Welcome to our blog. In here, we will try to show you new cottage designs for coastal areas as well as lakeside areas. Also, we will try to show you a little behind-the-scenes construction, including the newest and best building products and tips. See us at coastaldesigns.com.
The information on the blog is provided for informational purposes only. The technical descriptions, details, requirements, and limitations expressed do not constitute an endorsement, approval, or acceptance of any subject matter by the author, the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD/FHA), The Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH), or any PATH-affiliated Federal agency or private company. There are no warranties, either expressed or implied, regarding the accuracy or completeness of this information.
From the web site of EcoHome, their sister publication Building Products assembled the top 100 building products from Custom Home, Builder and Remodeling from mailer service cards. Click on the “Building Products” link and find several new products and many old favorites. You’d be surprised what people are interested in putting in their homes today. Energy-Efficiency and Green products are the most requested! It seems people want to buy products to save money, which in most cases means saving energy too! No surprise here.
It’s just that I feel most builders are stuck in the past ways of building. They either don’t know how to add new energy-saving products or are unwilling to move out of their old (if-it-works-don’t-fix-it) way of building. I know there are several innovative builders out there that take charge in presenting new energy-efficient and green products to their buyers. Some builders even take it on themselves to educate new home buyers about the energy efficient life-style. Yes, they probably feel like it’s a waste of time to educate home buyers on energy-efficiency when in most cases it fails to produce a sale.
Nowadays, most Home Buyers want a bargain, or at least if they spend more now on energy-efficient add-ons, they hope it might save money later. The challenge lies in the fact that it is hard to pick a good energy-efficient or “Green” product from the thousands that are coming on the market that will cost less, save money, and last! For your new homes, seek third-party certification such as through LEED for Homes, NAHB Model Green Home Building guidelines, and Energy Star.
I remember all the hoopla about the solar fad back in the 1980’s. I educated myself about solar, even built a few successful projects using direct and indirect solar gain. But when the solar tax credits ran out and winters got warmer, people forgot all about it. People really didn’t seem to understand it anyway. I don’t think it’s like that way now. Solar, Wind, Geo-Thermal, Hydro, Bio-Mass, Hybrid and others are just many ways people are now realizing that it’s not a fad, energy-efficiency is finally here to stay - not only will it save money - but because we have to!
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