Category: high performance homes

When you’re building a new custom home, defining a construction budget should be the very first item on your planning checklist. Your construction budget will help clarify the allocation of funds, establish realistic limits, and help you get a better picture of your project. Knowing your spending limits and developing a custom home building budget will also go a long way towards staying in alignment with your financial goals – and helping you avoid any unpleasant surprises down the road. Determine cost per square foot Square foot homebuilding costs are a great place to start when establishing...


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One common landscaping concern for high performance homeowners is erosion—which can significantly affect your home, neighborhood, local natural habitats, and the water supply. What is erosion? Erosion is the natural process by which soil and rock are removed from one area and deposited into another—usually as a result of wind, rainfall, or water flow. While this process has brought us natural phenomena like the Grand Canyon, it is also to blame for stripping the land bare of nutrient-dense soil, creating excessive sediment in waterways, disrupting ecosystems, and other environmental problems. In...


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Building a new custom home? Indoor air quality should be at the top of your mind. The average American spends 90% of their time indoors, and air contaminant levels inside the average new home are 2 to 5 times worse than the pollution levels outside. This may come as a surprise. You’re probably aware of the toxic contaminants like lead and asbestos that have made historical headlines and reshaped building codes. But did you know that new home construction presents its own list of contaminants and pollutants to worry about? Toxicity in new home construction Unfortunately, most construction...


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Planning your home construction One of the first steps to building a new house is establishing a comprehensive and accurate timeline for completion. And if you’re planning a new custom home, you should think high-performance from the start. With all of the new green, sustainable technology available, you have an incredible array of options for building a new home that will greatly reduce your energy and water use. Plus, high-performance homes are healthier, smarter for the environment, and a great long-term investment. There are two distinct phases to consider when establishing a homebuilding...


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If you’re thinking about building a high-performance home, you’re probably wondering about its financial implications – both upfront and long-term. While it’s impossible to estimate the cost of any home without factoring in variables such as size and style, there are general patterns to note when planning (as well as other incentives to consider). It might be tempting to assume that high-performance is a much more expensive option – but remarkably, a high-performance home only costs 5-10% more than its conventionally-built equivalent. “People are often surprised to learn that,”...


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Sustainability from the ground up Building a sustainable home means choosing the right materials - since a home is only as sustainable as its construction and the components on which it runs. If you're familiar with Clarum Homes, you know we care deeply about sustainability. In fact, our core purpose is to transform the way you live by creating greater comfort, greater health, and greater environmental sustainability. Energy efficiency in every component Passive homes are, by definition, energy-efficient; to attain certification, a passive home must meet the efficiency criteria defined by the International...


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At Clarum Homes, we are passionate about environmental sustainability. However, “sustainable” is becoming a more and more widely-used word, so it is important to understand what it means and how it relates to home building. There are some important distinctions to make when navigating these classifications. The word “green,” for example, is often used to generally describe anything intended to support the health of the environment. “Sustainable,” on the other hand, is objective and very definable. Sustainable literally means “able to continue without an end in sight.” In other...


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A modern custom home represents a significant financial and time investment. More than that – you are putting your faith in someone to create your living space for years to come. Therefore, when choosing a custom home builder, it is crucial to understand their operation, level of experience, and history in the marketplace. To help you get started, here is a list of ten essential questions to include in your interviews with your potential home builder: 1) How long have you been building in Silicon Valley? Hiring a custom home builder is similar to hiring a team of long-term employees....


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While there is a lot to consider when building a modern home, health, energy efficiency and comfort should be high on your priority list. And although they might not immediately come to mind, air ducts are one of the greatest contributing factors. Duct work – while rarely seen or thought about after installation – can contribute to or detract from the safety and livability of your home in no small way. In fact, the US Department of Energy asserts that duct repairs could be the single most important energy improvement measure you can take. At Clarum Homes, we couldn’t agree more. Duct...


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Last week, we talked about the benefits of airtightness in modern home design. Airtight construction is one of the most powerful strategies in passive design, resulting in a custom home that maintains a comfortable environment while consuming very little energy. The airtight trend is a profound improvement from conventional techniques, but as we pointed out last week, it also brings with it the need for whole-house ventilation. Which begs the question, “Are airtight homes stuffy?” We’d like to set the record straight: proper design and construction results in airtight homes that aren’t...


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