Wealthy Heights Net-Zero Energy Home

We are proud and excited to be the designer of the Habitat for Humanity of Kent County projected LEED for Homes "Platinum" Net-Zero Energy Homes in Wealthy Heights. This will be Michigan's first Net-zero Energy Habitat home and it will be built as part of the Wealthy Heights Partnership Project. Construction could begin as soon as September or as late as March 2011 depending on the entire neighbor hood improvement plans approval by various authorities. Besides being a projected LEED for Home "Platinum" project the project has goals of reaching Green Built Michigan "Gold" certification, 5+ Energy Star certification, HERs Score of 0, Zero-Step certification, EPA WaterSense Partner and EPA Indoor AirPlus Partner.

This home will have Photovoltaic's and Solar Hots Water System combined with Radiant Floor Heat to help it achieve it's Net-Zero Energy. The home will use several construction methods such as Frost Protected Shallow Foundation for a portion of the House, ICF Construction for the Basement, Advanced Framing for the Walls and SIP panel Construction for the Roof.

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LEED for Homes "Gold" Gut Re-Hab project completed

Just helped Habitat for Humanity of Kent County completed a LEED for Homes "Gold" Gut Re-Hab project. It was just 5 points shy of score "Platinum"certification. Please visit the Hovey Project's

I would like to thank our friends at Generations Timber Frames donate the awesome Timber framed front porch (Made from recycled telephone poles) that you see in the picture above. and our friends at Apex Landscape Donated the Landscaping along with our friends at Let Us, Inc. for donating the custom wood shutters.

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Judging EcoHome Design Awards

I am honored to have been ask to be a judge of EcoHome Magazines inaugural EcoHome Design Awards, honoring the best sustainable homes for innovative design, green building features, environmental performance, and integration with their sites and communities in the nation. I will be flying to Washington D.C. for the judging in a week and a half and I am really excited about the opportunity to be one of the judges for such a prestigious award from one of my favorite magazines. We will be helping to judge in all of these categories.

1. Production, less than 2,000 square feet
2. Production, 2,000 to 4,000 square feet
3. Production, more than 4,000 square feet
4. Custom*, less than 2,000 square feet
5. Custom*, 2,000 to 4,000 square feet
6. Custom*, more than 4,000 square feet
7. Remodeling, whole-house
8. Remodeling, green addition
9. Multifamily
10. Affordable Housing

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Come See Us at GreenSolutions4: GreenFest in Traverse City

If you get a chance please visit us at our booth at the GS4 Greenfest in Traverse City this Saturday. Our booth will be in the Con Foster Building and we will also be speaking on designing Grand Traverse Counties First LEED Certified Home at 12:00pm in the same building. This will be the place to connect with people, ideas, information, products and services related to green building. Get great ideas from green professionals, discover how to reduce your utility bills, learn about green products and services, and explore green initiatives that the Traverse City area has to offer.

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Paw Paw project receives LEED for Homes "Platinum" certification

It's official we just received LEED for Homes "Platinum" Certification for the "Vineyard" project in Paw Paw, Michigan. This is the Highest highest honor you can receive from the USGBC and the third time we have achieved this honor. We want to thank the member of the Vineyard project team for project well done. Thanks goes out to Image Design LLC, Hybrid Home LLC, Andersen Window Corporation, BuildBlock, R-Value Concrete Structures, Bauer Power, and AES (Alliance for Environmental Sustainability) for 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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Glenn Retreat Project Under Construction

We made a site visit to the Projected LEED for Homes "Platinum" Glenn Retreat Project this week and things are coming along great. We are very impressed with the construction progress and attention to detail on this project. Thumbs up goes out to Doug and Jeff from Lake Homes Builder's for all their hard work on their first LEED for Homes project.

Note: you can see how the passive solar is working on this project, see the overhangs and the passive solar awning's shading the project's windows from the summer sun.

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Earth Day Special

To help celebrate Earth Day on Wednesday April 22nd Image Design, LLC will be taking $500.00 off our design fee for any new design projects that we are hired for between April 18th and April 24th 2010. We hope that you all enjoy the different Earth Day events through-out the next week.

"YOU MUST BE THE CHANGE YOU WISH TO SEE IN THE WORLD." - Mahatma Ghandi

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Kingsley project receives LEED for Homes "Gold" Certification

It's official we just received LEED for Homes "Gold" Certification for the "Granite Hill" project in Kingsley, Michigan. This is the second highest honor you can receive from the USGBC. To our knowledge this is the first LEED certified home in Grand Traverse county. Congratulation goes out to Frontier Construction this is their first LEED for Homes project they have completed, hopefully we can help them with many more. We want to thank the member of the Granite Hill project team for project well done. Thanks goes out to Frontier Construction LLC, Image Design LLC, Andersen Window Corporation, BuildBlock, Brown Lumber, Odem Re-use Co. and Sustainable Environmental Services for 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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"Granite Hill" Project Wins Two National Awards

Today we found out the "Granite Hill" in Kingsley , Michigan won two national awards from the ICFA (Insulating Concrete Form Association). The 2009 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 Small Residential Project Gold Award: Is awarded to the nations top ICF residential project less than 3,000 square feet.

