The Watercess Project is now complete

Team Hybrid has completed another one. The "Watercress" Project in Pentwater Michigan is now complete except for the final LEED for Homes certification which is projected to be "Platinum". This is the ultimate in Up North vacation homes; the home shell is constructed from ICF (Insulated Concrete Forms) & SIP (Structural Insulated Panels) panels and North White Cedar Log siding with a Energy Star Metal Roof. Almost all of the tree's that had to be removed for this cottage were use in the construction or furniture for this home. The interior of this home is unique and one of a kind it was designed by Christy Hughes (My wife) along with the homeowners and is something you really should see.

If you are interested in seeing how the homeowners followed the 3 R's (Reduce, Recycle and Reuse) along with all the other sustainable green feature inside and outside of this home we will be having an open house in the next few weeks, please let us know if you would like to see this home!

We want to thank the member of Team Hybrid for another project well done. Thanks goes out to Andersen Window Corporation, Hybrid Homes LLC, Homestead Timbers, Image Design LLC, Porter Sips and R-Value Concrete Structures LLC for another awesome job! We would also like to thank the Homeowner for allowing us all to be apart of the special project!

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Andersen Window Sustainability Tour & Meeting

You may have noticed we use Andersen Windows on all of our projects whether there are LEED certified or not! As a Residential Designer they have been my window of choice for over 20 years now (Example see the picture in the post below this one). I didn't let my personal preferences sway the choice of windows for our Team Hybrid projects they had to earn that. When Adam Bearup of Hybrid Homes, LLC and Image Design, LLC had the chance to design and build the LEED "Platinum" Onekama project, we wanted to form a project team to be involve with all of our LEED for Homes projects which we call Team Hybrid. This team of companies had to prove to Adam and me that they had a commitment and a passion for sustainability and our environment with their products or services. So when we were looking for a window company to be a part of our team we didn't let either Adam's or my past preference cloud our judgment we looked at Andersen, Marvin, Pella and Jeld-Wen (Don't get me wrong these are all good window manufactures and I have used them all before.) We also looked at some local manufactures of windows. We asked to meet with a local representative from each of these companies. Before these meetings we asked them all the same question before our meetings with them. "What makes your company Green or Sustainable"? Out of these four companies only one set of representatives could answer and show us why their company was green or sustainable; and that was Aric Lavancher and Mike Bottema from the Andersen Corporation. They were able to show us why their company has been green and sustainable by providing documentation, literature and explaining their manufacturing process to us.

On April 28th Adam and I were invited by Aric Lavancher, our Andersen Architectural Representative, to fly out to Bayport Minnesota to tour the Andersen manufacturing facility and to meet with the Andersen Sustainability Team. We were able to see firsthand and behind the scenes of many of Andersen's manufacturing facilities and process. We were given access to several restricted area's that most people have never seen (even many Andersen employees) This access allowed us to see firsthand how Andersen Corporation is committed to environmental stewardship. To put it in perspective for you the Andersen plant is a 2.8 million square foot manufacturing facility that takes up 64 acres along the environmentally sensitive St. Croix River. Below are just a few examples of their commitments.

• Andersen Corporation strives to utilize a majority of sourced wood from FSC or FSC Certified Controlled Wood in its clad wood products* based on availability and market conditions.”
  
• They commissioned in 2007, a Steam Generating Facility at the Andersen plant that uses wood byproducts from manufacturing, and it produces 80% of the plants energy source. (We are one of the few people that has ever tour this facility and it was amazing to see it working).
  
• 98.5% of raw materials that come into the Andersen plant are used in the manufacturing of their products. Land-filled solid waste at Andersen's Bayport, Minnesota facilities has been reduced by 83% since 1990.
  
• Andersen was the first window company to be Green Seal® certified. Green Seal is an independent non-profit group that labels environmentally responsible products.

I could show you numerous more examples but don't have the room here to do it. So if you would like to find out more about Andersen Windows commitment to Sustainability please visit their web-site by clicking on the underlined Andersen Windows link at the beginning of this post.
To say the very least I was impressed with Andersen Corporations commitment to green and sustainability and give them my endorsement as our window of choice for Image Design, LLC and Team Hybrid.

