This is an important subject these days. It actually began decades ago. This firm has been designing Green projects since 1974, but back then it was called “ecological” and “energy efficient.”
Index for
Green Home Architects
this is the index for green home architects. This index is also intended to be a resource for and about green home architects for other architects, homeowners and researchers on the subject of energy efficient house construction, environmental concerns and their relationship to residential design. This is also the green home architects index page to begin taking the course of study for the Green Home Design University (GHDU). Each webpage below is a green study module for the GHDU. Please feel free to go to any of these pages. You do not have to be taking the GHDU course of study to enjoy the information on these pages. We invite casual review as well. Enjoy!
1 Green Gauge– Architects Build Your House on the Green Gauge
2 Global Warming – Green Architecture & What You Can Do
3 Green Architects and Sustainable Architecture
4 Healthy Home Design & Green Houses
5 Energy Efficient Home Architects A
6 Energy Efficiency and Residential Designs B
7 Natural Materials Architecture & Organic Architects
8b Mountain Architects : The Answer to Green Design
9a Green Home Analysis Services 1
10 Green Home Architect Twitter.com GREENTIPS
11 Going Green in a Grey Economy – Going Green 4 Less
12 Cashiers Architect Pushes Green Practice
13 Energy Star Home Architects & Timber Frame Designs
15 Se Habla Green – Green Design Checklist 1
16 Green Design Initiative & 25 Years
18 Energy Efficient Home Lighting – LED
19 Indoor Air Quality in Homes, and what we can do
21 New Energy Efficient Residential Hot Water Heaters .
23 Free CFLs From Your Power Company
30 Healthier Insulation, Reduced Formaldehyde Building Materials
31 Green Building Payback and Statistics
32 Dark Skies: Seeing the Stars Again
33 Wood is Sustainable, Energy Efficient & Strong
34 Top 5 Green Design Methods 2013
35 Energy Efficient Windows Low-E 366 – i89
60 Green Home Design University
61 Certificate of Green Understanding
62 Green Home Architecture and Ranking (Note: you are Not required to study this as part of the Green Home Design University. This is merely an informational post).
Green Home Architects Summary
The HOME ARCHITECTS ® firm is known as green home architects. As a matter of fact, on Twitter.com, Green Home Architects is an alternate identity and with this personna, the firm provides daily GREENTIPS to the world. The user name for this is: GreenHomeArch. The reason: to help people everywhere understand how they can improve the energy efficiency of their houses and reduce the carbon footprint of building and operating them.
This is as much a mission as a series of techniques. The company’s senior staff architect, Rand Soellner, was educated at a major university (Univ. of Florida) that has degrees in ecology and urban planning (he holds a Masters in Architectural Design) and this influenced his design philosophies. He learned that there are many things that house designers can do to make their homes sip energy and reduce waste in our world.
The company implements many of these strategies as a matter of course, as they have learned that some of the techniques do not all have to cost substantially more than typical construction. Some do. But some are just a slightly more disciplined way of handling certain things, like insulation, structural systems, crawlspaces, mechanical systems, window types and treatments, landscaping, even dumpsters during construction. All of these methods and more can significantly impact the carbon footprint your house makes on this world, and on your monthly energy bills.
That’s why the company takes their designs seriously. They also understands that many of these choices are the client’s, particularly when additional funds are required to implement better materials and systems. It is part of a green home architects job to explain the Life Cycle Cost benefits of these types of choices. Life Cycle Cost means: the ultimate cost of certain materials and systems over the lifespan of a project, for instance, over 10, 20 or 30 years. Certain greener choices made early in a project can result in thousands or tens of thousands of dollars of investments made in the house over the decades, due to reduce maintenance and less energy consumption. Ultimately, the firm advises and lets their clients make these choices, because the company says this can impact the monthly debt service financing on a residence and that is part of the equation only the homeowner can know works for them.
Let’s review each of what you are going to find here under our Green Home Architects Index: each of the webpages that you can research under this area of our website. There is a lot of information:
1. The Green Gauge: this is the first of its kind anywhere. This company actually invented a digital “green gauge” that allows designers and their clients access to their website and their green gauge. You name it as a favorite on your computer (believe us, you will want to return to this many times) and use the green gauge. What is it? It is an actual, interactive gauge that graphically goes up or down, based on the “greeness” of your choices for materials and systems for your residential design. Very nifty, if we say so ourselves. The word on this really hasn’t gotten out yet. We just informed the Sierra Club and they replied that they were excited to hear that a house architect created such a thing.
2. Global Warming. This is a primer on the basics of what appears to be going on in our environment and what each of us can do, both as designers and homeowners, to reduce our carbon footprint and thereby hopefully reduce harmful emissions into our shared atmosphere.
3. Green Architects and Sustainable Architecture: a review of sustainable basics. What it means to have a society of materials, systems and lifestyles that are comfortable and that can be indefinitely sustained without damaging our planet.
