We are so glad that your search has brought you to this blog post or to our web site because we know that you are serious about designing and building your truly ecologically sustainable custom home!
Designing and building homes to be low impact environmentally and energy efficient has been our primary guiding principle for 35+ years.
Eco Sustainable Home Designs has been dedicated to the sole objective of designing and building the most superior houses that are very low maintenance and highly energy efficient for each of our clients. We provide:
- Comprehensive Home Building Plans
- Custom Plan Designs
- Recommended Eco-Friendly Home Elements
- Extensive Detailed Construction Plans with Notes and Clear Cross Sections for You and Your Builder to Understand Your Criteria for Building a Superior Home.
- Lot Evaluation for Placement and Integrating Your Lot’s Unique Natural Resources so Your Plan is Designed for Your Lot and Your Prime Objectives
We have never built speculative houses that are mostly guided by building with the cheapest materials and labor and relying on the latest trends and fads to sell our houses, so subsequently we have never been tempted to compromise on structure to provide the latest finish materials.
The building structure and energy efficient operating systems are the most important. These are the elements that make your home durable, dependable and sustainable and save you thousands of dollars on maintenance and energy over your lifetime.
The finishing elements, especially on the interior of your home can be changed or updated when your budget can afford. The planning and building of a superior structure will see you through the wear and tear of the environment and the natural disasters that may come your way.
If you read on, then soon you will become confident that you have come to the right place to rely on our expertise to guide you in one of the most important pursuits of your lifetime. Little else is as gratifying as designing and building your own custom home. You have probably lived in other houses and apartments and by now know what you really want in your last house. Some of you have had less than pleasant experiences with your former abodes, especially in costly repairs, maintenance and high energy costs. You also probably have wondered whether there are superior alternatives of construction than what you presently see and since you are here you have a genuine commitment to being a better steward of the earth’s resources and lowering your carbon footprint.
I have good news for you! There are affordable alternatives for building that genuinely make a much lower impact on the environment than conventional construction.
These alternative building forms of construction use materials that are low maintenance highly energy efficient and are completely sustainable with materials and energy systems that are renewable. Yes, these alternative renewable forms of construction and energy renewable heating and cooling systems are a small percentage more expensive initially to build than standard construction, but beyond that the superiority of these methods have no comparison to standard construction. You must take a long view beyond the initial cost to look at the immeasurable cost savings in upkeep and energy consumption savings over your lifetime.
Eco Sustainable Home Designs will collaborate with clients to build the last house they will ever need!
Now is time to take your first step on this journey by employing a professional designer who can partner with you in this most key step of developing a comprehensive building plan.
So now you are ready to take stock of your financial resources, your individualized ideas for your living space and your commitment to building an eco-sustainable structure. In this process inevitably you must come down to a budget you can afford.
Comprehensive Planning Elements
Remember you are building a one-of-a-kind home with your unique ideas about a floor plan that fits your needs and your individual taste.
- Consultation Provided
You will be building on your unique lot, so you are responsible to thoroughly evaluate what natural resources are present and how they may be utilized in the construction and renewable sustainable energy systems that control the comfort of the interior. How are you going to plan outdoor living spaces to best connect with nature?
- Construction Design vs. Lot
There are two questions that I get regularly: Should I pick a lot first and then design a house that best suits the lot? Or should I pick a plan and then search for a lot that is best suited for my house plan? There is no one correct answer. I lean toward the first question, but after all these years of designing and building custom homes for my individual clients I have found in practice that both questions are addressed in the planning process. Often my clients have come to me with floor plans they really like and have a place they really like, so the home must be designed with alterations to best accommodate the lot. Either approach is going to require modifications of your original plans. Eco Sustainable Home Designs is here to help!
Of course, choosing a place you would really like to live is of paramount importance to you! However, for example you may know you want a single-story house on a monolithic slab, then choosing a lot that has a gentle slope to flat terrain is essential, because having to build a basement or crawl space is a significant expense that will take a big bite out of your budget. If your lot requires a basement or crawl space, then make sure you evaluate how you are going to use that space in your overall square footage and living space.
- Detailed Plans = Efficient Construction
Nobody has ever built your house on your lot, so they do not know what it will cost to build it. Our detailed building plans provide builders with drawings with cross sections and easily understandable notes on how to build the structure and to apply elements to the framework.
Eco Sustainable Home Designs provides detailed notes on each section of the construction plan pages anticipate the short cuts taken in conventional construction and workmanship. These simple instructions make all the difference between a mediocre structure and an excellent house, designed to withstand extreme conditions. As it is said, ‘the proof is in the details.’
For example, standard conventional construction practices construct roofs with nails. This should never be practiced. Instead, all the rafters should be constructed with steel ties and screws both on the sole plate at the top of the walls and to the ridge beam. This makes all the difference in high winds. It only takes one rafter giving way in high winds to take down the whole roof. A roof is only as strong as its weakest point.
- Alterations = Expense
Making changes and additions after construction is underway always means more money. There is nothing more important than careful and thorough planning and estimating the cost for each phase of construction to help you stay on budget. Make sure you work thoroughly through your plans and estimates before construction begins. Eco Sustainable Home Designs are happy to work with you on breaking down the plans into individual elements to carefully estimate each piece of the materials to give you as accurately as possible the costs of materials for your house. It is your builder’s responsibility to give you an accurate cost of labor for each segment of the construction process.
- How Long Will It Take?
Building a house always takes longer than you think or even longer than your builder thinks unless you wish to build a ‘barndomenium,’ utilizing prefabricated steel structures. This type of construction can get you closed in under roof after your slab is ready in a week or less depending on structure size. Check out our blog on building barndomeniums and our barndomenium plans!
