Recommendations? (Lewisville, Flower Mound, Highland Village: custom home, new construction, high school)

[ROckjaw]

New to the area - have already looked at AngiesList and Insiderpages, UrbanSpoon, etc, for the following in the Northern burbs - Flower Mound, Highland Village, etc

- shoe repair?
- great non-chain continental-type restaurant - steaks, pasta, seafood, all under one roof ?
- German car repair - ideally a boutique shop?
- kids water park type of place - looking for an alternative for when my children (under 10) get tired of the backyard pool

BTW, found a great little gem in far north Flower Mound - on 2499 - Aperitívos - wine, small plates, etc - pack on a Sat night at 9pm - parents out on date night once the kiddies have gone to bed

One last ? on newer homes and energy usage - while talking to builders, they all stress their home-energy conservation features - I assume that all the bells and whistles they are talking about (Radiant Barrier, SEEER (spg?), etc are probably not part of homes built before 2006? Do these improvements really deliver significant savings? On a 4k sq ft home for example, any idea (directionally), as to what % improvement one might experience vs. a home without these features?

Thanks!

Thanks

[FarNorthDallas]

The public pool next to Lewisville High School is awesome. It has a big slide and a lazy river.
City of Lewisville Pool Rules & Admission Regulations (http://www.cityoflewisville.com/wcmsite/publishing.nsf/Content/Pool+Rules++Admission+Regulations - broken link)

[Rakin]

From my exposure to New Construction, Builders & inspectors, I would suspect a home built today is 20-25% more energy efficient then one built prior to the new energy star requirements of 5-6 years ago. I'd speculate a home today is 40-50% more energy efficient then a home built 10-15 years ago.

Yes, the new energy efficiencies built into a new home today makes a large difference. Much of it though will depend on your usage & how conservative you are with cooling your home.

[loves2read]

foam insulation vs fiberglass or even cellulose and taking care of the entire home "envelope" with insulated/closed attic HVAC space--radiant sheathing on sides and roof and designing house to use the sun's rays as advantage rather than negative--(which rarely happens)
the fact is that is is SO much more difficult/inefficient/expensive to try to remodel/rework a house to make it that much more energy efficient--
the cost savings for max effect are often cancelled out by the cost of the project--like replacing original double pane windows with those that offer better insulation/better barrier to heat gain--it usually takes 10+yrs to cover the cost of that in larger house with over 20 windows
spraying the underside of the roof with radiant barrier paint is not nearly as effective as the sheathing and unless it is done right can be very overpriced for the off-setting energy savings


fact is though--as building/construction changes result in LOWERING/CONTAINING energy costs---people continue to have lifestyles that requires MORE consumption--i. e.
electronics that are big energy draws that are left on much of the time,
showers with multiple shower heads which encourage longer, lux showers requiring more water (even if water saving heads might be used--certainly running them longer defeats the purpose)
people using gas fireplaces outdoors
higher ceilings with higher fixtures mean more light sources are necessary to light home for liveability--most people don't consider designing home to use the most energy efficient fixtures possible

if you are wanting to build a custom home and are concerned for whatever reasons about making it as energy efficient as possible you might check out this FTW builder's site--he has been doing it for probably 20 yrs now--certainly long before it became the "catch phrase" of the moment...they also do remodeling and are probably as conversant as anyone with what is feasible/cost-effective means of making older home more energy -efficient

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