4. Healthy Home Design: this is actually a company trademark registered program. It has to do with designing houses that will be healthy places in which to live. What a great idea! That your house’s air will be clean; that no harmful emissions will offgas into your residence, that it will be energy conservative and safe for people of all ages.
5. Energy Efficient Home Architects: this concerns reducing the amount of energy your house uses, in the design stage, so that your power bills are less each month and so that the carbon footprint on our planet is reduced.
6. Energy Efficiency and Home Designs: a continuation of the previous item, with additional information about improved energy efficiency in house design and construction for environmental residential designers and their clients.
7. Natural Material Architecture and Organic Architects: senior staff architect Rand Soellner ArCH used to design projects for one of Frank Lloyd Wright’s main apprentices. This is partially where Soellner learned about Organic Architecture and natural material architecture. It is the use of natural components in the design of houses. Serious green home architects should be familiar with this philosophy.
8a. Mountain home design: a discussion of eco-friendly professionals designing houses in mountain environments.
8b. Mountain architecture: the answer to efficient and environmental design: a review of how architects in mountain environments go about creating naturalistic houses.
9. Green Home Analysis Services 1: A list of green analysis services for everywhere in your house. This list is for green home architects, homeowners, and others interested in what to look for in analyzing the “greenness” of your residence.
10. Green Home Architect Twitter.com GREENTIPS: The company has a daily “tweet: on twitter, the social media favorite in cyberspace and has about 1,000 followers in the world. They post a daily message designed to give a brief and helpful suggestion for improving your house’s energy efficiency, safety, aesthetics and other aspects.
11. Going Green in a Grey Economy – Going Green 4 Less: this is a press release that sheds light on how to implement green home architect policies for minimum investments, where it counts the most.
12. Cashiers Architect Pushes Green Practice: this is a Cashiers, NC newspaper article reciting some of the practices of the company as they design houses in the area and across the country.
13. Energy Star Home Architects & Timber Frame Designs: A focus on the Energy Star program being implemented by the company, using tips and techniques suggested by the United States Department of Energy / US Environmental Protection Agency. Some house designers participate in this program.
14. Eco-Friendly Architects: A review of green home architects and how they are ecologically friendly and some of their policies.
15. Se Habla Green – Green Design Checklist 1: an actual, first time ever checklist that allows green home architects and their clients to review their ongoing house design and investigate the environmental feasibility of those features.
16. Green Design Initiative & 25 Years: A celebration of the firm’s 25th anniversary and their GDI (Green Design Initiative) program.
17. Green Home Designers: a review of energy efficient and environmental design policies used by house designers.
18. Energy Efficient Home Lighting – LED: a breakthrough in energy efficient design, which can be used in the design of resorts, residences, and other facilities. Green home architects should be interested in saving energy for lighting in your house. Lighting is one of the top consumers of residential power.
19. Indoor Air Quality in Homes, Green Architects : This article looks at a recent scientific study about how certain plants inside your home can help improve the indoor air quality of your house. Also mentioned are several other IAQ assists like HVAC commissioning during construction and special air filters for air handlers.
20. Sustainable Home Design . This is a review of current sustainability trends and the newer Life Cycle Assessment studies being focused onto various devices and features used in homes and buildings.
21. New Energy Efficient Residential Hot Water Heaters
This article is about the new heat pump type of hot water heater, which is a breakthrough technology funded by Energy Star, resulting in an efficiency rating of at least twice that of traditional hot water heaters.
60. Green Home Design University . This page module is a breakthrough educational approach for Rand Soellner Architect, making energy efficient house design information available to homeowners, builders and other architects worldwide. If you are a house architect or environmental builder or anyone planning a new house, take the Free course of instruction offered from the company’s Green Home Design University, right here on this website.
61. Certificate of Green Understanding . This is where you obtain your certificate once you have completed the course of studies in the Green Home Design University.
62. Green Home Architecture and Ranking (Note: you are Not required to study this as part of the Green Home Design University. This is merely an informational post). This is a short post that mentions that the firm’s energy efficiency and environmental initiative has received worldwide recognition on the date of this post in the form of ranking as the #1 Green Home Architects website on Google, out of about 59 million. This status can change minute by minute and daily. We are grateful to have so many people interested in energy conservation, recycling and other initiatives and to be recognized for our participation in this worldwide effort.
Contact information for green home architects:
Rand Soellner Architect www.HomeArchitects.com
828. 269. 9046
tags: green home architects, custom house design, green, timber frame, post and beam, mountain, cashiers, highlands, asheville, houston, fredericksburg, denver, lake tahoe, jackson hole, new york,
Seeking energy efficient and environmental not for profit organizations to co-promote educational agenda:
Request to other energy efficient and environmental organizations in the world: the firm is seeking several major not for profit organizations to co-promote the GHDU and other aspects of this website for public awareness of this agenda.
If you are a member of such an organization, please contact us at: rand@homearchitects.com or 1. 828. 269. 9046 and share with us your vision of how we can work together. We have ideas of how this might happen and look forward to working with you to improve everyone’s knowledge regarding these important issues affecting us all.