Welcome Home

The Johnstons have moved into their new home at Oak Park. As their "change of address" card notes (and their picture book shows), a true team effort to design and build a one-of-a-kind, super-efficient home. Welcome to the neighborhood.

We Get the Prize, Our Homeowners Get the Reward

Our Bellevue Cottage at Oak Park was recently named one of EarthCraft Virginia's Top 10 Most Efficient Homes of 2011--out of more than 800 homes certified by the organization.

The great thing about building these Smart and Beautiful homes? We get the prizes, but our homeowners get the rewards, in the form of monthly savings, better health, and the warm-all-over feeling of living in a well-crafted home.

Tailored, Beautiful and Smart.

A new Bellevue Home is taking shape in Oak Park, and it embodies our mission to make homes that are Tailored, Beautiful, and High Performance.

First, Tailored.

Rather than asking the client to accept a pre-existing "stock" blueprint, Bellevue prefers to tailor the home design to the client's particular needs (including the fine points, e.g., "where should we put the big china cabinet?") and the site itself--in this case, a prime location overlooking the "Park" in Oak Park. The result, by Kelly Ludwig of Ludwig Design Development, is a Shingle Style cottage, complete with a dramatic porch greeting the neighborhood and a private backyard for enjoying the pool.

Pictures will do a better job of conveying the second part of our mission--Beauty--so check back here (or, even better, drive by Oak Park) as the home comes together. It will be beautiful.

So that leaves Smart.

A Smart home is more energy efficient, healthier, and more durable than a standard house. The bedrock of a Smart Home is a large number of small steps that collectively add up to better performance--sealing air gaps, using 21st century insulation, carefully designing the HVAC system, and so on. These represent the basic "blocking and tackling" of a Smart Home.

In the case of this home, we are working with clients who are fully committed to both the "blocking and tackling" above and want to enjoy the advantages of more advanced Smart technology including a ground source heat pump, often referred to as a "geothermal" heat pump. The picture below shows the 425-foot geothermal well being drilled on site by Marshall Mechanical, our very capable HVAC contractor.

Once the well is installed, the technology aspect of the system is relatively simple. Many of us have *air-source* heat pumps in our homes already, and the principles are largely the same. The key difference is that, unlike the air, the earth remains at an essentially constant temperature at just a short distance under the surface, and this results in dramatically more efficient heat pump operation.

To be Smart, however, "cool" technology is not enough (though it is pretty cool). The real test is the economics, and they pencil out very well when the system's energy savings and today's tax credits and very low interest rates are considered. Add to this the fact that heat pumps are more reliable than standard air conditioner/furnace set-ups, have no unsightly and loud "outside" unit, and are a great financial hedge against rising energy costs, and the geothermal heat pump starts to look both Smart and a No-Brainer.

The Bellevue Cottage Graduates Summa Cum Laude

On September 17, the 1st Bellevue Cottage at Oak Park received its "Energy Efficiency" degree from the good (but tough) folks at EarthCraft Virginia.

The picture to the right shows the cottage undergoing its final exam. Bob Congdon, our EarthCraft Virginia-assigned energy efficiency inspector, is performing a "blower door test" on our cottage. Essentially, Bob closes up the house completely, with the exception of a special fan that allows him to alter the air pressure in the house. By altering the air pressure in a controlled way, Bob can accurately measure how much conditioned air leaks from the house (these leaks, of course, are the primary causes of energy innefficiency.)

The bottom line for us--we had an extremely low level of leakage, one of the best Bob has seen. We'd passed our final exam, and now Bob and his EarthCraft friends went off to determine our final grade.

By combining the results of the blower door test as well as inspecting various other features of the house (such as the efficiency of appliances used, levels of insulation, window performance ratings and many more), Earthcraft Virginia gives each inspected home a "HERS Score". The HERS Score is essentially like a gas mileage figure for your home. It was developed by the US Department of Energy and is the standard used by independent, certified energy inspectors across the country.

Homes “built to code” are given a score of 100. Homes built to a higher energy standard receive scores below 100, with each point below 100 representing 1% less energy usage when compared to a standard new house.

Based on our construction methods and materials (and the "tough but fair" oversight provided by site superintendent Richard Smith), the Bellevue Cottage received a HERS Score of 49, which suggests that energy usage in our home will be less than half that of a comparably-sized new house (and even less compared to older or oversized houses).

We still have some final work to complete as we strive to build a home that is both smart and beautiful (why not stop by and take a look?), but we feel as if we have graduated from a very tough school. Quite frankly, we are very proud of ourselves, and know that the Cottage's future owners will be proud of their very low energy bills.

