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3-d elevation of house and garage/rainwater tank storage drawn in Google Sketchup! download our home brochure in PDF
download our budget in Excel XLS
list of Myleen's vetted subcontractors (coming soon!)
A time-detailed blog about our house project from start to finish. We are building a modern, green, energy efficient and healthy home in Austin, TX, in the heart of the hill country!
House Status Update
Well... our house project is not going to happen RIGHT NOW... but I am optimistic that it will in a few months. That's okay by us, as we think timing is everything and if it's not meant to be THEN we're not pushing it... But if really you want to know the reasons why, see this post. Thanks for your support!
Welcome to the Sjodin Dream Home Blog!
general info:
4 bed/3 bath 2419 sf or 225 sq m southwest contemporary style SIP home built on a 3 acre or 121 hectometer sq lot in austin's south lake travis area in the hill country designed by Ted Mengers of Pyranak Design Group.
So maybe you're curious or really need some tips on the whole "owner-builder" building process, but maybe you want to get with the Green kick and learn about eco-friendly, healthy or energy efficient features and methods that are in use today. You've come to the right place!
We want to implement the latest and best green design principles in the most cost-effective and/or affordable way. We are in the process of building our home in Austin, Texas (one of the hottest places in the U.S.) and feel we will be a good test case being in such a warm climate where we live in energy-sucking, air-conditioned abodes.
Our plan is to become LEED-H rated Platinum!
Here are the green design features we hope to have for our home:
- Rainwater collection
- Structural Insulated Panel (SIP) walls and roof
and check out these videos: SIPs video 1 (short), SIPs video 2 (longer)
- Geothermal cooling/heating
- All LED and compact flourescent light bulbs
- Low-slope roof lined styrofoam wedges and single-ply membrane
- PVs (Solar panels)
- Organic veg./fruit garden in the roof garden
- Natural air-purification by house plants
- Stained concrete floors with fly ash
- Bamboo flooring
- Space efficient design
- House orientation to sun
- No VOC paints (solvent-free, no volatile organic compounds)
- Graywater, no longer doing due to cost ineffectiveness, see the reason here on the 4th comment.
- Compost use
- Low-flow, high efficiency, large pipe/fast flush Swedish toilets
- Dual, low e, argon gas filled fiberglass windows
- All Energy Star, high efficiency appliances
- Use of recycled materials (for our concrete countertops and garage)
- Xeriscaping (does not require additional irrigation, using native plants/no lawn)
- Eco-smarte chlorine-free pool sanitation
We want to do a lot ourselves (DIY) and are trying our hardest to minimize costs without compromising quality. Also, we didn't think we would be owner-builders, but it saves a ton of money and you get to control cost, choice and quality a lot more, which we wanted to do. It's not an easy feat, but we are up for the challenge! Please visit us again to see our progress.
"It is difficult to get a man to understand something when his salary depends upon his not understanding it."
- Upton Sinclair
"Great spirits have always encountered violent opposition from mediocre minds."
- Albert Einstein
If you were to build a green home, what is the MOST important feature to you?
Green Links
- Pyranak Design Group Blog
- Ted Mengers, Expert Green Designer, Pyranak Design Group
- Building Green TV
- CitizenRE Solar Panel Program
- Green Dimes (Stop Junk Mail Now!)
- Green Home Guide - News and Reviews
- Low Impact Living
- Alliance to Save Energy (Nationwide News/Newsfeeds)
- Home Power Solar Energy
- Innovative Water Solutions (Info about Rainwater Collection & Graywater)
- American Geothermal Systems (Austin)
Various Links
- U-Build It (nationwide)
- Meridian Solar (Texas)
- Ready Solar (Solar in a Box)
- Nano Solar (Futuristic Thin Solar Panels)
- SIP Web (Structured Insulated Panels)
- Nana Wall (Exterior Window Walls)
- Sliding Door Co. (Interior Sliding Doors)
- Raydoor Interior Sliding Doors
- Ifö Watersaving Swedish Toilets
- Ecosmart Fluless Fire Boxes
- Fabcrete (DIY Stained Concrete Floors)
- Syndecrete for Floors and Countertops
- IKEA Home Furnishings
- Ecosmarte Pool System (Chemical Free, Non-chlorine!)
- Premier Fiberglass Pools
14 comments:
Nice brochure...there is a wide demand for green homes and there is specialization in the field as well.
Hi, Myleen! I just like to tell you that I am very much interested in green homes, too. In fact, I've purchased several environmentally friendly house fixtures such as windows and doors, Boston made, to reduce electricity usage. And since our roof is old, I've also decided to replace it with eco-friendly materials which are highly recommended by my trusted roofing Boston contractor. Hopefully, soon, I'd be able to transform the house into a passive solar home.
Anyway, I hope you'll have your dream house soon! Thanks!
This is very nice to see the brochure,there is a considerable demand for green homes and there should be an awareness to take care of the environment certainly.
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Brochure Design
@ Thomas, It's nice to know that you've been transforming your house and making it more sustainable. Replacing your windows and doors is a great start. Anyway, did you also install roof insulation when you had your roof replaced?
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