by Christine Cooney on April 13, 2012 in ENERGY STAR, green house plans, House Plans
With Earth Day right around the corner it’s the perfect time to think about how you can incorporate green elements into your new or existing home. The House Designers is committed to providing homeowners and builders with affordable, sustainable house plans that take advantage of passive solar design and innovative green building products so you can save on utilities without sacrificing efficiency and aesthetics.
By building an energy efficient home you will not only be doing your part to reduce the strain on our natural resources, but provide your family with a safe, efficient home. In addition to offering the only collection of ENERGY STAR Approved House Plans, the editors at The House Designers provide weekly articles and tips to assist homeowners in understanding the benefits of building a green home.
Recent articles include: Saving Energy By Going Solar and Innovative Products to Insulate Your Home. For a complete list of articles please visit Product Ideas.
The Greensboro House Plan from The House Designers is one of their newest green house plans. This Craftsman-styled ranch home packs in lots of style, efficiency and innovation into its small, angled footprint.
You can stay on top of all the latest home building trends, be the first to preview new house plans and review the newest most innovative building products as they hit the market simply by signing up for The House Designers FREE weekly e-newsletters.
by Christine Cooney on April 12, 2011 in ENERGY STAR, Green Building, green house plans, House Plans
The latest issue of Green Builder magazine features more than 25 new green house plans from the leading architects and designers at The House Designers. The house plans are designed with innovative materials and systems that promote healthy living. All these designs feature timeless architectural styles and practical/flexible layouts to ensure years of comfortable living.
Green Builder Magazine Features America’s Greenest House Plans from The House Designers.
Each house plan contains technical detailing so you can build an energy-efficient home. You’ll find these homes are designed with SIPs and ICFs, optimal framing and spray-foamed attics to provide total home comfort and efficiency.
Fantasy renderings were designed for each of the top “editor’s choice” plans so you can see what the home might look like when completed with eco-friendly furnishings.
Green Builder choose these plans from a collection of over 40 winners in a green house plan competition offered exclusively by The House Designers, which features the only collection of ENERGY STAR approved house plans.
Functionality and form come together delightfully in this extremely energy efficient traditional home. With exterior materials comprised of recyclable steel and fiber cement board, durability and longevity combine with timeless elegance upon the frame of a traditional forest or farmhouse plan.
by Christine Cooney on April 1, 2011 in ENERGY STAR, green house plans, House Plans
Now is the perfect time to think about building a new home, so why not go “green” and build an energy-efficient and healthy home. The House Designers has just added over 40 new, innovative house plans, which are all ENERGY STAR approved and can’t be found anywhere else. All of the plans in this collection incorporate the latest in green building techniques and home building products.
This warm and charming Craftsman style house plan was “Voted Best in Total Home Comfort” because of its use of ENERGY STAR rated materials and Green Building practices. Its effective use of insulation, high-performance windows, tight construction and efficient heating and cooling equipment will ensure you and your family enjoy years of savings and total home comfort.
Innovative new Green house plan featuring the best in total home comfort.
This contemporary two-story house plan took 2nd place in our recent Green House Plan Competition. It has a small footprint, which makes it perfect for urban areas and small lots. The main floor plan features an open living area, making it ideal for entertaining or interacting with family. A great flexible feature is the open carport, which can be used for an extending living space like a roof garden, outdoor living room or kitchen.
This contemporary house plan took second place in Green House Plan competition.
View the entire collection of new ENERGY STAR house plans.
by Christine Cooney on March 25, 2011 in ENERGY STAR, green house plans, House Plans
The latest issue of Her Dream Home features a new collection of innovative, eco-friendly designs from the leading architects and designers in the United States. These new house plans were part of The House Designers and ENERGY STAR’s first ever Green House Plan Competition, designed to inspire consumers and builders to build an energy-efficient and healthy home that utilizes all the latest green building techniques and features the best in green home building products.
You’ll find over 40 of the most amazing and energy-efficient designs offered in a wide range of architectural styles, sizes and amenities. These unique house plans are only available on The House Designers.
This issue also features some great articles to help you create a healthy home environment. Find out about the best exterior products based on their performance and beauty in our article Stronger, Stylish Green Home Products.
Additional articles include The Top 10 Commandments to Home Design, which offers insightful tips to creating your dream home, as well as Our Editor’s Choice 5 Best Kitchen Appliance Suites. It may not be the most glamorous item you choose for your home, but insulation is key to providing your home with total comfort and efficiency while reducing your operating costs significantly. Insulation is Key Element to Your Home’s Efficiency is definitely word a read.
