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Blue Home Design |
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Sustainable Building & Design with ICF (Insulated Concrete Forms) |
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We have changed our company name from Sawmill River Builders to Blue Home Design. We are attempting to create a brand new classification for new ultra-efficient homes such as ours. As you know, these days everything has a “green” label whether it is really “green” or not. Green is the most over-used and abused word on the planet right now. Is it really green or not – who knows any more, and what does green really mean? To bring new clarity to the environmental movement, we have decided to separate from the herd and go blue – yes, BLUE! Our home is officially the first Blue home on the planet. We chose the color Blue, because that is what color our home is from space. Yes, our planet has a lot of green trees and plants, but we are no longer seeing the forest through the trees – if you know what I mean. Our most urgent and dire concern is global warming. We are basically cooking ourselves to death by releasing massive volumes of CO2 and methane into our very thin and fragile atmosphere. And, the volume of our emissions is increasing exponentially. Our species is committing “globacide” right before our eyes! So, our mission at The Blue Institute is to try to design and build zero or near-zero emission homes. Going Blue is all about energy and emissions. LEED was a good first attempt at going green. The problem with LEED is that all of its ratings our based on today’s energy costs. A LEED home might work today, but in just 10 years that same home may be obsolete – primarily, because of the cost of energy. All homes have a big carbon footprint in the beginning, even ICF homes. Let’s face it; a lot of carbon goes into the atmosphere during manufacture and construction. The Blue Institute, like LEED, places a lot of emphasis on what kinds of materials go into the structure and where they come from. But here is where we leave LEED in the dust. We believe the two most important criteria for building a Blue home are what kind of and how much energy it uses and how much carbon comes out of its pipes, chimneys, and coal-fired power plants. The most important thing is: what is the lifetime cumulative effect of the home on our planet’s atmosphere. You can build an all-natural home with straw and mud, but in the end, if it still spews massive amounts of carbon into the air year after year, then all you really have is an illusion fueled by delusion. If your new home qualifies for a Blue Diamond rating, then you have a structure that you can be really proud of and can, hopefully, afford to live in for a very long time. Our rating system is one, two or three Diamonds – or the Holy Grail: the Blue Hope Diamond rating. Our new home will be a 2 Diamond after we complete the installation of the PV array - not even close to the Hope Diamond, since we still have some carbon footprint. Just remember – to put things in perspective – a 1 Diamond is twice as good as LEED Platinum. You see, at the Blue Institute, we build for the future; meaning, we know oil is going to get expensive very, very quickly. So, don’t design a house on a $100 per oil barrel budget. Build it on a $1,000 per barrel budget; or, even better yet, build the home that doesn’t even require gas, oil or coal. Because, in the future, there may be a total ban on these carbon fuels – if they are even available! Scary stuff, I know. Maybe none of this stuff is going to happen, but the evidence strongly suggests that it will. Can we afford to recklessly gamble on our future? Do we want to consider leaving any of these ancient fuels and a livable planet for the next generation? At the Blue Institute, we don’t take chances on our future. If you can build this way affordably – and I think we have proved it – why not show the world you really do care about our planet and all the future generations. Please help us lead the way by turning your homes, your cars, your energy sources and your lifestyle — Blue. Welcome to the BLUE Revolution. Blue is the answer we have all been waiting for. GO BLUE! |
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Let’s Go Blue! |
