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New small home plans that are realistic for families

August 5, 2009 in Green Building by Jennifer | No comments

Most small home plans you encounter are perfect if you happen to be a single person or couple, but many are completely inappropriate for families with kids. 5 Elements Design is looking to change that. The company, centrally located in California, offers full building assistance to residents in most of California, Oregon and Washington when needed and small home plans to anyone in the country.

5 Elements Design new three semi-custom stock home plans are small in size, designed to be eco-friendly, made to lower energy costs, and allow families to benefit from a custom house plan without the cost of an architect. However, according to partner and co-founder Misty Weaver, “Clients really want to live smaller, but they aren’t interested in giving up their family rooms, or storage. We are focusing on designs that feel bigger than they are, and incorporating built-ins and other design features that make room for realistic family living.”

The homes:

The MOD consists of three different modules, the living, sleeping and bedroom suite, which can be combined in many different configurations to meet the needs of a growing family.
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Living large – and not in a good way

April 15, 2009 in Green Building, Green Your Home by Jennifer | 1 comment

If you’re living in too large a house, you are contributing to a negative eco-impact. Most large homes create a larger footprint, use far more energy that they should, and waste resources. Not to mention, in my opinion, they create this whole more, more, more agenda. I.e. more furniture to buy, more decor, more junk. It’s a problem.

One major step in green living is to live within your needs, not live above them. Own as much house as you need, not more home then you need. That said, how can you tell if your home is too big?

You can use logic first of all. If you’ve got a family of four and a seven bed, four bath house, that’s living too large. If you’ve got a triple garage for those three cars, and you’re just two people, that’s living too large. If the only reason you have such a big space is to store your gear, your collections, your stuff, that’s living too large.

Take a quiz to find out if you’re living too large.

If you want to reduce your footprint and support a healthy environment, you need to learn to live smaller.

More tips:

Green Apartment Life – Easy Ways To Get Sustainable

March 16, 2009 in Green Audit, Green Your Home by Jennifer | 1 comment

This week we’ve been looking at green apartment living. So far we’ve discussed:

Now we’ll look at some green tips that apply to anyone, even folks in an apartment, and later we’ll check out some sustainable decor and furnishings for apartment life before wrapping up this series.

When you live in an apartment, some green rules won’t apply. Unless you live in a very flexible apartment complex, you may not be able to do things like install a low-flow toilet, change your heating and cooling source, or build a rain barrel. But there are still plenty of ways to go green when living in an apartment. Such as…

Insulate your apartment. Caulking is iffy in an apartment but weather stripping and door draft stoppers are usually ok.

Ditch your landline phone.

Turn Down the Thermostat. You may be better off than a home dweller in this case, especially if you live on a first or second floor with an apartment above you. The extra layer of housing can help to seal in heat in the winter and keep it cooler in summer.

Live simply for a better, greener life.

Use eco-smart lighting like compact fluorescent (CFL) bulbs and LED lighting.

Conserve water!

You can solve indoor air pollution even in an apartment. The same tips that work for a house work for an apartment.

Rethink your disposables. Using items like cloth napkins and cleaning cloths over paper towels is not only eco-friendly, but handy in an apartment. Apartments tend to be short on space and it takes more space to store huge packs of paper towels.

Hold a green audit! Not all green home audit questions will apply to an apartment dweller. However, there’s still a lot you can audit and possibly change to stay green. Check out the following home audits and simply cut out questions that don’t apply – such as roofing or landscaping issues.

Do you live in an apartment? How are you keeping it green?