Blog

  • Construction Tip for the Homeowner

    During construction after the mechanical and electrical inspections, take photos of the interior walls and ceilings of your home from every room. This needs to be done before the insulation is installed. Label these so you know later what room, wall or ceiling it is. This will provide valuable maintenance information for professionals that may…


  • How do I design a home that I can afford?

    Costs of construction and materials are on the rise, so the biggest return on your money is to be conscious of the size of your home. The design of your home is crucial to this. Ask yourself “How do I really live?” and “What do I need in my home and what do I want?”…


  • Construction Material Recycling

    During the construction phase of your new home or remodeling project, it is a good idea to have 2 large trash bins erected. One of the bins will be for trash items, while the other is for materials that can be re-used. Before the project begins, discuss with your builder that you intend on re-using…


  • What is Linoleum Flooring?

    Many people hear that word as a “catch-all” term for any synthetic flooring. Not true! It is a natural product invented in 1860 and is made of linseed oil, pigments, pine rosin and pine flour. Linoleum was later replaced in popularity by vinyl floor coverings of the 1960s, but is regaining popularity today as an…


  • How to make the most of available Green building technology

    There are so many systems, material and ideas that it can become overwhelming. The most important Green building concept is to build a home suited for your land. The second most important thing to do is to visit the Green Building Program website often and become familiar with terminology and concepts. This will allow you…


  • How to get the most out of your Home Designer?

    What you desire for your new home, is an understanding of how you like to live, what your real needs are and how those needs can fit into your budget. Make a wish list of all the visions you might have for your new home and try to include pictures. The more specific you are…


  • Keep your Water

    For decades, the construction industry has had one main way of dealing with drainage; drain the water to the street. And for decades, storm drains have sent water to our local creeks and rivers downstream to the next city who then treats that water and distributes it to the community. In the last 15-20 years…


  • Helpful factoids about Mercury and CFL’s

    Here are some helpful factoids about Mercury and CFL’s (compact fluorescent lamps) – Coal-fired power plants are the largest man-made source of mercury because mercury that naturally exists in coal is released into the air when coal is burned to make electricity. Coalfired power generation accounts for 51 percent of the mercury emissions in the…


  • Manual J for a Proper Fit

    When building or remodeling a home, the mechanical system will play a big role in it’s overall comfort and energy efficiency. No matter what the type of heating and cooling system you choose to install, installing correctly sized equipment is critical. The way to determine the correct equipment heating and cooling capacity is by using…


  • De-Cluttering

    In the years I have been designing homes, specifically remodels, I have been eyes to many different homes, styles, lifestyles and people. The pattern I have noticed is that the retiring baby boomers are often sizing up in their retirement homes and younger couples who are building or remodeling their first homes are building a…


  • An Update to the Energy Audit Demonstration Last Fall

    Last fall we asked BMC to audit my home and invited our readers to observe the process. We would like to share with you how the process was that day and our results! Basic Energy Audits are required for home sales in the City of Austin to help buyers of an existing home to know…


  • A New Life in Furniture

    Over the last few years, many people have found value in buying pre-owned items from clothing to household items to furniture. Some of the most enjoyable moments in buying used is when you find something far better than you would have encountered had you gone to a big box store! It’s like winning the lottery!!…


  • Insulation – It’s HOW You Use It

    Insulation is an important component of comfortable, efficient buildings. While many people remember hearing about it quite a bit after the 1970s energy crisis’s, it’s history goes back a little farther than you might think. Waaay back, because in Ancient times the Egyptians used thick brick walls to protect their homes from the heat of…


  • The Way to Weatherization

    In recent newsletters we have discussed energy audits and ventilation and their relationship to maintaining comfort and good indoor air quality. The next step is to weatherize your home, which can help address air infiltration – the “bad” ventilation – while helping our homes fight the elements and last longer. Buildings rely on many different…


  • The Ins and Outs of Ventilation

    When designing a new home, most people give a lot of thought to a home with an efficient layout, warm pleasing interior, hansome elevations and plenty of light and views outside. One characteristic that is often overlooked, however, can make the home harder to keep clean, may reduce the life of the structure, increase the…


  • Energy Audit Basics

    In the last several years, home energy audits have gained popularity because of general awareness and The Energy Conservation Audit and Disclosure (ECAD) ordinance. This ordinance requires a home owner to disclose a homes energy performance to potential buyers. A typical ECAD includes an inspection of the window shading, attic insulation, duct system (by a…


  • Building Performance with Intention

    I just finished a fantastic week at the ACI conference in Austin!! Affordable Comfort, Inc., founded in 1986, is an organization whose mission is to advance the performance of residential buildings through unbiased education. They bring conferences and seminars to places across the country and we were lucky enough to host them this year! During…


  • The Magical Power of Electricity!!

    Admit it. Whether or not you know how your home gets power, we all take for granted that we flip a switch and like magic, we get light! So, I consulted my brother and electrical engineer, Sean Jurica, to help us become more aware and appreciative of the power that magically appears in our homes.…


  • Manage your Energy

    Today we are ever improving our methods of building better green structures and building green is becoming more main-stream. In the near future, we can fuel our homes and cars on mostly or only clean and renewable energy. This is exciting and very important but it is just not enough. Living green is such an…


  • Solar Power – Change is Good!

    The City of Austin has had one of the most aggressive solar rebate programs in the nation up until recently. In 2008, the city received about 150 solar rebate applications, but in 2009 that number was tripled in just the first 3 quarters. This is more than the available budget so the rebate program is…


  • Choices – SIPs Building Systems

    Structural Insulated Panels (SIP) are a great high performance framing product to build the thermal shell of a home and have gained popularity throughout the world because of their superior characteristics. SIPs have some competition in other types of wall systems like Insulated Concrete Forms (ICF) with their biggest competition being conventionally framed homes with…


  • Open or Closed?

