What is Sustainability in Design-Build?
We take a holistic approach to green homebuilding, considering all the factors that go into the design and construction of a sustainable, eco-friendly home.
Buildings - from construction to occupancy - are natural polluters. At Rebel, we have made a commitment to minimize our impact and yours by embracing the new technologies, healthy materials and responsible practices in our industry that lower operational costs and minimize our carbon footprint.
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Our custom homes and remodels utilize a number of sustainable strategies with long-term payoffs such as high-performance windows, superior insulation, high-efficiency heating and cooling, air quality systems, electrification, and solar planning.
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In our commitment to green building we apply these sustainability pillars to building strategic energy retrofits that use lower embodied carbon materials and decrease operational costs in an approachable way for homeowners and a safe way for workers.
Sustainability in Practice
What is a strategic energy retrofit?
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A strategic energy retrofit is a comprehensive design/build process for renovations and additions that not only embraces new sustainable practices but also future proofs for changing environmental building standards. While conventional methods upgrade individual systems, we design and plan for how all new and existing systems will work together and perform their best.
Strategic energy retrofits offer a custom approach to meet your personal energy goals and create a healthier home for you and your community.
Not in your budget to upgrade or add all of these new systems at once? Not a problem! While deep energy retrofits are the "golden standard," they are currently unaffordable for many homeowners. Our approach has proven to have a real impact on reducing your carbon footprint while maintaining a budget friendly renovation. We help our clients improve their home in ways they can afford now and, when their financial planning allows, plan for future phases.
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Rebel has built a team with a strong sustainability mindset, from our carpenters to our designers to our office manager. Green building science is always evolving and we are committed to ongoing education so we can continue to offer the most effective retrofit options in our custom builds.
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High-Performance
Windows
Windows are the weakest point of your home's thermal envelope. Energy-efficient, triple pane windows are crucial for building an eco-friendly home as they minimize heat transfer, lowering heating and cooling needs. Triple pane windows are constructed with 3 layers of glass separated by airspaces often filled with argon. This construction provides a greater resistance to heat transfer and more effective soundproofing than standard double pane windows. With the minimized heat loss provided by triple pane windows, homeowners can lower operational costs by over 20% and greatly decrease their operational carbon footprint.
Energy-Efficient Equipment
A more sustainable home starts with moving toward electrification and eliminating operational carbon. Swapping out gas-powered models for electrified water heaters, appliances, fireplaces, and heat pump HVAC systems brings in high-performance, energy-efficient alternatives that are better for your home, planet and wallet.
Smart electrical panels can be connected to your phone, giving you control over your energy use in real time. Leak detectors add another layer of protection by helping to prevent water damage before it starts.
Take your electrification a step further by future proofing for solar panels or EV chargers to plan for continued electrification. Incorporating just a few of these tools can have a powerful impact on your home's overall performance and efficiency.
Healthy Materials
We greatly care about the materials we use and their impact on the planet and the people. That impact is measured across the full life cycle of the material; from its origin as a raw resource, how it's transported, its effects on builders and homeowners during installation and use, and how it eventually breaks down.
In practice, healthy materials can be as simple as using reclaimed insulation, donating deconstructed materials, or sourcing products locally. They can also be familiar materials made safer, like low-VOC paint or low-silica quartz countertops.
Our team prioritizes materials that help sequester carbon. Utilizing off-products from the lumber industry, such as wood fiber insulation, your home becomes an active participant in decarbonization!
Old homes often contain unhealthy or hazardous materials. It is our priority to ensure that we can remove and abate materials such as: asbestos, lead, and radon. We have comprehensive ways of tackling this with lead removal certified team members and abatement trade partners.
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Healthy Air Quality
Human health is greatly tied to the quality of your indoor air and there are avenues to explore when investing in better indoor air quality. When possible, energy recovery ventilators (ERVs) work with your HVAC system to eject stale indoor air and pull in fresh outdoor air. This improves indoor air quality, stabilizes humidity, and reduces the workload on your HVAC system.
Another effective option is adding extra air filters to your HVAC system to remove smoke, allergens and even covid-19.
Additionally, removing active wood-burning or gas fireplaces, gas stoves and other equipment that burns fossil fuels inside and moving toward electrified systems.
Exterior Envelope
Implementing high performance standards in our exterior envelopes has one of the greatest impacts on a home. The exterior envelope is a building system consisting of framing, insulation, moisture protection, siding and more. This system is designed to encase your home and better manage exterior conditions such as heat, moisture and noise that can negatively affect your home's interior efficiency and comfort. The exterior envelope of any addition, renovation or new build is the foundation for a better performing home by maintaining interior temperatures, extending the life of exterior and interior materials, mitigating moisture, and sealing air leaks so your other systems (HVAC, ERV, etc.) will perform better, last longer and cost less.