Check back frequently because we will be featuring a Green House of the Week to showcase the new collection. We’d love to know which one of these are your favorite so please share your thoughts and post a comment.
Latest issue of Her Dream Home Magazine previews our new collection of exclusive, innovative ENERGY STAR house plans.
by Christine Cooney on February 18, 2011 in ENERGY STAR, House Plans
This week’s issue of Home Ideas (if you’re not receiving our free weekly newsletter about all the latest design trends and products and innovative house plans, click here to sign up) features simple tips to help you cut down on energy costs this winter as well as how to choose the right fireplace for your new home.
You’ll also find some of our favorite house plans feature gorgeous stone fireplaces and efficient gas and electric fireplaces in rooms like the master suite, dining room and family room.
For example the Terrebonne house plan incorporates three fireplaces in its design to ensure maximum efficiency and added warmth and ambience. There is a fireplace in the great room, master suite and outdoor living space.
You’ll also want to find if your city or town offers Home Performance with ENERGY STAR:reg;, which is a comprehensive, whole-house approach to improving energy efficiency and home comfort, which is conducted by an approved contractor to assess your home’s efficiency and diagnosis areas for improvement.
by Christine Cooney on January 22, 2011 in ENERGY STAR, House Plans
Choosing a house plan to meet your lifestyle, needs and budget may seem time consuming or overwhelming, which is why The House Designers provides you with all the information and tools you need to find your dream home. And of house we have the best-selling collection of stock house plans available online in a wide range of sizes and architectural styles, including the only collection of ENERGY STAR approved house plans.
Our recent issue of Home Ideas (if you’re not getting this free weekly newsletter, simply click here) focuses on educating consumers on how to find and purchase land for your new home, tips to choosing the right house plan and understanding construction loans. You’ll also learn how to design your own garage door using Wayne-Dalton’s Garage Door Designer and information on the Cash For Appliances Rebate Program.
This Craftsman house features plenty of large windows and flexible living spaces.
by Christine Cooney on July 11, 2010 in ENERGY STAR, green house plans, Home Plans, House Plans
As part of the EPA’s WaterSense new We’re for Water campaign they’re sending their “spokesgallon” Flo on a road trip across America that will go from Los Angeles to New York starting July 14th. She’ll stop at national landmarks in each city to educate people about water efficiency. You can follow her on Twitter and Facebook.
The EPA encourages homeowners to take the I’m for Water Pledge as well as make simple changes to save water at home. If you’re looking to build a new home, you’ll want to find a green house plan that has been designed to be energy and water efficient like our exclusive ENERGY STAR® approved plans which feature WaterSense labeled bath and kitchen products.
Follow Flo, the We’re for Water “spokesgallon,” as she begins her cross-country journey on July 14 from LA to NYC, stopping at national landmarks to teach people about water efficiency.
by Christine Cooney on July 7, 2010 in ENERGY STAR, Home Plans, Small House Plans
Whether you are looking to down-size, build a vacation cottage or build your first home, our collection of tiny house plans features a wide variety of floor plans and architectural styles so you can build a fully functional and flexible living space without sacrificing any amenities. We have small/affordable homes in our exclusive ENERGY STAR®/Green House Plan collection to help minimize your yearly HVAC and maintenance costs.
This is one of our most popular small and affordable homes. The house plan includes a design option on the blueprints that substitutes one main floor bedroom for a greatly expanded master bedroom with a luxurious master suite. You also get a second floor bonus space and a walkout basement floor plan featuring a game room, full bath, two bedrooms and computer/flexible space.
Our most popular small and affordable house plan is also ENERGY STAR® approved.
by Christine Cooney on June 17, 2010 in ENERGY STAR, Floor Plans, Green Building, green designs, green house plans, home building, Home Construction, Home Plans, House Plans
Every month we continue to add new house plans to our collection of over 5,000 best-selling stock house plans to meet the growing needs and styles of consumers looking to build their dream home. Some of the most popular home design features that consumers are looking for in their new house plan are green features like energy-efficiency and sustainable building products, a split level floor plan layout and lots of flexible and functional design spaces.
One of our newest house plans is the La Meilleure Vie House Plan, which is not only ENERGY STAR® approved, but designed with every amenity that you can think of, including a fireplace at lanai, luxurious master suite with garden tub and exercise room, open kitchen design with kitchen island, 12 ft. ceiling in the living room, covered front and rear porch, mud room, nursery room and much more.
The optional bonus plan features 934 sq. feet of family fun and entertainment with a game room, space for billiards and a media room to watch all your favorite movies.
