We at The Plan Collection receive a lot of questions about foundations. Is a basement or a slab foundation better? Will a crawlspace have the space I need to store my stuff? What is a piling foundation? With all the questions, I decided to take some time and explain what each foundation type features and [...]
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I really enjoy seeing southwestern style homes. I have always considered southwestern homes as some of the prettiest designs around. I especially liked the Coronado design that I saw the other day. It takes the traditional southwest look and throws in a few special features. This house has a neat guest suite that is separated [...]
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Freegreen.com is your one-stop green website. This company has everything from products to lessen your carbon footprint to it’s own green social network similar to Facebook and Myspace. You can look at house plans with green features built into them. Once you have a home picked out you can browse over green builders in your [...]
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Green architecture has so many benefits but never seems to catch on that well. For years, people have known that we can build with materials that not only stop environmental damage but enhance life. It may seem as only a few independent people are what’s driving green building from being extinct. I was very pleased [...]
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With a recent decline in the housing business, builders and real estate agents are looking for ways to keep the industry abuzz. The option of a “green” has become more and more appealing to consumers. This is helping the industry because, with increased interest, the cost of supplies are dropping. People are loving this green [...]
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The Chicago Museum of Science and Industry completed construction on what is being called “Chicago’s greenest home.” The modular home with 2500 square feet mixes both elements of the world gone by and future space-age technology. Smart Home has furniture made of everything from crates and barrels to a dining room table fashioned out of [...]
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I’ve been reading a delightful blog called 100khouse.com. This is the first hand experience of author Chad Ludeman, president of Postgreen, who is developing the 100khouse. The neatest thing of all is indeed the reality of green building. Some things go smoothly for Chad, others don’t, and some don’t go at all. I’m still not [...]
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I wrote about using old shipping containers to build houses with a few weeks ago. Well here is a great example of a proposed project in Detroit. Designed by architect Steven Flum, in partnership with developer Leslie Horn, the project is waiting city approval. Once received, the condos will end up near Wayne State University. [...]
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Though it may not be the hot topic of the century, building residences with storage containers is getting a lot of attention right now. Let me tell you why. Structure: The biggest reason the idea has caught on is that the structure is already done. No need to worry about structural support. You also don’t [...]
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An important aspect of sustainability is preserving the buildings we can and transforming them into renewed and efficient structures. The unfortunate reality is that remodeling can be a tiring and cumbersome process that leaves a bad taste in your mouth (that’s the mold). Thankfully, remodeling homes is now being recognized and aided. The USGBC and [...]
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