Anyone in the process of designing a new custom home should consider making their home a green building. A green building design can go a long way in reducing your environmental footprint and as your energy bills.

Source: Trilogy Partners

Roughly 72 percent of all of the country’s energy consumption originated from buildings back in 2006. This number will continue to rise to 75 percent by 2025. That’s a lot of energy being used! In fact, the average household spends around $2,000 every year just on energy bills, 50 percent of which goes towards heating and cooling costs. A green building design can help make the home more efficient in heating and cooling, thereby helping to reduce your energy use.

Building occupants use 13 percent of the water consumed by the country on a yearly basis, with homeowners making up 75 percent of that figure. Green home design can help to reduce the use of water by a significant amount and allow you to save on your water bills.

If everyone were to invest in a green building, it wouldn’t be surprising to see yearly water and energy consumption drop significantly. Contact us at Trilogy Builds for more information about green building.

The home should be a relaxing and comfortable place to live. The outside world is often a stressful environment, which means that your home should provide a calming effect.  Nature-inspired homes tend to be the most successful at achieving this. The following are a few ways that you can use natural design elements to create a more relaxing and stress-free atmosphere in your home:

• Clay colors – If you want to make use of red, then consider warmer reds such as baked apple. Bright and bold reds can often times be too overwhelming. Add brown design elements to tone down your reddish hues and create a more cozy atmosphere.
• Earth tones and muddy colors – Earth tones such as stone and wheat colors will appear slightly richer when combined with muddied colors that contain small bits of gray or brown. For example, mustard or dirty olive green colors.
• Natural elements – There’s no better way to create a natural feel than by adding actual elements from nature, such as flowers, pieces of wood, rocks, and more.

These are a few ways that you can design a natural interior. For all your home design needs, contact us at Trilogy Builds.

The living room should be a space that is comfortable, inviting, and easy to relax in. Because of this, the design of your living room is quite important. One of the best ways to accomplish a relaxing atmosphere is by using a natural living room design. The following are a few elements that you should consider implementing to create a natural living room:

Source: Trilogy Builds

• Natural light – Make sure that plenty of natural light gets into your living room. You can do this by installing large windows or using folding doors that open the space up to the outdoors. Or install a few skylights.
• Use earth tones – Add furniture and décor that have earth tones, such as clay reds and neutral browns. These soft colors provide a serene natural environment.
• Add wood elements – Wood furniture and décor pieces are a great way to physically bring natural elements indoors. Try using reclaimed wood pieces for a unique and organic feel.
• Grey contrast – If you use a lot of wooden elements, use a few light grey furnishings to provide a cool contrast for a calming atmosphere.

Use these tips and contact us at Trilogy Builds for additional design advice.

If you are in the process of designing a home, then you should consider incorporating green building features. Not only will green building features provide you with a way to reduce your environmental footprint, you’ll be saving money on your energy bills. The following are some green building trends you should be aware of:

• Zero-net energy – Green home building has already hit the mainstream. Now, many owners and developers are going a step further by attempting to accomplish zero net energy on an annual basis.
• More competition against LEED – LEED certification is somewhat complex and can be costly, which has led to direct competition from other rating systems, such as Green Building Initiative’s Green Globes rating system.
• Use of solar power will grow – The use of solar power will grow in popularity, which will lead to more third-party financing offerings to take advantage of.

These are just a few of the green building trends to be aware of. It seems as though green building is the future of home building, which means you should plan for a green building design now. For more information about green building, be sure to contact us at Trilogy Builds today.

Born of a collaboration between Bo Adamson and Wolfgang Feist, passive homes are built to host a comfortable living space maintained using the most efficient heating and cooling possible. One prominent characteristic of these homes is their minimized air leakage, so much so that certified homes can leak no more than 60 percent of their volume per hour. Other criteria impact all parts of the home, including but not limited to its ventilation, its heating and cooling, its insulation systems, and even its building materials.

Such homes are becoming more and more popular because the interest in efficient buildings is continuing to rise. More and more countries are rushing to cut their carbon emissions, which has enormous impact on building prices because buildings are responsible for 48 percent of said emissions.

Passive homes are predicted to increase in value because of both consumer interest and savings from efficient operation. Furthermore, there are other benefits to choosing such homes, ranging from the reduction of noise to tax benefits from using environmental methods and materials. Combined, these strengths suggest that passive homes will be the face of the future.

To capitalize on this trend, please contact us at Trilogy Partners.

The beautiful landscapes that are seen throughout Colorado are well worth taking advantage of, and building a home that blends in with this landscape is easy when you consider building a timber frame home.