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The Vineyard Project is now complete

Team Hybrid has done it again. The Vineyard Project is now complete except for the final LEED for Homes certification which is expect to be at least "Gold". This net-zero or Zero Energy Home (ZEH) is sure to be another national award winning home with all of its sustainable features such as being Passive Solar, ICF construction and having Solar Hot Water, Radiant Heat, Geo-thermal, 3.3 kw of Photovoltaic and pre-wired for Wind Generation just to name a few.

If you are interested in seeing all the sustainable green feature inside and outside of this home we will be having an open house in the next few weeks, please let us know if you would like to see this home!

We want to thank the member of Team Hybrid for another project well done. Thanks goes out to Andersen Window Corporation, Bauer Power, BuildBlock, Hybrid Homes LLC, Image Design LLC, and R-Value Concrete Structures LLC for another awesome job! We would also like to thank the Homeowner for allowing us all to be apart of the special project!

Update: Read the post on PrairieMod web-site about this project!

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West Michigan Home & Garden Show

Come see us at the National Award Winning Team Hybrid booth #84 ( it's in the atrium across from our friends at Bauer Power) at the West Michigan's Home & Garden show . Many of you meet us there last year. Come see all that's happened since last years show. Check out our latest LEED for Home projects just nearing completion and see our new projects just about to start construction.

Dates & Times

Thursday, March 5th 3:00 - 9:30
Friday, March 6th 12:00 - 9:30
Saturday, March 7th 10:00 - 9:30
Sunday, March 8th 11:00 - 6:00

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Onekama Project in ICF Builder Magazine

The award winning Onekama Project is feature in this months ICF Builder magazine. It was the ICF Magazines award winner for Best Large Residential ICF project in the nation for 2008. Congratulation to Buildblock our ICF manufacturer, WallTech Products our ICF supplier, Hybrid Homes LLC the Builder and ourselves for designing and building this award winning project. Be sure to check out the extra photo of the project on their web-site. You can even see a photo of me helping to build this home.

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Turltle's Hope plans are ready for construction

Here is a sneak peak of the new Turtle's Hope project which is projected to be a LEED for Homes "Platinum" project. This near Net-Zero Farm House Style cottage will be built by Adam BearUp of Hybrid Homes, LLC. The perspective above is a southeast 3d perspective created with Google SketchUp software. By double clicking on this perspective you are able to see an enlarged view that shows the suns angle on June 21st. Which enables you to see how the 2'-6" overhangs and the passive solar awnings shade the sun from coming it to the home. You can also see the location of the Solar Hot Water system that will be installed by Mark Bauer from Bauer Power. To follow this project through construction please follow the home owner web-log by clicking on Turtle's Hope at the beginning of this article.

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Onekama project wins ICF Builder Magazine Award!

We just got the news from the World of Concrete 2009, held in Las Vegas. That the Onekama project has won the 2008 ICF Builder Magazine Award for Large Residence 3,000 to 6,000 sq. ft. We are proud that BuildBlock our ICF supplier believed in our project so much that they entered us it this prestigious award. Buildblock also had two other projects besides ours win awards too.

Congratulation to the Homeowners and "Team Hybrid" members Adam Bearup of Hybrid Homes, LLC (Builder), Dave Russell of Wall Tech Products, LLC (Distributor), ourselves Image Design, LLC (Designer) and BuildBlock (Supplier) for winning another prestigious award. Also a big thank goes out to all the behind the seen people who worked on this project, we could not of done it without all of you. Team Hybrid would like to send a special thanks to BuildBlock's Marketing Department for all of their hard work.

