Welcome to City-Data.com Forum!
U.S. CitiesCity-Data Forum Index
Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Austin
 [Register]
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
View detailed profile (Advanced) or search
site with Google Custom Search

Search Forums  (Advanced)
Reply Start New Thread
 
Old 03-07-2012, 07:23 PM
 
1,157 posts, read 2,643,777 times
Reputation: 483

Advertisements

Anyone built a green house (vs. a greenhouse for planting) in Austin? There are clearly a lot of resources here for those interested in all things green, but would love to hear from anyone whose gone down this path, if they bought their own lot, what resources they used, who (architects, builders, etc.) if possible, and what you thought of the process and outcome.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message

 
Old 03-08-2012, 03:18 PM
 
Location: Chicago, IL
1,342 posts, read 1,356,219 times
Reputation: 2779
Since no one else has answered, I thought I may as well at least suggest that you investigate these architects, who specialize in green building. They may be pricey, however.... (But maybe I'm mistaken about that - who knows?)

Good luck!

Green Building, High Performance, Sustainable Architecture
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-08-2012, 03:47 PM
 
Location: Avery Ranch, Austin, TX
8,977 posts, read 17,478,522 times
Reputation: 4000
IF I had to build a house, I would hope I'd choose at least SOME 'green' elements. It might be easier to 'choose your battles' rather than build some super-efficient house that costs way too much up front. I haven't been there yet; but I would imagine the folks at TreeHouse would have contacts for 'soup to nuts' designers or 'greener' contractors for a particular phase of construction.

I do wonder how that 'This Old House' Five-Star jobbie in Hyde Park has held up over the past 5 years or so since the show aired. Not all new construction, but might give some insight to the efficacy of the 'green' model.

Since I've been of no real help, I hope you don't mind if I peek in from time to time so I can pick up some info from any responses you get.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-08-2012, 07:45 PM
 
1,157 posts, read 2,643,777 times
Reputation: 483
Thanks for the input from you both. I do realize that there are plenty of resources in our area, but would just like to hear about someone's experience firsthand. I'll look into the links listed above.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-08-2012, 08:59 PM
 
7,742 posts, read 15,066,419 times
Reputation: 4295
Quote:
Originally Posted by FueledByBlueBell View Post
Anyone built a green house (vs. a greenhouse for planting) in Austin? There are clearly a lot of resources here for those interested in all things green, but would love to hear from anyone whose gone down this path, if they bought their own lot, what resources they used, who (architects, builders, etc.) if possible, and what you thought of the process and outcome.
city of austin has green building department.

https://my.austinenergy.com/wps/port...vZ0FBIS9nQSEh/

Most things dont give a good payback, but things like insulated concrete forms are not too bad and form the core of a energy efficient building.

Green can mean energy efficient or it can mean made of renewable materials or non toxic materials.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 03-30-2012, 03:39 PM
 
Location: Buda
97 posts, read 416,707 times
Reputation: 131
Okay I will try real hard not to ramble on forever here. The first sugestion I have is look up Built Green Custom Homes. I ran into this company at a home show. They have a program that would do anyone interested in Green Building alot of good. They have classes in Houston, Austin, and San Antonio. They last about 3 hours and they are broken down into 8-10 classes. For instance this week there is one in Austin on Countertops, Floors, and something else. Sure they have a product they are selling just like anyone else but they seam to be very open about letting just about anyone come sit in the class and soak up some really nice informative information about green building.

It is my personal drean to be a Green Home Builder (cost+20). And this company is a very good place to start. You really have to be careful these days when it comes to building green many many builders go about it completly wrong. Take for instance a certain company that built a net zero home here in Austin. You can buy this home with it's 60K in solar panels and save $50 a month on your electric bill. Why not build the home in a way were it uses $50 less electricity per month? Then it wouldn't matter if the sun was out or not. And it wouldn't cost anywhere near 60K to do it. But my list of rants on the subject could take days so I will just stop now....
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-01-2012, 06:32 PM
 
Location: central Austin
7,228 posts, read 16,044,821 times
Reputation: 3915
I live a three star green built house that we built here in Austin. Wouldn't live in anything else. The lower utility bills are great.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-01-2012, 07:43 PM
 
1,157 posts, read 2,643,777 times
Reputation: 483
Quote:
Originally Posted by centralaustinite View Post
I live a three star green built house that we built here in Austin. Wouldn't live in anything else. The lower utility bills are great.
Do you mind sharing the name of the architect and/or builder?
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-02-2012, 04:15 PM
 
Location: Buda
97 posts, read 416,707 times
Reputation: 131
Here is something you might find very interesting.

rockyhollowhome@blogspot.com

This is a well updated current build of a Passive Home.

None of that crazy star rating / LEED point stuff.
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
 
Old 04-02-2012, 10:51 PM
 
Location: Buda
97 posts, read 416,707 times
Reputation: 131
I am not sure why it put the email &%*% stuff in my link. I am not the most internet savy person. Rocky Hollow Home

But like I was saying the home at Rocky Hollow Creek out by Sun City in Georgetown is going for a Passive Home Certification. To give you an idea of how rare this is as of the end of 2010 there were a total of 3 in the USA. On top of this her goal was to do it at a cost no more than $100 per square foot of living space. It looks like she isn't going to meet that goal and she will end up spending around $115 per foot but that is mostly due to the extra non passive stuff she has done. Like a 22,000 gallon Rain Water Collection System, Top end Granite Countertops, and custom all wood cabinets just to name a few of the not so "needed" upgrades. Considering you can easily spend over $100 per foot on a custom conventional home these days I find this build very impressive.

It helps to show that I have been corect in my thinking all along. That if you don't fall for all the costly green gimicks going around these days you can build a very green home for around or within a few % more than you would spend for a regular home. I hate the way it has become. I so much as utter the words Green Home Builder and people instantly grab there wallet and run the other direction.

Last edited by scottsheehan026; 04-02-2012 at 10:54 PM.. Reason: Got the link wrong again
Reply With Quote Quick reply to this message
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.

Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.


Reply
Please update this thread with any new information or opinions. This open thread is still read by thousands of people, so we encourage all additional points of view.

Quick Reply
Message:


Settings
X
Data:
Loading data...
Based on 2000-2020 data
Loading data...

123
Hide US histogram

Over $104,000 in prizes was already given out to active posters on our forum and additional giveaways are planned!

Go Back   City-Data Forum > U.S. Forums > Texas > Austin
Similar Threads

All times are GMT -6.

© 2005-2024, Advameg, Inc. · Please obey Forum Rules · Terms of Use and Privacy Policy · Bug Bounty

City-Data.com - Contact Us - Archive 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 21, 22, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 29, 30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36, 37 - Top