Energy Efficient

by | Sep 10, 2015 | Construction & Design, Home Design | 0 comments

It makes sense to build smart! What we build for you will give you a return on your investment with significantly lower utility bills, as well as transferable discounts on your power bills for the life of the home. This example of building smart represents ultimate value for our clients and is why we have partnered with Energy Star to make every home certified. Enjoy the posts below to see our promises turn into action.

Craftsman-Style Home Nestled In The Black Mountain Woods

master bedroom
Featured in NC Design, April 2015

Every home design has its unique challenges, along with its own unique beauty. In our featured home today, Asheville interior designer Talli Roberts, ASID, president of Allard & Roberts Interior Design, was tasked with creating a simple, clean and beautiful design, amid a wealth of complex challenges. The home was a cozy Craftsman-style new build nestled in the Black Mountain woods. The homeowners were a couple looking to create a retirement oasis that would meet some very specific demands. Talli pulled the project off seamlessly, providing the clients with a truly gorgeous, timeless and functional living space. North Carolina Design spoke with her to find out more about how she helped bring this home to life.

Living Stone and Houzz

We love the Houzz website which is geared for people looking to build a new construction home, remodel an existing home, or for decorating inspiration for their current home. We introduce all of our clients to Houzz so they can begin building an “ideabook” for their project. “Ideabooks” help us as we work in design and throughout the project to get a feel of the clients’ tastes and preferences.

Living Stone has been awarded “Best in Houzz for design AND service for the last 3 years.
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The Skylar Grande for the Strittmatters!

“He does things right for the sake of doing them right and that was the impression we got with every facet of our experience with Living Stone. That made us just be able to trust them and trust their system.” Carol Strittmatter

Support for Army Green Beret, Jerry Gass

Army Green Beret On August 3rd 2014, the men of ODA 3131 lost a brother, and the Gass family lost a father, husband, brother, and son when Girard “Jerry” Gass died of a massive heart attack while on a combat operation in Afghanistan. Jerry suffered a heart attack after conducting a helicopter infiltration to secure a highly contested governmental district center in remote Afghanistan. The last thing Jerry did before he died was evacuate a fellow soldier off of the battlefield.

Why install Geothermal Heat Pumps?

Geothermal heat pumps (GHPs), sometimes referred to as GeoExchange, earth-coupled, ground-source, or water-source heat pumps, have been in use since the late 1940s. They use the constant temperature of the earth as the exchange medium instead of the outside air temperature. This allows the system to reach fairly high efficiencies (300% to 600%) on the coldest winter nights, compared to 175% to 250% for air-source heat pumps on cool days.

Although many parts of the country experience seasonal temperature extremes — from scorching heat in the summer to sub-zero cold in the winter—a few feet below the earth’s surface the ground remains at a relatively constant temperature. Depending on latitude, ground temperatures range from 45°F (7°C) to 75°F (21°C). Like a cave, this ground temperature is warmer than the air above it during the winter and cooler than the air in the summer. The GHP takes advantage of this by exchanging heat with the earth through a ground heat exchanger.

Add Green to Your Home — and Your Pocketbook — by Remodeling

Green buildingThe rapid growth of green building means that new home owners can take advantage of the lower operating and maintenance costs that come with these energy- and resource-efficient homes.

But for the 120 million existing homes in the United States, remodeling is the only way for home owners to incorporate green practices. NAHB Remodelers offers the following suggestions to home owners who want to increase their home’s efficiency, decrease costs and take advantage of the other benefits that green offers.

About the Author, Sean Sullivan

About the Author, Sean Sullivan

Sean got his start in the construction business in 1994. Today, he’s the President of Living Stone Design + Build, and is an Accredited Master Builder, Certified Green Professional, Certified Aging-in-Place Specialist, and author of Building a Quality Custom Home: What you Need to Know. He also teaches continuing education courses for builders and accreditations through the NC Builders Institute. Sean loves western North Carolina and the Asheville community, and lives in Black Mountain with his wife, Laura Sullivan.