Our Texas Hill Country-style home is nearing completion! We’re especially proud of this home, in part because the homeowners are deeply committed to environmental protection and sustainability, so we are pursuing a LEED Platinum certification. Once completed, this will be the first ever LEED Platinum home built in Fort Bend County!
LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is the most prolific green building rating system in the world and provides a framework for creating healthy, highly efficient, and cost-saving green homes and buildings.
Compared to a traditionally-constructed house, this home has been designed and constructed in ways that use fewer resources, reduce waste, minimize negative environmental impacts, decrease life cycle costs, and will lead to better health and productivity of the homeowners. While we use many similar green building methods and materials on all of our homes, we are especially proud of the additional effort contributed by all to get this home to LEED Platinum status. To provide a frame of reference, there are less than 8,500 buildings IN THE WORLD that have achieved this highest sustainability certification!
We’d love to take this opportunity to thank our homeowners, whose pioneering commitment and advocacy made this project possible. We’d also like to thank our partners Geschke Group Architecture, The Owen Group (interior design), Toner Home Matters (energy and sustainability consultant), and our many suppliers and craftsmen who have worked on this home. Our final shout-out goes to our Construction Manager and Project Manager team who are working hard to get this home to the finish line. Way to go Bob and Patricia!
Back in May, our industry’s best and brightest also came out to visit our project and observe the future of residential homebuilding. Texas A&M’s Construction Science students enjoyed walking the home, learning about green building methods and materials we use, and picking our brains about best practices in custom homebuilding. Read more about their field trip on this blog post.
Here are some additional specs and details on this home:
Home Highlights:
- Texas Hill Country Farmhouse Architectural Style
- 4,435 SF Living Area | 6,815 SF Total Covered Area
- 4 Bedrooms | 4 Baths + 1 Half Bath
- Construction Duration: 11 months
- Seeking LEED Platinum Certification
Exterior Materials/Features:
- Home orientation captures breeze off the water in the evenings – hence the name “Zephyr House”
- Solar Array solar energy system & 2 Tesla Powerwalls
- Stone sourced from north Texas | Board and Batten Siding: Hardie Plank and cedar
- Recycled-content metal standing-seam roof
- Jeld-wen windows | Andersen E-Series wood clad entry doors
- La Cantina slider doors along rear of home – allows breeze to flow through main living area & kitchen
- 94-pier structural foundation | Wood frame | Exterior continuous insulation | Open cell spray foam insulation
- Belgard Turfstone parking pad & permeable driveway
- Motorized screens at front entry doors and rear porch for mosquito-control
- Partial knife-edge pool and spa
Interior Materials/Features:
- PURPLE® drywall used in main living area & kitchen (resistant to moisture, mildew, mold to allow open sliders)
- Geothermal heating and cooling system with dehumidifier
- Water well and septic system | Tankless electric water heaters | Rainwater harvesting for irrigation
- 500-gallon propane tank to support TRUE direct vent gas fireplace and summer kitchen grill
- Smooth cedar wood posts, beams, & trusses
- LED lighting throughout home | Steam shower in master bathroom
Come Fall, we look forward to completing this home and getting our homeowners settled in. Stay tuned for professional photography towards the end of this year!
COMMENT ON THIS ARTICLE