Midwest Eco-Design - Your home for eco-friendly construction, remodeling & housing choices including prefrabricated homes, cabins and other sustainable material choices.

Architect Andres Duany, best known for work designing New Urbanist communities (walkable, small-scaled, mixed-use) has shifted gears a bit to create a light, expandable shelter known as the “core house” for Haiti’s homeless. The house, designed to stand up to earthquakes and hurricanes isn’t Duany’s first foray into disaster relief housing: several years ago he [...]

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When upgrading or choosing a new heating system, you want a system with a high annual fuel utilization efficiency (AFUE) rating. You can find this information in the product literature. If a salesperson tells you the rating, be sure to verify it by reading the label.
The AFUE is the measure of the amount [...]

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According to the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), for a material to qualify as “green”, it must:

Meet or exceed performance requirements.
Have sufficient, predictable strength, durability, or stability.
Be resistant to moisture, decay, or biocontamination.
Be nontoxic or nonhazardous to occupants and installers.
Be comparable in cost (labor + materials + equipment + other) to traditional materials.
Be [...]

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Boulder, CO has big plans for a green construction project that will provide approximately 153 units (homes) to a range of home buyers.  But what exactly is the range?  How much $$?  That is the first question people are going to ask before being interested in a home in this development.  In this economy, whether [...]

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