New Homes are less expensive to maintain

The National Association of Home Builders publishes a blog entitled Eye on Housing.  A recent post by Robert Dietz states: “April is new homes month. And one of the virtues of a newly constructed home is the savings that come from reduced energy and maintenance expenses.

Data from the 2009 American Housing Survey (AHS) offer proof. The AHS classifies new construction as homes no more than four years old.

For example, for routine maintenance expenses, 26% of all homeowners spent $100 or more a month on various upkeep costs. However, only 11% of owners of newly constructed homes spent this amount. In fact, 73% of new homeowners spent less than $25 a month on routine maintenance costs.”  Click here to read the full article.

In addition to being the first Low Impact Development on Whidbey Island, The Highlands is a Built Green® Community.  Built Green® is an all-encompassing approach to home building, starting with how we treat the land we are building on. With minimal site disruption, we are less likely to develop drainage problems, and more natural landscapes will require less care. More careful use of raw materials, and more engineered uses result in less forest destruction per home. Designing the building envelope to be tighter and better insulated keeps heating and cooling costs low, and helps us control interior air quality.  The Highlands provides all this and a connection to a warm, energetic and involved community  – Langley, WA!

The Highlands have a number of lots available with prices starting at $99,ooo.  The Highlands will work with any architect and builder you choose.  We encourage you and your architect to build a Built Green® house.  The elevations of any house plan must be approved by The Highland Design Review Committee.

Langley Builders currently has two homes available for sale at The Highlands:  The Finch on Lot 6,  Built Green® 3 star and The Peregrine on Lot 20, Built Green® 4 star. For more information on theses homes, click the For Sale tab above.

Saving money in new construction

We would like to build a new home.  Just.  For.  YOU!

We recently completed a new home for some very nice people who got exactly the home they wanted.     They found a Langley Builders floor plan and a lot at The Highlands they liked and signed an agreement to purchase the house upon completion of construction. They had the ability to choose their finishes as the house was being built.   This is called a “PreSale”.   It cost them less money than buying a finished “Spec” home.

Why??  We, the builder, pay less interest to the bank and there is less waste of time and materials – no repainting, changing of appliances, carpet, cabinet faces, lighting fixtures and other miscellaneous items that can occur when purchasing a newly constructed house.

How much less?  You can save between $4,000 and $6,000 for Builder’s construction interest costs and approximately $4,000 to $6,000 in change orders and upgrade costs.  That’s $8,000 to $12,000 in potential savings!

Come and look at our construction.

Check out our floor plans.

Meet with us – together we can make your new home a reality!

Slide show for the NEW Peregrine House

The Peregrine houses are finished and look great!  We made a slide show of photographs to give you an idea of the spaciousness and warmth of these homes.  Watch the video – Read our blog that talks about the construction of these homes – Then come see them in person.  We would enjoy showing you the quality and energy efficiency of these homes.

Open House/Grand Opening

1056 Village Loop

Open House/Grand Opening

December 3 and 4, 2011

1:00PM to 4:00PM

Join us for a friendly visit and a cup of hot cider.

 The Peregrine homes located on Lot 20, 1056 Village Loop and Lot 21, 1050 Village Loop are now finished – including the landscaping!  We have furnished the home on Lot 21, 1050 Village Loop, as a model home which includes a refrigerator and a front-loading washer with dryer.

The comfort of the BiosmartTM Infrared heating technology is immediately noticeable and the energy savings will be noticed for years to come. The attention to detail and the finish work is outstanding.

We will have special financing available for these two models through the end of December.  Copies of the details for this special financing are available at the Model Home at 1050 Village Loop.  As an additional incentive, Langley Builders is offering the refrigerator, washer and dryer included in the price on Lot 21, 1050 Village Loop for $349,500.00 and on Lot 20, 1056 Village Loop for $334,900.00 until December 31, 2011.

Final energy testing

The Peregrine on Lot 20 attractively landscaped.

WE PASSED OUR FINAL ENERGY TEST WITH FLYING COLORS!

There is a lot of technical information contained in this blog.  Please take some time to read and familiarize yourself with the terminology and the requirements.

The blower door test determines how well the building is sealed.  This test is a new requirement in the Washington State Energy Code.  All new homes in Washington State must pass this test.  The minimum standard to pass is measured at 0.00030 Specific Leakage Area (SLA).  Here are the results for Lot 20 Duct Testing Calculator and for Lot 21 Duct Testing Calculator. They are identical:  SLA = 0.00013.  This indicates that our homes, the Peregrine floor plans are .5666% better than the standard which adds to your comfort, lowers your energy usage and saves you money!