    There is so much confidence in spray foam insulation that there is not much need for convincing. More people are realizing the short and long term benefits of using spray foam in their homes. But the question remains, open cell or closed for Central Texas? My theory based upon my knowledge is that closed cell…


  • Beyond the 3 R’s

    Reduce, Reuse, Recycle are the 3 R’s of the environment. But lately I have been hearing other words to add to it: Rethink, Redesign, Redefine, Repair…can you think of more? ReduceSimply reduce what you buy and what you use. So often, I am designing homes more for the peoples stuff and not as much for…


  • Radiant Barrier – Either Here or There

    A roof radiant barrier has been the industry standard for a number of years in residential construction in keeping an attic cool in hot climates. This is done by applying a low emissive foil to the bottom of the rafters in a ventilated attic. More recently, we have been sealing our attics and applying spray…


  • Case Study – Rain Screen

    It is increasingly important to correct energy problems in older homes. In many cases, correcting insulation in the roof, upgrading mechanical systems and weather stripping in doors is simple. These are the most typical corrections to make. But in some cases there might be a glitch that makes it difficult. Here is a case study…


  • Green your Home

    If you have been following my newsletters regularly, you will know that each month we feature a great product, service or idea. This month, it is time to toot our own horn! So far, 2009 has been quite an unusual year and in this economy we have found it very easy to become even more…


  • Choices – Living Roofs

    A little over a year ago, I wrote about the best kind of roof for Central Texas, Metal!! Metal has reflective qualities, is recycled and recyclable and great for rainwater collection and solar energy collection. However, I am changing my opinion for some cases to another kind of roof…Green! Green and living roofs have come…


  • Choices – Dimensional Lumber – “Sticks or Bricks”?

    There are so many cool ways to build the structure of a home. SIPs panels, ICF blocks, Steel framing, Rammed Earth, Straw bale, Earth ships, they just keep getting more interesting! The advantages of these alternatives is that they are more resistant than wood to fire, wind, insect and moisture damage. They also practice an…


  • How Green are your Kitchen Cabinets?

    Cabinets…Green? Yes! They are off the grid, wireless and you don’t even have to plug them in! They do not consume an ounce of energy, except for your elbow grease when they need cleaning. The cabinets in my home are green, really. They are painted in Kelly-Moore”Desert Moss” or something like that. Other than that,…


  • What’s Green in Realty?

    As we begin this year with a new president on the horizon and a slow market, we wonder how this year will progress. I think this is going to be the year that sustainable building and living green takes center stage. You may think that it already has, but there are still so many builders…


  • Green Interiors

    Since we typically spend about 80% of our time indoors, it pays to make sure that our indoor spaces are GREEN!  When we remodel or build new, the finishes installed and furniture we buy can make a big difference in indoor air quality.  If we were to paint, install carpet, install new cabinetry and purchase…


  • Choices – Solar Power

    Volume 6: Choices Series When you think green building, solar panels are the first thing that comes to mind. But few think of it as the last thing to consider when going Green! If you are starting with new construction and have put little thought into proper design for your site or insulation that seals…


  • Because Austinites Love to Recycle!

    Based upon what I saw first hand during the 3 months of construction on my personal remodel addition in 2002, I learned more about construction waste management (or lack there of) than I have in my professional experience over the last 2 decades. The first day of demolition, I was very satisfied with how the…


  • What do you mean I’m over my F.A.R. limit? I only want to add a bedroom!

    By Debra Blessman, C.P.B.D. It doesn’t seem to matter what the exact question is but we hear so many similar when it comes to doing residential work within Austin city limits. In September of 2006 the original Subchapter F: Residential Design and Compatibility Standards went into effect. Since that time many issues have come up…


  • Choices… Geothermal Heat Pump

    There is some confusion in terminology: “Geothermal heating” “Heat pump” “Ground source heat pump” and other combinations of words. What is all of this stuff and how does it relate to heating and cooling in our homes? All of these can be proper descriptions of the various ways to use a heat pump, so let’s…


  • Proper Insulation Means a Dry Home

    In Texas, a very important component in our homes is the insulation.  The question for homeowners is which one is best and most effective.  So to answer that, let’s take a look at where we live.  Here are the facts. Our climate in Central Texas is hot and humid.  The average daily high temperature for…


  • The Impact of Design on “Green”

    Green is everywhere!! Isn’t that grand! It is great to see magazine articles, new products and the entire buzz about being Green! So, for me it is surprising to talk to people that still think Green Building is all about bamboo flooring, concrete counter tops and solar panels. I recently had the opportunity to talk…


  • Permitting your project

    By Carter Shackelford, C.P.B.D. We have all heard the saying “Time is Money”, and yet too few of us ever put an actual dollar value on our own time. For architects and designers, time is best spent “on the boards” creating the homes and buildings of their clients. Builders need to be on their jobsites,…


  • Who came First?

    In the 11 year history of Custom Design Services and in the accumulation of years of our experience, we are often asked by new clients to share our education and skills. In those early discussions we talk about our education and experience leading up to working for our clients through CDS and we always explain…


  • Lighting your home naturally!

    Using daylight is one of the most delightful ways to light your home. Natural light is a better quality of light and gives you the ability to see true color, the light is broad rather than focused, and its FREE! It is also changing throughout the day which has a relaxing quality. The first thing…


  • Living Green in the New year

    Happy New Year, dear friends and thank you for enjoying my newsletter over the past year. It has been great to hear your feedback about my articles, thank you for that too. I have written about many topics, some not having to do with Green building but Green living. I believe these 2 go hand…