ICFA Sustainability Project Bronze 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 Frontier Construction (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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"Vineyard" Project Wins Two National Awards

Today we found out the "Vineyard Project" in Paw Paw , Michigan won two national awards from the ICFA (Insulating Concrete Form Association). The 2009 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 Silver 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), R-Value Concrete Structures (Installer) 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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Grand Traverse Green 2010

If you get a chance I will be speaking at Grand Traverse Green 2010 Conference in Traverse City Michigan on Saturday February 6th from 10:00am to 11:30am at the Hagerty Center. We were invite by the Grand Traverse Home Builders Association to speak at this conference. Traverse City  Home Builders Association (HBAGTA) and Traverse Area Association of Realtors (TAAR) are both Pioneers in the Green Building movement  TAAR, with the with the technological support from the HBAGTA Green Build Grand Traverse Committee, has developed additions to its MLS (Green MLS). These additions allow sellers to list homes, commercial buildings and developments that have been certified or rated by one or more of the major Green Building Programs, including LEED, NAHB Green, Energy Star, and HERs.  HBAGTA was the first in Michigan to have a nationally recognized local Green Building Certification Program which was recently retired in May, 2009 to partner with the NAHB Green Build Program. We are excited to be speaking in one of the Pioneering Green Communities in our State.

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December Update

Can't believe its the end of the year already! This past year flew bye. We have been blessed this last year by receiving several national awards and by being published is several national & local magazines and had a lot of coverage through the internet. Since our last update we found out that I was elected to the Board of Directory at the Alliance for Environmental Sustainability (AES). I consider this a great honor and look forward to working with the rest of the Board members their, the AES has mentored myself and Image Design, LLC over the last 4 years and we would not be where we are today without them.

Our projected LEED for Home "Platinum" Glenn Retreat project is now under construction and the homeowners are writing a web-log about it. You can follow the progress of this project by clicking on the project's name above. Our projected LEED for Homes "Platinum" Turtles Hope project should be nearing completion some after the first of the year. We have several interesting project in design one of them is a sustainable remodel to a 1890's old farm house (see the picture above) built in in Dowling, Michigan the homeowners call the project Uncle Shane's. You can also follow the progress of this project by clicking on its project name too. This project will ultimatly be turning into a off the Grid Orgainic Farm. We are working on commercial LEED certified project called Northwoods by Nature that will be a non-profit Training Center for Green Building and Wind Tower Safety in LeRoy, Michigan. This project is exciting to me because it will give us a place up north to train and speak about Green Building and the LEED for Homes program to Builders, Sub-contractors, Building officials, Realtors and Homeowners in Northern Michigan. Some of the other project's we have in design will be built-in Howard City, Traverse City, Benzonia, Beulah, Dexter, Glenn, Ionia, Friutport, Newaygo, LeRoy, West Branch and Grand Rapids.

We are also anxiously awaiting final LEED for Homes certification on two of our projects the national award winning Vineyard Project which is projected to be "Platinum" and th Granite Hill which is projected to be "Gold". I am also in the process of working on my LEED AP + Homes Professional Credentials this is a two part process, first I will go for my LEED Green Associate certification then take a exam then if I pass it, I go take the LEED AP + Homes exam. This certification is worth one point on any of my projects that are going for LEED certification. So its important to have these Professional Credentials and it will also sets me apart from my competition. Also I will need it for a new venture I will be starting in 2010 (More about that next year)

2009 was a challenging, yet transformative year. Looking forward to the opportunities opening in 2010. Hope you all have a Happy New Year!

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The "Glenn Retreat" Project is Under Construction

Here is a sneak peak of the new "Glenn Retreat" project which is projected to be a LEED for Homes "Platinum" project. This Passive Solar designed Farm House Style cottage will be built by Doug Wierenga of Lake Home Builders. 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 2'-6" overhangs and the passive solar awnings that shade the sun from coming it to the home during the summer keeping this cottage naturally cool for summer enjoyment. There was an old existing cottage on this site that was beyond repair so the homeowners decided to re-use as much of the material as possible in there new cottage. You'll enjoy how these re-used material are worked into the interior design of this new cottage. This new cottage will use Advanced Framing methods (24" o.c. framing) w/Agra Based Open Cell Foam insulation and Geo-thermal heating and cooling to achieve the highest in energy efficiency. The home uses Lifetime design and Not So Big House design principle through-out the home making it the ultimate Retreat for family and friends of all ages to visit. Every material going into this home has been studied and research to make sure it is the greenest most sustainable choice for this home. The exterior landscaping was designed by Landscape Design Services, Inc. to meet the stringent LEED for Homes requirement and still be beautiful throughout the season. To follow this project through construction please follow the home owner web-log by clicking on "Glenn Retreat" at the beginning of this article.

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"Vineyard Project" Wins GreenBuilder Magazine's "2009 Green Home of the Year Award"

We are very excited annouce that we just found out that our projected LEED for Homes "Platinum "Vineyard Project" in Paw Paw, Michigan just won the GreenBuilder Magazine's "2009 Green Home of the Year Award" this is a very prestigious national award from one of the industries most respect green building magazines. Congratulation should go out to all of "Team Hybrid" for all of the hard work they are doing to be the leaders and pioneer's in the Green Building field in the State of Michigan.

