Green
Click on an image to view the slideshow and read more about our green awards and affiliations. Visit our awards page for more affiliations and professional certifications.
GREEN AFFILIATIONS AND CERTIFICATIONS
- Boulder Green Building Guild (BGBG)
- Green Advantage Certified Practitioner (GACP)
- EPA Lead-Safe Certified Firm
- Energy Star Participating Home Performance Contractor
- Center for Resource Conservation ReSource Yard Supporter
Windows & Doors: A great place to start
The air infiltration from an old or defective window, or poorly designed window or door, is amazing. By just starting there, replacing your windows & doors with good, well made fenestration, you will see immediate changes in comfort and energy savings, which always means money savings. These savings only grow as utility prices grow. See our Windows & Doors and Home Energy Audits 1&2 blogs for specifics.
Green Options for Clients
When we begin work on your behalf, under a preliminary services agreement (PSA), one of the things we do is grade the options you face by price/quality: as gold, silver, bronze. In this way, you can control both quality for ROI (return on investment) and your budget. We also include a green option so that while you are planning and designing, the many energy saving, carbon-reducing, renewable and sustainable options available in good engineering & design, fixtures, finishes and materials-can all be considered.
Internal Practices
- In addition to the affiliations and certifications in the slideshow above…
- We recycle in our office, including all hard to recycle materials.
- We print on two sides and we reuse paper within our offices.
- We use recycled and eco-friendly office products whenever possible, including our note cards and stationery.
- We use concrete that has fly ash in it: this allows for better setting and uses an industrial waste that would otherwise pollute the environment.
- We use low VOC finishes and ‘green’ cabinetry when asked.
- We use sustainable forested woods where available.
- We’ve been a Charter member for over ten years of the Boulder Green Points Program.
On the Job
- Green option in Design/Estimation: We solicit green options from our sub-contractors on bids and advise you of them.
- We are local pioneers in the area of radon, asbestos and lead mitigation & removal. Our Production Manager is trained in lead-safe work practices.
- We typically design with classic, long lasting materials, not trendy ones with unproven lifelines.
- We source local wherever we can; not only does this support our local economy; it reduces the shipping costs of having it brought here from afar.
- We have a design sensibility concerning a smaller footprint. Good design makes additional square footage an option, rather than a necessity.
- We practice deconstruction rather than demolition. We are supporters of the ReSource yard.
- We recycle building products and have for 20 years.
Furnace Replacement
Does your furnace have an Energy Star rating? If not, you are operating at 70% efficiency at best. Today’s furnaces exceed 80+ percent, many in the 90’s. Save money and energy, while also reducing your carbon footprint. With old boilers, the bane of great older homes–these boilers operate at about 40%. Yep! Less than half efficient. Take out the asbestos insulation & lead paint, improve ventilation and banish spiders while you are at it. Remember, it is greener to reuse what you have; ergo remodelling is the best way to get a new home.
Heating hot water uses 10% of all residential building energy. The energy to treat & pump water is 6% of our national energy consumption (cars/trucks are 12% nationally). So using an on-demand heater for your hot water is a great way to save 15-40% on your monthly bills, over the cost of conventional models. Long in use in Europe & Africa, they are great way to cut down your water bill, too! Only what is needed, when it is needed, at the temp you need – becomes available. We are certified installers and can remove those greedy monsters out of your dungeon while we are there.
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ReSource Yard
We have a close relationship with the not-for-profit ReSource Yard in Boulder, a division of the Center for Resource Conservation (CRC). Before any demolition happens, the team at the ReSource Yard comes to the job site and marks anything that is reusable. We deconstruct around it to save the materials. ReSource then picks it up and sorts and sells it from the marvelous ReSource Yard at 6400 Arapahoe Rd near 63rd Street.
Some of Larry’s framed art photography was featured last year at a local coffee shop. All proceeds to benefit ReSource Yard. You can read about it in the posted PDFs below, and view the images in the slideshow. These framed art photographs are once again for sale to benefit ReSource. Contact us at 303-444-0033 to inquire about pricing.
- Daily Camera, July 3 ‘08-”Art Guide” Larry Parrish exhibit
- MyTownColorado.com, July 10 ‘08- “Smart Photographic Exhibit to Benefit ReSource Yard..”
Click on image to view slideshow.
Contact us if you’re interested in hearing more about our green practices and what you can do to make your home more eco-friendly and energy efficient.
Also, be sure to check out the Green Building Topics section of our blog, which has great tips on what you can do to save energy and make your home more eco-friendly. The FAQ section also has some helpful tips on ways you can make your home more energy efficient.
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