ENERGY & RESOURCE EFFICIENCY
NATIONAL AWARD WINNER
IMAGE Homes is a recipient of the National Association of Home Builders'
ENERGY VALUE HOUSING AWARD
CATEGORY: INNOVATIVE / ADVANCED IN A COLD CLIMATE
The National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) has twice presented IMAGE Homes with the Energy Value Housing Award, the best out of 23 entrants in the nation. The 5,000 square foot demonstration home IMAGE Homes built to showcase energy and resource efficiency had a heating cost of $300 - annually. School groups, tours and seminars were hosted at the home. The home was featured in Xcel Energy's UPDATE, a newsletter sent with the company's utility bills, saying the home represented 'green homebuilding at its best'.
IMAGE Homes has also received the highest award from the international Energy Efficient Builders Association (EEBA) and the Governor's Office of Energy Conservation in Colorado for the most energy efficient home built in the state.
We take an integrated and balanced approach to energy efficient and green design, technology, and construction, including analysis of environmental benefits vs. price, performance and practicality. Energy efficiency has been a hallmark of our company since its inception, and remains so. Energy efficiency cannot be achieved without quality control - the fact that our homes are energy efficient also means they are well built.
IMAGE Homes is one of an exclusive number of builders in the state voluntarily building to Energy Star and Germany's Passivhaus standards. This means that all of our homes are built to much higher level than required by code. We were charter members of the Denver HBA's Built Green program and have building green since 1985. We were 'green' before green was cool.
IMAGE Homes has also received the highest award from the international Energy Efficient Builders Association (EEBA) and the Governor's Office of Energy Conservation in Colorado for the most energy efficient home built in the state.
We take an integrated and balanced approach to energy efficient and green design, technology, and construction, including analysis of environmental benefits vs. price, performance and practicality. Energy efficiency has been a hallmark of our company since its inception, and remains so. Energy efficiency cannot be achieved without quality control - the fact that our homes are energy efficient also means they are well built.
IMAGE Homes is one of an exclusive number of builders in the state voluntarily building to Energy Star and Germany's Passivhaus standards. This means that all of our homes are built to much higher level than required by code. We were charter members of the Denver HBA's Built Green program and have building green since 1985. We were 'green' before green was cool.
SITE DESIGN :
Our design team begins with a thorough review of the building site, emphasizing proper siting of the home or structure based on access, topography, trees, rock outcroppings, view corridors, solar gain, and preservation of natural surroundings.
DESIGN DETAILS :
Proper solar orientation, generous eaves for solar shading, natural day lighting, maximum cross ventilation and preservation of natural buffers (berms, trees) combine to help achieve comfort and savings. Incorporation of appropriate direct and indirect gain help balance heating in the winter and cooling in the summer.
INTERIOR INSULATION :
Every custom home has unique qualities in the design that will guide the best solution for proper insulation. We do a thorough design review of both the site and the structure and then recommend the best alternatives for insulation of the various components of the building envelope.
SEALING and INDOOR AIR QUALITY
The diagram to the left shows SOME the areas that allow air infiltration. By caulking and sealing these leakage points we can minimize the infiltration of cold air in the winter and hot air in the summer. This means huge savings for heating and cooling, not to mention your comfort.
"R-Value is not the most important factor to consider. Sealing points of air infiltration is. If the Thermos bottle's lid is cracked, the coffee's cold" - Randy Nelson, President.
INDOORAIR QUALITY is addressed based on the final energy modeling results. This provides the criteria to specify how we address proper passive and / or mechanical ventilation ventilation
|
NO FURNACE : The type and efficiency of the mechanical system is important! There are numerous solutions that we will explore. Among them are forced air, hydronic, electric heat pumps, and geo thermal . Which system is right will depend on the site conditions, solar tempering, and components that have been incorporated into the the thermal envelope. When done properly the mechanical system will be designed TO BE AS SMALL AND EFFICIENT AS POSSIBLE . |