I would like to thank the team members Hybrid Homes LLC, Image Design LLC, Andersen Window Corporation, BuildBlock ICF Company 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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Team Hybrid asked to share our Team Approach with Andersen Windows Central Division Sales Team

Team Hybrid (Image Design, LLC and Hybrid Homes, LLC ) spent the last two day's sharing our Team Approach of Designing and Building cutting edge sustainable homes with Andersen Window Companies Central Division Sales team. We were asked to speak and participate in their Success Fair (We were the only clients invite), showing their sales team how Andersen Windows companies commitment to working with Team Hybrid has paid off over the last 3 years and showing them what is instore for the near future.

Team Hybrid would like to thank Andersen Windows Company and there entire Central Division Sales Team for inviting us to this event and empracing the team concept approach to marketing. We are honored to have you all as members of our Team.

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Pentwater project receives LEED for Homes "Platinum" Certification

It's official we just received LEED for Homes "PLATINUM" Certification for the "Watercress Project" in Pentwater, Michigan. This is the highest honor you can receive from the USGBC. To our knowledge this is the first LEED "Platinum" Log Home in the nation. Congratulation goes out to Team Hybrid again this is the second LEED for Homes "Platinum" project from the team. We want to thank the member of the team for another project well done. Thanks goes out to Hybrid Homes LLC, Image Design LLC, Andersen Window Corporation, Homestead Timbers, 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!

Check out the article's on the PrairieMod, Jetson Green, Materialicious and Mother Nature Network web-log's on the "Watercress Project".

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Team Hybrid in Andersen Window Company Newsletter

LEEDing the Way: A inside look at Team Hybrid. Adam Bearup of Hybrid Homes, LLC and Eric Hughes of Image Design, LLC are the leaders of Team Hybrid Michigan's leading sustainable Design/Build team. Featured in the Andersen Window Companies internal newsletter which goes out to all of its employees Andersen is getting the word out about Team Hybrid. Andersen Window Company has partnered with Team Hybrid to help them stay the leading Sustainable/Green Design/Build team in Michigan.

Please read the article written in the Andersen Window Companies newsletter by double clicking the pictures below. Team Hybrid would like to thank Andersen Window Company for believing in what we do and for having the same passion for a sustainable future for all of to share.

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Future Proofing Garages for Electric Cars

Just got quoted in a great article by Katy Tomasulo of EcoHome Magazine called Future-Proofing Garages for Electric Cars. She talks about how single-family and multifamily builders should be thinking about how their homes will accommodate charging requirements for electric cars. Please read this great article.

"I always say plan for the future today, you won't regret it tomorrow"

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Frank Lloyd Wright Meyer May House Symposium

The Frank Lloyd Wright Meyer May House turns 100 years old. The birthday celebration this week features a symposium with big-name architects and designers coming to town and special tours featuring the home and others in Michigan. The symposium will be held on Thursday, September 10, 2009 form 1-5 PM . They will also be having tours of the Meyer May House
on the day of and the day after the Symposium. For those of you that know me, you know I wouldn't miss it. For those of you the don't know me, I am a big Frank Lloyd Wright fan. Hope to see some of you there!

Update
The symposium was awesome!!! And we also finally where able to meet our friends from our favorite web-log PrairieMod in person at the symposium.

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Michigan Blue Magazine Fall Issue

If you get a chance please check-out the new fall issue of Michigan Blue magazine there is a great article written by Lisa Jensen the editor of the magazine about "River Living". One of our first green homes we designed back in 2003 was featured in this article. The home was called "Modern Cottage" and was built on the Thornapple River in Ada, Michigan. The home is a site specific home that was designed for a narrow lot that was really close to their neighbors on each side of them. Every room in the house has a view of the river from the moment you step through the front Door. The home was designed to direct your view to the River not the neighbors. This home was a experiment with green and unique building products and was ahead of its time.

Green Feature

• Metal Roofing.
• Concrete counter-tops
• Stained Concrete Floors
• Hand made Concrete Tiled fireplace.
• Recycled Barn Beams
• Radiant Heat Floors
• CertainTEED Cement Board Siding
• Andersen 400 Series Windows
• Use of the "Not So Big House" principles.

Unique Feature

• Precast Plank for a Garage below the Garage.
• Alder w/matte charcoal finish kitchen cabinets.
• Honed granite counter top with glass tile backsplash.
• Brazilian cherry flooring.
• Catwalk connects masters suite w/childrens rooms.
• Open stairs.
• Connecting loft "secret room" in clildrens rooms w/rock climbing holds to access loft.
• Bunk room designed for weekend visits and sleepovers.
• Bedrooms all have decks and patios.
• Mylar sink.
• Built in sand box.

I would like to thank Lisa Jensen and Michigan Blue magazine for featuring one of our projects in one of its articles. Their magazine is one of my favorite magazine here in Michigan because of how it features unique homes and activites along our Lakes and Waterways.

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