A timber frame home is not just a part of current housing trends, a timber home can offer many advantages to those looking to build a sustainable yet attractive home.

Source: Trilogy Partners

• Timber frame homes give you the opportunity to take in the seasons and views due to their ability to hold plenty of windows. These windows maximize natural lighting, let you take advantage of the views, and make your home feel larger.

• A timber home can be built to fit your space needs perfectly, reducing impact on the environment and on your utility bills.

• Wrapping a timber home in insulated panels can yield great energy efficiency; this tight envelope created around a timber home greatly reduces your heating and cooling costs.

• A timber home blends in well with the surrounding environment, this is especially true in Colorado where our landscape can be filled with rich browns, oranges, and greens.

It is easy to see why timber homes are filling the housing trends landscape once again. Want more information for your future home build project? Contact Trilogy today!

One of the top home building trends is designing a home so that it blends in with the local surroundings. No matter whether your local landscape features a tropical beach or a peaceful lakeside retreat, you can have a home that effortlessly blends in with nature.

Casa La Punta in Punta Mita, Mexico, is a classic example of a modern beach home that perfectly blends in. Examples of nice touches that blend in with the landscape include a wooden boardwalk that leads to the beach and a soaking tub crafted out of natural rock. The home’s stone exterior perfectly matches the beach’s sand.

Source: Freshome.com / Elías Rizo Arquitectos

Another home that fits in with these home building trends is The Lake Forest Park Residence, which looks as though it naturally grew out of the forest. Several types of wood are used throughout the home, as well as on the exterior. Large windows let more light in and provide a better outdoor view.

Choosing materials, such as stone and wood, found in the landscape, and landscaping that seamlessly flows into the natural environment are good ways to go. Contact our experienced team who specialize in this type of construction to design and build the right home for your needs.

Natural is beautiful, especially in interior design. For your next project, let nature inspire your creativity. Here are some great ideas for nature-inspired homes that you can try:

Source: HGTV.com

• Floral prints: Celebrate spring with big and bright floral prints against vibrant backgrounds. Skip the dainty pastels — that’s better left in the past. Boldness is the way to go for a modern look.

• Leaf motifs: Aside from floral prints, leaf motifs are fast becoming a popular choice for natural themes. Such prints breathe life to any home, and you can use them on anything from throw pillows to wallpapers.

• Rustic pieces: Flawless furniture with perfect surfaces are out, while rustic pieces with their own share of imperfections are in. They not only add character, but also a vintage feel.

• Basket weaves: What used to be patio furniture pieces now take center stage in the living room. The woven look fits right in with the natural trend. Anything that emulates the look of caning works fine as well.

For other inspired interior design ideas, visit us at Trilogy Partners where we design smart and build beautiful. To learn more about our services, drop us a line. We’d be happy to hear from you.

When designing their new home, homeowners are increasingly demanding the integration of environmentally conscious products into their home construction. Sustainability is a desired feature, because not only do they add beauty, they reduce a home’s carbon footprint. When it comes to your home’s design, consider some of these green home features:

Solar Panels: Solar panel popularity is multi-faceted: Solar power installation can save you money, increase the value of your property and be a great investment that also helps the environment.

Flooring: When choosing your flooring, opt for natural, renewable, or recycled flooring sources. For example, bamboo flooring is a grass which, unlike trees, can be harvested every five years. Another option is floor panels. Look for floor panels which conform to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative Standard, which promotes responsible forestland management in North America.

Cabinetry: Green cabinetry that is certified by the KCMA environmental stewardship program assures you that stringent requirements for process resource management, air quality, community relations, and environmental stewardship have been met.

For more ideas about building a greener home, contact us at Trilogy Partners.

Trilogy Partners possesses both the skill and the experience needed to build you your dream home. However, having a home built is a significant commitment of resources, which is why we recommend green home building practices. Not only is it good for the environment, it’s also good for your wallet.

Consider these financial benefits of living in a green home:

• Green homes are built to be energy-efficient, meaning that they can either be heated or cooled using the least amount of energy possible while still maintaining a comfortable living space. Although the savings may not seem impressive to homeowners in the short run, they can build up to big sums over time.

• Similarly, green homes show the same efficiency when it comes to the usage of water both indoors and outdoors. This results in similar savings when it comes to water bills.

• Green homes are predicted to become more and more popular over time. At the moment, 60 percent of consumers show interest in green home amenities, which has translated to a 9 percent increase in value for homes with some kind of green certification in places like California.

Please contact us to speak about other green home benefits.