Enjoy a refreshing view from your kitchen with Pella® ProLine® 450 Series® casement windows. These high-performance wood windows add energy-saving comfort to your kitchen space or nearly any place.

Photo credit: Scott McDonald @ Hedrich Blessing 7RR-Ecohome: The design objective was to build a house for a couple recently married who both had kids from previous marriages. How to bridge two families together? The design looks forward in terms of how people live today. The home is an experiment in transparency and solid form; removing borders and edges from outside to inside the house, and to really depict “flowing and endless space”. The house floor plan is derived by pushing and pulling the house’s form to maximize the backyard and minimize the public front yard while welcoming the sun in key rooms by rotating the house 45-degrees to true north. The angular form of the house is a result of the family’s program, the zoning rules, the lot’s attributes, and the sun’s path. We wanted to construct a house that is smart and efficient in terms of construction and energy, both in terms of the building and the user. We could tell a story of how the house is built in terms of the constructability, structure and enclosure, with a nod to Japanese wood construction in the method in which the siding is installed and the exposed interior beams are placed in the double height space. We engineered the house to be smart which not only looks modern but acts modern; every aspect of user control is simplified to a digital touch button, whether lights, shades, blinds, HVAC, communication, audio, video, or security. We developed a planning module based on a 6-foot square room size and a 6-foot wide connector called an interstitial space for hallways, bathrooms, stairs and mechanical, which keeps the rooms pure and uncluttered. The house is 6,200 SF of livable space, plus garage and basement gallery for a total of 9,200 SF. A large formal foyer celebrates the entry and opens up to the living, dining, kitchen and family rooms all focused on the rear garden. The east side of the second floor is the Master wing and a center bridge connects it to the kid’s wing on the west. Second floor terraces and sunscreens provide views and shade in this suburban setting. The playful mathematical grid of the house in the x, y and z axis also extends into the layout of the trees and hard-scapes, all centered on a suburban one-acre lot. Many green attributes were designed into the home; Ipe wood sunscreens and window shades block out unwanted solar gain in summer, but allow winter sun in. Patio door and operable windows provide ample opportunity for natural ventilation throughout the open floor plan. Minimal windows on east and west sides to reduce heat loss in winter and unwanted gains in summer. Open floor plan and large window expanse reduces lighting demands and maximizes available daylight. Skylights provide natural light to the basement rooms. Durable, low-maintenance exterior materials include stone, ipe wood siding and decking, and concrete roof pavers. Design is based on a 2' planning grid to minimize construction waste. Basement foundation walls and slab are highly insulated. FSC-certified walnut wood flooring was used. Light colored concrete roof pavers to reduce cooling loads by as much as 15%. 2x6 framing allows for more insulation and energy savings. Super efficient windows have low-E argon gas filled units, and thermally insulated aluminum frames. Permeable brick and stone pavers reduce the site’s storm-water runoff. Countertops use recycled composite materials. Energy-Star rated furnaces and smart thermostats are located throughout the house to minimize duct runs and avoid energy loss. Energy-Star rated boiler that heats up both radiant floors and domestic hot water. Low-flow toilets and plumbing fixtures are used to conserve water usage. No VOC finish options and direct venting fireplaces maintain a high interior air quality. Smart home system controls lighting, HVAC, and shades to better manage energy use. Plumbing runs through interior walls reducing possibilities of heat loss and freezing problems. A large food pantry was placed next to kitchen to reduce trips to the grocery store. Home office reduces need for automobile transit and associated CO2 footprint. Plan allows for aging in place, with guest suite than can become the master suite, with no need to move as family members mature.

This 2012 project depicts the complete Lighting Design Package which includes (i) a Lighting Theme that complements the architectural design; (b) a lighting design that provides adequate lighting to various areas of the project - while still reducing the energy cost by 66% (+/) if conventional lighting was used, and, (c) the use of effective LED Lighting and other Energy Saving Systems. (photograph captured by Norman Allen)

Northern Home design Ltd.

By Design I WANT THAT Wednesday feature of the week . . . love the convenience of your dryer on laundry day but hate what it does to some of your more delicate clothes? Add one of these "green" dryers to your laundry room - save money, the environment AND your clothes!

Flooring made from cork can help you save money on your heating and cooling bills. The same cellular structure that insulates a floating cork floor against noise transfer will also keep out unwanted heat energy in the summer, or to keep it in the home in the winter. This means less energy will be expended to control the temperature of an interior space, a bonus to any wallet. Look into floating cork flooring today for better management.

Minimalist kitchen photo in New York

Example of a minimalist home office design in Cleveland

Inspiration for a modern home design remodel in Cleveland

Flooring made from cork can help you save money on your heating and cooling bills. The same cellular structure that insulates a floating cork floor against noise transfer will also keep out unwanted heat energy in the summer, or to keep it in the home in the winter. This means less energy will be expended to control the temperature of an interior space, a bonus to any wallet. Look into floating cork flooring today for better management.

Example of a minimalist home design design in Cleveland

Minimalist home office photo in New York

Solar Advantage, LLC
Example of a minimalist home design design in Tampa

For conversation starters, Komal set the neutral palette against bright, blue accents. The final result was a remodeled kitchen that was not only user-friendly, filled with nifty space-saving storage arrangements and attention-grabbing fixtures, but also eco-friendly, completed with energy-saving appliances.

Andrew Latreille
Large 1960s white two-story stucco house exterior photo in Vancouver with a shingle roof

Intus Windows' super energy efficient doors and windows help to create this sleek and modern entrance, while keeping out the hot and cold temperatures, thus saving dramatically on energy costs and reducing carbon dioxide through energy conservation.

Example of a minimalist home design design in Cleveland

Hunter Douglas Duette Honeycomb Shades- designed for insulation. They create a pocket of air at the window that helps save energy and can be motorized!

Minimalist home office photo in New York