Newest green house plan is designed with every amenity in mind.
by Christine Cooney on June 10, 2010 in Architecture, ENERGY STAR, Green Building, green designs, green house plans, home building, Home Construction, Home Plans, House Plans
America’s only collection of ENERGY STAR® approved house plans
The House Designers, the leading online source for residential blueprints and stock house plans, and ENERGY STAR® have put together the ONLY collection of ENERGY STAR® approved house plans to promote consumers and builders to build eco-friendly, energy efficient homes. This collection of exclusive green house plans includes all the necessary tools to build a green home including information on green building products and practices.
“We came up with the idea to implement the first-ever collection of THD/ENERGY STAR® Green Home Plans to encourage consumers and builders to build authentic eco-friendly and energy efficient by implementing sustainable building strategies early in the design phase,” said Tammy Crosby, COO of The House Designers. “This partnership has brought together companies like Danze, Wayne-Dalton and Lumber Liquidators to support our efforts with ENERGY STAR® in educating consumers how to build high-performance, sustainable new homes.
All plans in THD’s ENERGY STAR® Approved/Green House Plan collection qualify as “Designed to Earn the ENERGY STAR®”, and include requirements for energy-efficient features and construction details typically found in ENERGY STAR® qualified homes – tight construction and duct systems, properly installed insulation, high performance windows, efficient heating and cooling equipment, ENERGY STAR® qualified lighting and appliances and more.
In today’s price-sensitive economy, THD also helps consumers and builders “go green” by taking advantage of savings and rebates on eco-friendly products offered by residential manufacturers dedicated to promoting sustainable residential construction by offering a money savings/green building section to easily find the latest green building products and rebates.
by Christine Cooney on June 3, 2010 in ENERGY STAR, Green Building, green designs, green house plans, home building, Home Construction, home designs, Home Plans
Last year I bought an ENERGY STAR® approved house plan from The House Designers and I have to tell you it was the best investment I’ve ever made. My builder was so impressed by how easy it was to build our home according to the ENERGY STAR® plans that they provided. It included all the necessary requirements like tight construction and duct systems, properly installed insulation, high performance windows, efficient heating and cooling equipment, ENERGY STAR® qualified lighting and appliances and much more. Last week all the inspections and field verifications were performed by a HERS rater and I am thrilled to report that our new home is not only officially ENERGY STAR® qualified but absolutely stunning.
by Christine Cooney on April 22, 2010 in ENERGY STAR, green designs, Home Plans, House Plans
In honor of Earth Day, we have assembled a collection of small ENERGY STAR®/Green house plans, which are all designed with the same features and amenities of a much larger plan, but without the high cost to build and operate. Now is a great time to think about how green your home “really” is and to make some changes that will not only help save the planet, but create a more healthy and efficient living space.
View our collection of small, stylish and efficient ENERGY STAR®/Green House plans, including some of our most popular in this week’s issue of Dream Designs.
This efficient little plan is large on living.
by Christine Cooney on April 16, 2010 in ENERGY STAR, Green Building, green designs, green house plans, home building, Home Plans, House Plans
With Earth Day April 22, now is the perfect month to think about building your dream green home. We have taken the stress out of wondering if your house plan will meet the high level of green standards once it’s built by offering you our exclusive ENERGY STAR® approved house plans. And we mean EXCLUSIVE, because we are the ONLY online house plan company selling ENERGY STAR® approved house plans.
We also provide you with an in-depth Green Building Guide that will help you choose the right green products for your home. You’ll find everything you need to know about he latest green trends and products, from HVAC to flooring to painting and of course ENERGY STAR® appliances.
This week’s issue of Dream Designs, features some of our best selling ENERGY STAR® house plans. If you have any questions at all while browsing through our green house plans, please give a call to 866-214-2242 and our customer service staff would be happy to answer any questions.
by Christine Cooney on March 30, 2010 in ENERGY STAR, Floor Plans, Home Plans, House Plans, Open Floor Plans
Our collection of traditional house plans combine, architectural details from a variety of house styles from ranch to Mediterranean. You’ll find that all our plans feature familiar architectural styles presented in a modern and flexible floor plan to suit your needs and lifestyle. This week’s Dream Designs features some of our most popular traditional designs, which are sold throughout the United States.
A big seller is the Austin House Plan. This one-story design features an open floor plan that makes efficient use of its 2,644 square feet. There are four bedrooms, including a secluded master suite with access to the rear covered deck. There’s a two-car garage with a side entrance. As an added bonus, this home has been ENERGY STAR® approved. Enjoy browsing through our broad range of traditional house plans.
Traditional one story house plan is ENERGY STAR® approved.
