won the 2008 “Excellence In Green Building” Award for remodeling with this project.  The home has been rated Silver by MN GreenStar.

Replacing an energy and structurally deficient home, this MN GreenStar pilot participant begins sustainability with simple concepts in a new 2050sf house.  Methods including solar orientation for passive heating and cooling; use and re-use of durable, recyclable, and sustainable materials; reduced energy consumption; improved indoor air quality; and increased attention to water management, retention, and respect of the mighty Mississippi.  The elongated plan and prominent shed roof focus river views while minimizing northern exposure.

Among the features included in this home:

  • FSC lumber and millwork
  • In-floor heat powered by heat pump
  • Closed cell foam insulation, R-50 and R-60 ceilings
  • Advanced framing technologies
  • Low VOC or no VOC and free of formaldehyde finishes
  • Air exchange system with heat-recovery or energy-recovery
  • Flourescent, low voltage, and LED lighting
  • Energy Star rated appliances
  • No-Mow Landscape with rain barrels and rain garden for conservation

The clients were dedicated to building green and made this project both challenging and exciting. This home was designed for its site responding to conditions both natural and man-made.  It provides an example of the beauty, efficiency, and longevity that results when regard for limited resources meets sustainable design and quality craftsmanship.

By Stephen Roche, Showcase Renovation Inc.

Showcase RenovationShowcase Renovation

For more information on this project visit www.showcaserenovations.com and www.salaarc.com.

Keith Waters & Associates: New Home Silver

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New Home Silver
Keith Waters & Associates

This home by Keith Waters & Associates, Inc, is MN Greenstar New Home Silver Certified. Some of its “green” features are solar water heating, sustainably-harvested hardwood floors, and high-efficiency lighting. Its driveway pavers are made from recycled tires and are installed in a way that lets rainwater seep between them into the earth, recharging the groundwater supply while reducing undesireable runoff.

By Jacquie Cripe, Keith Waters & Associates

For more information on this project visit www.keithwaters.com.

Vujovich Design Build – The Idea Farm: New Home Gold

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New Home Gold

Vujovich Idea Farm

Vujovich Design Build has received MN GreenStar’s highest New Home honor – Gold Certification. The project named, “The Idea Farm” is the first MN GreenStar certified project built by Vujovich Design Build.

Using local materials and building suppliers, The Idea Farm combines the state’s farming history and with modern sustainability. Connecting the home with land and nature, building practices included the use of recycled materials, geothermal heating, rain-water collection, reuse of gray water, composting, and reseeding native prairie grasses and pastures.

“In designing and building The Idea Farm our goal was to combine the highest possible levels of green building with sophisticated architecture; green + beautiful,” states Peter Vujovich, co-owner and founder of Vujovich Design Build.

By Peter Vujovich, Vujovich Design Build

Idea Farm KitchenVujovich Idea Farm

For more information on this project visit www.vujovich.com.

DiGiacomo Homes & Renovation: New Home Bronze

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New Home Bronze

DiGiacomo Homes & Renovation

EDUCATION = SUSTAINABILITY

This house is more than simply a place for our clients to call “home”– it is an educational tool.
During the design/construction phase, we first educated ourselves about new green products/technologies and then shared what we learned with clients, subcontractors, city officials, and the general public.

Through simple conversations, public demonstrations,literature distribution,open houses and speaking engagements (we were invited to speak at a U of MN event in September 2008 about the construction of energy efficient homes) we helped turn many of the people we work with into advocates for sustainability (see Artistic Visions cabinet maker letter in the presentation for an example). Will we continue building green? ABSOLUTELY.

By Gigi & Rocky DiGiacomo, DiGiacomo Homes & Renovation

DiGiacomo Homes & Renovation KitchenDiGiacomo Homes & Renovation Living Room

For more information on this project visit www.dghomesandrenovation.com.