Plan in your overall budget for the eventualities of the length of time it takes to build your new house. Bad weather, material and supply delays, and other unexpected events can interrupt construction. You may be having to rent another place to stay while your home is being built or paying extra interest on your construction loan. As a conservative measure add a month more than the builder’s best estimate to your budget projection.
- Builders to Check Out
Once you have carefully worked through the planning process and have done a detailed estimate of the cost of materials and have in hand your custom comprehensive building plans, then it is time to interview several builders. You need to provide for each your comprehensive building plans and emphasize to each your core objectives and to let them know that your plans have detailed notes on how the building is to be constructed. Ask them to provide you with detailed proposals and estimates for each phase of the construction.
Do not be tempted to just go with the one that gives you the cheapest price. This may simply mean they have not taken into serious account your specific objectives or detailed notes on construction that are not just common practice and will require of him/her to make sure each of their sub-contractors will follow specifications which likely require a little more time and expense to comply with your comprehensive plans. It is of utmost importance to select a builder that has gained your trust and confidence.
- Pricing
It is now time to establish an agreement with the builder you choose and negotiate with him/her a contract that is mutually acceptable. In custom construction it is most common to have a cost-plus type of agreement. You have already done an extensive estimate of the cost of all materials and your builder has given you a cost of labor for each phase of construction, so you know all that you can know to this point and you, and your builder can move forward with reasonable confidence in what this project will cost.
At this point you can offer the builder a flat price for his/her service in expediting your plans to completed house. In most cases the builder is going to come back to you with a percentage he/she wants to receive over flat cost of materials and labor. I always recommend to you that you approach them with the flat price option, not only because it alleviates anxiety of unknown costs, but more importantly you have not revealed your hand or insulted him/her with a too low percentage or how high that you might consider going. If you have followed this process to the letter and know everyone is working with the comprehensive plans you have developed, then everyone can work with confidence. At this point all parties are happy!
- Designer / Builder / Banker
Before having started this entire process you had gone to your lender to see what line of credit, they could offer you in a construction to permanent loan. In most cases I recommend that you use one lender for the construction loan and the permanent mortgage loan.
It is extremely important that you let the designer you have employed to know your line of credit so he/she can work on your comprehensive building plans with your budget in mind. If you decide to partner with Eco Sustainable Home Designs, you can know that with our 35 + years of doing the design and the construction of our houses we know pretty well what it is going to cost you to build your custom home. You can count on us to reign you in on square footage and finishing choices so you can have success in building your home within your budget.
We also know that in every construction project there are unforeseen circumstances that require more expense to your budget. We are well versed in knowing what kind of eventualities you might face, especially if we have knowledge of your lot. For example, you have selected a lot where you need to include a basement in your plans. It is not at all uncommon to excavate and run into solid rock, which means in most cases you are to have the expense of breaking up the stone with explosives. As a matter of practice, we add to our estimate a percentage for these extra potential costs.
Your lender is going to be happy and pleased when they see the comprehensive building plans you have created and even more impressed with your thorough estimate of costs. Keep in mind most lenders make up the rules and percentages of the total loan. This means they decide for you and your builder when he is going to get a draw on your construction loan. They decide what percentage of the total loan is due by their definition of what total percentage of the construction has been done. This can make for an unhappy situation with your builder and subcontractors. Everyone wants to be paid in full and on time for their services. If you have developed a comprehensive building plan and extensive estimates including what percentage of the total amount of the construction has been completed at each phase, then it is easier to make your case on behalf of the builder and his/her sub-contractors.
Remember you are building a more excellent custom home than standard construction. This means that your cost for building a superior structure has material and labor cost higher than standard construction.
For example, your roof is going to be an architectural standing seam metal roof that has at least 100 years of reliable service than an asphalt shingle roof that has an average life of less than 20 years. Your metal roof is going to be up to 22% higher in initial costs than the composition roof. If you have followed the course prescribed herein then you are prepared to be an excellent advocate for those working on your house and less hair pulling and anxious fighting with your lender.
- Budget Monitoring
Now it is up to you to keep up with the budget. In the extensive estimate you have done you have included allowances for all the finishing elements with your order of preferences for things like plumbing fixtures, lighting fixtures and flooring etc. At the completion of each phase of construction you can take stock of how well you have done in staying in or coming in under budget and begin to adjust your finishing expenses and expectations.
Remember your objectives in building this eco sustainable house is to build a more excellent building that will be low maintenance, highly energy efficient and to be a reliable dwelling, able to stand up to adverse conditions and to save you money throughout your lifetime.
This means if you need to adjust the budget and expenses do not compromise in the building of your structure and you should not have to because you have taken the time to develop a comprehensive building plan and to do the extensive estimates which all are to follow. For you there will not be unexpected or unhappy surprises. Just remember that interior fixtures can be changed and updated throughout your life as desire and budget allow. It is actually fun and rewarding to shop for the best price for things like appliances to plumbing and electrical fixtures for your own custom home.
All this might seem a bit overwhelming, but when you break it down into individual parts and take each step one at a time it is more manageable. After all, a house is not built in a day. It also makes it much easier when you partner with a competent designer, such as Eco Sustainable Home Designs to see you through developing a comprehensive building plan and completing an extensive material estimate. We would be pleased to see you through this process.
To be perfectly honest, designing and building a custom house is not for the faint of heart! On the other hand, there are few pursuits in our life that are as rewarding and fulfilling. As you see each phase completed there is no equal objective measure of a sense of accomplishment and no greater sense of fulfillment in seeing it completed and living in the space you designed.