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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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September & October Update

We are excited to see the Watercress (Pictured) and the Vineyard project nearing completion and getting ready for the final LEED for Homes certification process. Congratulation to Adam Bearup of Hybrid Homes and his awesome team of craftsmen for all there hard work and dedication for following the LEED for Homes certification process on these two projects. We also are excited to see the interior finishing start on the Watercress project since my wife/business partner Christy worked with the homeowner on all the interior selection for this awesome project we can wait to see all of her hard work payoff. We have several project in the pricing stages now all of the are capable of score very high in the LEED for Homes certification process. We are also excited to have been hired for a new LEED certified project on Long Lake just outside of Traverse City and a green remodel of a 1890 farm house in Howard City. As you may have read below we are please to have won two prestigious national awards from the ICFA. You can read about or awards on my favorite web-log called PrairieMod and the BuildBlock web-site. Also we interviewing for several new and exciting projects all over the country.

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Onekama project Wins Two National Awards

Today we found out the Onekama Hybrid Home won two national awards from the ICFA (Insulating Concrete Form Association). The ICFA Excellence Award is the premier industry recognition for the most innovative and noteworthy ICF projects of the year. We are proud that BuildBlock our ICF supplier believed in our project so much that they entered us it these prestigious awards. Buildblock sweep the awards with there projects. We are proud to have won the following two awards.

ICFA Large Residential Project Gold Award: Is awarded to the nations top ICF residential project over 3,000 square feet.

ICFA Sustainability Project Gold Award: Is awarded to the nations top
Residential or Commercial ICF project which maximizes the energy
performance and minimizes the environmental footprint of a building.

Congratulation to the Homeowners and "Team Hybrid" members Adam Bearup of Hybrid Homes, LLC (Builder), Dave Russell of Wall Tech Products, LLC (Distributor), ourselves Image Design, LLC (Designer) and BuildBlock (Supplier) for winning these prestigious awards. Also a big thank goes out to all the behind the seen people who worked on this project, we could not of done it without all of you.

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Green Bathroom Remodel

Today we start our green bath remodel with the help from Adam Bearup of Hybrid Homes, LLC we will be gutting a 1952 bathroom and remodeling it as green as possible. The first thing we did was to replace all the existing light fixture with energy star fixture. We replace a inadequate bathroom fan with a new energy star Panasonic Whisper Green fan/light. And the electrical switches will be motion activated. All new plumbing fixture will be Grohe WaterCare low flow fixture to conserve water with a Toto WaterSense 1.28 flush comfort height Eco Drake toilet. The sub floor will be James Hardies HardieBacker™ board with exclusive Moldblock™ Technology then and ceramic tile floor that will be grouted with TEC AccuColor XT grout which is formulated to be highly resistant to common stains and mold and mildew. The combined product should deliver us the ultimate in mold resistance for our green bathroom floor. The walls and ceiling will be painted with Sherwin-Williams Harmony zero-VOC's (volatile organic compounds) paints designed with anti-microbial properties and formulated without silica. The Green Bathroom Remodel pictures will be posted on Hybrid Homes web-site.

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National Ad Featuring the Onekama Project

Today we just found out BuildBlock the ICF supplier for the award winning LEED for Homes "Platinum" Onekama project took out a national ad showing our project in the July issue of Environmental Design + Construction magazine. Image Design and Hybrid Homes are proud to have specified BuildBlock ICF's and to be apart of there national ad campaign. The Onekama project is also featured on BuildBlock's website just click on the link adove to read about the project. BuildBlock have a superior product that we are using on serval other LEED for Home certified projects we have under construction including the projected LEED for Homes "Gold" Vineyard project in Paw Paw. We highly recommend there product and here in Michigan you can get it through Wall Tech Products.

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June & July Update

Were back from a Disney vacation in Florida and the 2008 Michigan Energy Fair. And were in the middle of a green remodel to our home and office. Our summer has been busy so far and so has our business. My wife Christy has been getting involved with the interior design on several of our projects now and enjoying the challenge. So here is a updated on our project's Hybrid Homes has the Watercress and the Vineyard projects both under construction. The picture you see here is the Projected LEED for Home "Platinum" Watercress project being built on Pentwater Lake. We are excited to have been hired to design two new project that will be going for LEED for Homes certification in the last two weeks one will been in Dorr and the other one will be in LeRoy. The LeRoy project will be a Clay/Straw Home which we are excited about learning this type of construction. Also we are in the design phase on projects to be built in Grand Rapids, Lamont, Glenn, Delton, West Branch, Kingsley, Grandville. We just finished a project in Lake Placid, New York. We are interviewing for several new and exciting projects all over the country.

