What's the process of having my new energy-efficient home designed and how do I get started? Like many of our clients, this may be the first time you'll design and build a home from scratch. Our team will guide you throughout the entire process, from the initial design meetings until the day you move in.
Your home is an important investment, so it is equally important to invest in a thorough and thoughtful design. The time, energy, and materials that go into making your home long lasting, efficient, and beautiful should be given great consideration. It is equally as important to create a home that is a reflection of your lifestyle, values, and commitment to sustainable living. So what are the steps?
Start by looking over our website, in particular check out our projects. We built our website to share our design strategies, green building techniques, and other processes all with the goal of helping you, the homeowner.
– New custom home design & planning?
– Design & planning of a home addition or remodel?
– Design of a singular home improvement feature like a bench, awning, or built-in bookcase?
– Hourly consultation to provide solutions and instructions to a problem or concern with your existing home?
– Help visualizing exterior and interior paint colors and other material choices?
Contact us to schedule a one-hour consultation. Please send us an email or message with your name, location, and a description of your project. We'd love to hear about your new home or remodel dreams.
Depending on your availability, we will meet with you in person, by phone, or Skype. The one-hour consultation is an opportunity for us to begin to get to know one another. We listen to your ideas, thoughts, plans, and concerns as well as ask questions about your goals and timeline. We are happy to answer your questions and outline our design services.
After this initial consultation, we'll take the information that we learned and put together a proposal that's specific for you and your project. The proposal will include a suggested package of our services along with an investment estimation. Depending on your availability, we may meet with you again either in person, by phone, or Skype to answer any questions regarding the proposal, provide examples of the deliverables, and further discuss what our services entail.
You choose which package of services best fits your needs or we can work together to customize your own package of services that is best fitting. This is great news! We are excited to begin working with you on your project. We'll next sign a contract, which is designed to maintain constant communication between both parties all along the project as well as ensure that everyone is one the same page and is happy with the progress before moving ahead.
Before beginning the design phases, we ask that you fill out our detailed questionnaire to further explore and share your ideas and goals for your project. It is important that we have a clear understanding of your lifestyle, spatial requirements, style, material preferences, budget, etc. Next, we meet in person or by Skype to review your information, ask & answer questions, and ensure that we are all on the same page before beginning. If you are unsure about certain elements of your project, we can help you to evaluate your options, pros & cons, and other details.
And remember, our team is here is support and guide you throughout the entire process from the initial design steps, through the construction process, until the day you move in. We encourage you to reach out with questions or concerns at any time. Our goal is to create a rewarding experience every step of the way. In addition, we believe that the best homes are built through collaboration with the builders and subcontractors. Through communication and understanding, we achieve great results.
Every project has different objectives, parameters, and challenges. The following slide show outlines our design process and the different design and construction phases specific to the Quinn Creek Home. The design and construction processes for this project were strongly influenced by the site's extreme environmental conditions including a steep hillside, presence of ledge, restrictive setbacks, and harsh alpine. The parameters will likely be different for your specific project, but what remains the same is our team's commitment to guide and support you throughout the entire process. We're here for you the whole way!
Its always exciting and interesting beginning a design for new clients on a new site!
At Quinn Creek, we know there will be challenges ahead with the steep slopes, soil conditions, and weather.
We look at the terrain & assess its topography.
We look for irregularities like rock outcrops.
Such outcrops can indicate large underlying ledges which can influence how we have to design in order to minimize excavation costs.
This site had such features. It also had a steep decline from the road access, averaging between 8-20%! Such grades also influenced our decision making as to how to site the home.
Questions arise.... Is it even possible to build here?
Other parts of our initial site analysis consisted of how prevailing winds effect the site.
After accessing the site, we began a preliminary design siting a rough home plan where we and the clients believed the home location to be most logical.
As we further our investigation into the site survey, covenants, and discussion with those living nearby, we would conclude that this particular siting location was impractical.
We looked for view potential; not just the mountain views, but close-up views of certain beautiful trees, the sky, and other beautiful natural elements.
Driveway - Too steep, long, & curvy !
The surveyor found that the road has a easement which determines where the setback starts. This made the lower site not possible due to the setback limit and a steep drop-off further down the slope.
Also, after conversing with the excavator who lives nearby, he advised being as close to the road as possible as the area below experiences heavy snow drifts during the winter.
We were also concerned with the steep grade down to that site making it difficult or near impossible for concrete and concrete pump trucks to access and turn around.
This image shows the more logical, shorter driveway at the top of the hill.
So we developed a new site plan for the higher site.
One variable that kept us from initially choosing the higher site were the trees that would have to be removed.
The following images are building massing and terrain models that help us flesh out how best to work with the slopes and terrain found on this site.
Such massing models are crucial in understanding overall height limitations and how much excavation would have to be done.
Plans are developed to fulfill our clients' unique lifestyles, habits, and needs.
Model development also includes decks, railings, & peripherals like awnings, etc.
Model development includes further understanding of soil back-fill, grading, and drainage.
Next, elevations become more specific and detailed.
At this point we gather of our drawings together to create a basic Construction Drawing set (CD's). This set is what is use to begin to get bids from contractors and get feed-back on cost estimates.
3D renderings begin to make a home feel like a home. With lifelike materials, furniture, sunlight, and views, this is usually our clients' favorite part of the design process. They can begin to visualize colors, textures, and other aspects of the design through our renderings.
We also use renderings to further evaluate exterior siding and fascia colors. This is really helpful to head off poorly compatible choices.
For Quinn Creek, we interviewed one contractor; he was very professional and was on-board with doing an out-of-the way and difficult project. The clients were then able to meet with him and the project begins to become more solid.
At this point we are well along in the drawing process. We begin to get feedback from our engineer, heating specialists, and general contractor. We amend and thoroughly detail our drawings for build-ability.
Greenovision produces specific framing drawings with exact wall, window, and door layouts taking rough openings and exact sizes into account. These drawings are configured so the builders can spend less time figuring out these dimensions on site.
Montana weather is difficult enough for builders. In our office where it's a controlled environment, we configure the sizing and dimensions of every stud, header, and plate. With this detailed information the home is constructed quicker with less waste and fewer mistakes.
Greenovision produces specific detailed shop drawings for special home features that require exact onsite measurements.
Specialty features may include awnings, decks, built-in shelving or wherever there needs to be exact shop drawings for contractors to build from.
Our team makes regular site visits to answer builders' questions and ensure proper implemation of the design.
Remember the ledge? Well, sometimes the ledge comes back to haunt the project. Once the digging gets going on a complex site like Quinn Creek, you find out more about the underlying substrata.
This is why it is important to keep closely communicating with the builders involved. We could address issues that unexpectedly come up, find solutions, and reconfigure design if needed.