Building Green
What does building ‘green’ really mean? The word is bantered around quite a bit lately and the current trend in marketing offers a ‘green’ alternative to almost every product available anymore. However, ‘green’ is used somewhat indiscriminately these days and quite often the word, especially when used in building, becomes a blurred phrase that doesn’t address the potential for true, sustainable, construction. Install a high efficiency furnace, add some extra insulation, use good windows, and you’ve built a ‘green’ home, correct? Not quite. While these measures are a good start, they fall substantially short of the number of options available to construct a truly efficient, sustainable structure. Being energy efficient is being ‘green’ to be sure, but being ‘green’ is considerably more than being energy efficient.
To Traverse Homes, an accredited design-build company, building ‘green’ means much more than trendy marketing or the inclusion of a few energy saving features. To Traverse Homes, it is a philosophy that starts at the footings and works its way up to the shingles. Amongst many different procedures, it is using engineered building components instead of old growth timber and conventional lumber in many areas of construction. It is incorporating the most advanced techniques and materials available to construct a home that works with our eco-system, not against it. It is being environmentally conscious by recycling more than 80% of post construction debris and scrap instead of sending it to the landfill. It is building a warm, comfortable home that does away with drafts, virtually eliminates any chances of mold occurring, reduces dependency on fossil fuels, is worry and maintenance free, and has enduring value. Building ‘green’ is practicing sound environmental stewardship in every applicable aspect of the construction process.
Traverse Homes applies the Whole House Approach to design and build your home, incorporating practical, affordable alternative building methods and products into the process. From the modest to an all-encompassing approach to energy efficiency and sustainability, Traverse Homes incorporates superior craftsmanship and care into every aspect of construction and has been doing so in the Grand Traverse area since 1979, long before anyone else began building ‘green’.
We have developed our own proprietary, 150 point, green-build process from the Energy Star rating system and over half of the potential green-build practices and possibilities available are already standard features in your home. From wind to solar to geothermal to bio-heat and dozens of other renewable options, Traverse Homes has the knowledge, skill, and dedication to build a home that is the personification of your lifestyle and one that embodies a commitment to protecting our environment.
Whatever your choice is, from simple to complex in design and operation, an ecologically friendly home built by Traverse Homes fulfills your sense of environmental responsibility and gives you a lasting feeling of satisfaction and accomplishment.