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Review of the 2008 Michigan Energy Fair

We had a great time at the 2008 Michigan Energy Fair. My wife Christy and I meet and talked with a lot of interesting people from all over the country that were interested in the design of green/sustainable homes. I want to thank my wife Christy for all the hard work she did to help and prepare for the Energy Fair. The evening before the energy fair we had a VIP party for all those involved with the Hybrid Show House along with friend, clients and the media it was a great start to the weekend long energy fair. Governor Gramholm was the keynote speaker on the opening day of the energy fair and to our surprise Adam Bearup of Hybrid Homes was awarded an award from Governor Jennifer Gramholm for being a leader in using renewable energy in residential construction and also as a leader in Green Building in Michigan. Congratulation Adam! Were also gave seminars along with Hybrid Homes on creating the LEED "Platinum" Hybrid Home.

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Paw Paw "Vineyard" project is Projected LEED for Homes "Gold"

Image Design, LLC and Hybrid Homes, LLC are excited to announce our Paw Paw project (also known as the Vineyard Project) was just register as a projected LEED for Homes "Gold" project. Nestled in South Western Michigan's wine country this project is located next to a vineyard, thus the project name. This home will be a Passive Solar Prairie style home built with BuildBlock ICF (Insulated Concrete Forms) from foundation to the roof where we will be using Elk 40 yr. Prestique Cool color dimensional shingles. The exterior will be using two of our favorite products CertainTeed FiberCement Siding (Includes Fly Ash) and Andersen windows. The interior will have stained concrete floor on all floor which will make great thermal mass. The home was also design with lifetime design priciples and has zero step entries.

Update!!! This home will now be close to a net-zero home thanks to the recent addition of 4 kw of Photovaoltaic, Solar Hot Water system , Geo-thermal heating and cooling and the future installation of a Wind Generator. Now were keeping our figures crossed with the new addition of these renewable energies on this house, it will be enough to push it to a LEED for Homes "Platinum" designation.

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Pentwater "Watercress" project is Projected LEED for Homes "Platinum"

Image Design, LLC and Hybrid Homes, LLC are excited to announce our Pentwater project (also known as the Watercress Project) was just register as a projected LEED for Homes "Platinum" project. This home has a Logix ICF (Insulated Concrete Forms)foundation with SIP panel (Structural Insulated Panels ) walls and roof from Porter Sips the siding will be hand hewn cedar log siding from Homestead Timbers and of coarse will be using our favorite window from Andersen, the project will be topped of with a burgundy metal standing seam roof. The interior of this project will be using a lot of recycled content including cabinets for the wet bar and laundry, vanity tops for two bathrooms various columns and the mantel will come from tree from there building site. This home will sit on the shores of Pentwater Lake with two spring feed creeks that flow into Pentwater Lake. The creeks are lined with Watercress which is where the project gets its name.

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Onekama Project Receives LEED for Homes "Platinum" Certification

Image Design and Adam Bearup of Hybrid Homes are please to announced today that its Hybrid Home project in Onekama Michigan has been awarded the U.S. Green Building Council’s (USGBC) highest certification through is LEED for Homes program. The Hybrid House received LEED "Platinum" certification. Only 22 other homes in the nation have received this honor. Along with the "Platinum" LEED Certifications and winning the GLREA 2007 Exemplary Project Award, this hybrid home has also been awarded an Energy Star Rating of 5+ Stars. You can also read more about this project in the March issue of Concrete Homes magazine and in the up coming Northern Home & Cottage magazines May issue. If you would like to tour this home it will be the 2008 Michigan Energy Fair Show Home. The Michigan Energy Fair is June 27th - 29th in Onekama Michigan.

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