The "Granite Hill" project is under construction

Our latest LEED for Homes project call "Granite Hill" is under construction on 60 pristine acres in Kingsley, Michigan (just outside of Traverse City) This home sits on a ridge next to a hill of large granite boulders thus comes the projects name "Granite Hill". The project is being built by a new builder that were working with, Joel Diotte of the Frontier Group, LLC. The project team will be registering this project as a projected LEED for Homes "Gold" project. It will also be the first LEED for Homes project in Grand Traverse County. We are also striving for this to be a Carbon Neutral Home.

This home will be a Passive Solar Arts & Craft style home built with BuildBlock ICF's (Insulated Concrete Forms) from foundation to the second floor, then the gable end and dormer will be framed using Advanced Framing Methods, for the roof will be using Kasselwood metal shingle which are energy star rated and uses 30% recycled materials. The exterior will be using some of our favorite products James Hardie Fiber Cement Siding and Andersen windows. The interior will have tile and stained concrete floors on the main level which will make great thermal mass. The home was also design with lifetime design principles. The main heat source for this home is a Tulikivi Masonry Heater from Positive Chimney in Cadillac as backup heat we will be using electric base board heat and low EMF electric heat mats from SunTouch which will be installed in the master bath and the main bath. The ideas behind the the electric heat is that in the near future the homeowners hope to add Photovoltaic (PV) and or a Wind Generator to their project to provide all their electrical needs for the home.

This home will also be using re-used /recycled products from Odem Re-use Co through-out the home.

Update: This will be the Official 2009 Michigan Energy Fair Show Home!

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West Michigan Chapter of USGBC names two Residential Green Building Advocates

The West Michigan Chapter of the USGBC has named two of its members Residential Green Building Advocates (RGBA) for the State of Michigan. Adam Bearup of Hybrid Homes, LLC and Eric Hughes of Image Design, LLC both have accepted the nomination of Residential Green Building Advocates for the chapter. A chapter’s Residential Green Building Advocate (RGBA) volunteers to serve as the local face of USGBC’s LEED for Homes program, helping to educate, build awareness and demand for green construction practices in the local & state homebuilding industries.

Besides being one of the two RGBA's Eric Hughes has chaired the Residential Green Building Committee for the last two years and also is working on be coming a LEED AP + Homes certified professional. Adam & Eric also were founding members of the Residential Green Building Committee.

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Following the Turtle's Hope Project

Here is a unique chance to follow the construction of a projected LEED for Homes "Platinum" project from start to finish. The project is called Turtle's Hope it is a small (1,328 sq.ft.) energy efficient cottage being built in rural Southwest Michigan, on a small inland turtle-filled lake in Hope Township (Thus giving it the name Turtle's Hope). This near zero energy cottage will be using some interesting construction technique on it. Because of the soil this project will sit on 27 Auger Cast piles roughly 48'-0" deep. Our special foundation system was designed by Roger Kelley of Engineered Structures.

The construction of the cottage will be done by Adam Bearup of Hybrid Homes, LLC. This home will have a special floor system with radiant heat designed by ourselves and Adam, the main construction will be SIP panels, with a large amount of southern glass on this house Passive Solar will do most of the heating in winter. There will also be Solar Hot Water on the roof and that should also help with the heat distribution, when integrated with a radiant floor heat system. With the home also being pre-wire for Photovoltaic it will be ready for future upgrades when and if the homeowners choose too. The homeowners will be recycling anything they can from there existing cottage that's on there site, which will then be donated to Habitat Re-store for anything they can use. We would like to thank the homeowners for sharing their design & building experiences with you through there blog.

Updated!!! We are happy to annouce that "Turtle's Hope" will be the show house for this year's Pierce Cedar Creek Institutes renewable energy conference on March 21, 2009. Adam and I will be giving a presentation on the design and construction of this near zero energy cottage.

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