This plus a 4 Star Built Green rating is why this house is a perfect investment!

Robert Stockmann of Pinnacle Inspections, who performed the tests, adds: “Here are some useful links…it’s a long explanation at times but the old axiom “Build it Tight & Ventilate it Right” equates to superior indoor air comfort and increased energy savings for the homeowners.  No matter how well or how much insulation you have in a home, it doesn’t matter one bit if the house is “ leaky”.  Once air is allowed to infiltrate the wall, floor and ceiling cavities of a home in an uncontrolled manner, it basically renders the insulation useless, produces uncomfortable indoor climates, increases energy consumption for heating and/or cooling AND it can cause numerous other issues, such as interior moisture condensation issues.  When the homes reach a specified air infiltration rate, then mechanical ventilation is required to produce necessary air exchanges within the building.  This is why the HRV is an excellent choice to provide a good balanced exchange of bad indoor air and fresh outdoor air.”  We have installed the Panasonic ERV  to maintain the indoor air quality in the Peregrine homes.

http://www.greenbuildingadvisor.com/blogs/dept/musings/blower-door-basics

http://www.pct.edu/wtc/docs/articles/Blower-Door-FINAL.pdf

http://www.buildingenergysolutions.com/pdfs/bdtest.pdf

Insulation: FLOORS, WALLS, CEILINGS and AIR BARRIERS

INSULATION – FLOORS, WALLS, CEILINGS and AIR BARRIERS

The areas between the floor joists are filled with batt insulation and the entire subfloor area is covered with a radiant air barrier.  This radiant air barrier provides protection from air wash which can reduce the effectiveness of the insulation. The radiant barrier also reflects any radiant heat back into the warm floor insulated area preventing heat loss to the cooler earth at the bottom of the crawl space.

Crawl space showing plumbing and air barrier

The same installation process applies to the walls and ceilings.   All insulation and barriers exceed WA State building code for this area.

Wall and Ceiling insulation

We are now ready for 3rd party independent verification of application and R-value prior to the installation of the sheet-rock.

Heating and Ventilation

Heating and ventilation in the Peregrine models at The Highlands.

The first photo below shows the two BioSmart® Therapeutic Ceramic Far Infrared In-wall Heaters and the Panasonic ERV, energy recovery ventilation installed in the Greatroom.   The Panasonic ERV is the black box in the middle and the two heaters are to the left and right of the ERV.  The WhisperComfort energy recovery ventilating fan provides indoor air quality with a balance of supply and exhaust air.  These systems work together to provide an integrated, therapeutic heating and indoor air quality system for maximum comfort and energy savings.

The second photo shows how we sealed all wall, floor and ceiling penetrations. All of this specialty sealing is in preparation for the final installation of insulation and radiant barriers.

Peregrine models have rough electric and plumbing

The rough electrical and plumbing are complete on the Peregrine models.  Sealing and special insulation is underway, with wall, roof and floor insulation starting next week. This an excellent time for a site visit to see the ‘bones’ of the electrical, plumbing and ventilation systems.   These systems will provide improved indoor air quality and make these unique and well constructed homes very comfortable.  We will provide construction site tours Wednesday, July 27 through Sunday, July 31, 2011 from 11am to 4pm or by appointment at later or earlier times on these same days. This is a short window of opportunity beginning July 27th because once the drywall is installed you won’t be able to see this, so come out and have a look!!!

Lot 20 Siding	Lot 21 Heaters
Lot 21 Electric Panel

Insulation at the Peregrines

Insulation for energy efficiency at the Peregrines. These photos show the 1st stage of insulation that Langley Builders installs to provide you with an energy efficient home.  This is a radiant insulation barrier applied over the exterior sheathing. This product called Low E Perforated Foam/Foil House Wrap which provides a thermal break around the total perimeter of the house and a radiant barrier deflecting a large percentage of heat generated by the sun. This product keeps the home cooler in the summer and warmer in the winter. You also can think of this as your whole house “blankie”.

Check here to follow as the exciting drama of full insulation and sealing is brought to you in future editions.

Lot 20

Lot 20

Peregrine models are ready for plumbing & electrical

The Peregrine models are ready for the next phase. The attention to detail during site work, footings and foundation paid off with a level, square and straight platform for the framing crew.  Now the walls are up, trusses are on and the building is ready for plumbing, electrical and preliminary insulation, sealing and preparation for some of the most important work to insure a comfortable and efficient home. Be sure to stop by and watch these new homes as they get closer to completion.

Lot 20

Lot 20