Our Philosophy in a Nutshell

"A better home beats a bigger house."

Beauty and Character in 4 Easy Points

At Bellevue Homes, we make a bold claim: we build homes that are both higher-performing and have more character than our competition. In essence, we believe that you deserve a home that is both beautiful and smart.

In our last post, we laid out a comprehensive list of the reasons that a Bellevue Home performs at a higher level. In this post, we'd like to discuss how our design philosophy leads to the beauty and character of the Bellevue Home.

Point #1: When you are searching for a home, quality is what you are seeking, not quantity.

At Bellevue, we believe that people shouldn't settle for a house with square footage but no soul. Not only is a house that is "too big" more costly to decorate, operate and maintain; it also tends to have a lower level of quality throughout, because much of the construction budget has gone into creating raw space rather than enjoyable space. Our objective is to create a home whose size is "just right" and to lavish attention on the materials and details that transform a mere house into a true home.

Point #2: In home design, "the fundamental things apply".
We are big fans of the movie "Casablanca", and thinking of design calls to mind the lyrics of the movie's key song:

You must remember this
A kiss is just a kiss, a sigh is just a sigh.
The fundamental things apply
As time goes by.

In designing your home, certain fundamental guidelines should apply. Among these are:

• Take maximum advantage of the homesite's setting, including its orientation relative to the sun and the pros and cons of the the building lot.
• Create rooms that flow into one another while remaining distinct from one another.
• Create outdoor "rooms" as well, using the layout of the house and landscaping to enclose portions of the side and rear yards.
  
• Strive for rhythm and harmony on all four sides of the house, not just the front facade.
• Remember that "simplicity is the ultimate sophistication." (Leonardo DaVinci gave us that one, and it reminds us to avoid using lots of unnecessary variety--in roof lines, siding types, added "frills"--as a substitute for good design.)
  

Of course, our designers go well beyond this short list, but you can be assured that every Bellevue Home has taken these fundamentals into consideration before the first brick is laid.

Point #3: "Better ingredients = better pizza".

Perhaps we shouldn't reference a pizza commercial in discussing our homes, but we think that this statement (for Papa John's Pizza, by the way) captures a simple truth about creating character in a home--better materials make for a better home. Our eyes and our hands can sense when a material has real substance, so fiber-cement siding beats vinyl, solid-core doors beat hollow-core doors, and real wood windows, with real glazing bars, beat vinyl windows with the grills encased in the glass.

Point #4: A home with character is built from the ground up, detail by detail.

Making a house into a home is requires a multitude of small choices that flow out of a commitment to get the details right. Almost by definition, there are too many of these details to list here, but some we are particularly enamored of include...

• Windows that are "bigger than they have to be", to maximize natural light inside
  
• Working wood shutters attached with visible hardware
• True window sills on the exterior, and solid wood casings around the windows's interior
  
• Custom stain-grade fir front door with Baldwin lockset
• An old-fashioned "skirtboard" around the entire perimeter of the house
• Copper flashing in roof valleys and around the chimney
• 10' ceilings in our primary living areas
  
• Rounded interior corners with chamfers
• Plenty of nooks and crannies for display of special items

* * * * *

There you have it--a four-point primer on how Bellevue creates beauty and character in our homes. While it is often challenging to write about beauty and character, it is usually quickly recognized when seen in real life. So we invite you to visit us at Oak Park for living example of our philosophy in action.

Bellevue Built = Well Built

At Bellevue, we believe that many of you would like a better house than those that are typically available--one that you could call "home" for a long time. So in addition to having the qualities of beauty and charm, a better home needs to be more energy efficient, healthier, more durable, more comfortable. A Bellevue Cottage delivers this better home...here's how:

What makes the Bellevue Cottage more energy efficient?

1. Our high quality windows reduce air leakage and block radiant heat. Our Jeld Wen Premium windows block up to 80% of the sun's radiant heat and are rated at 0% air leakage. You simply can't get this level of performance from standard "builder grade" windows.
2. A covered walkway along our cottage's southern exposure reduces heat gain from the high summer sun.
3. Our conditioned crawl space allows air conditioning and heating equipment to perform more efficiently and takes advantage of the earth's naturally stable temperature.
4. The HVAC ducts in our cottages are sealed with mastic (a malleable concrete product) rather than ordinary "duct tape" (a big misnomer) so the air you've paid to heat or cool actually reaches its destination.
5. Our walls are insulated with dense-pack cellulose. In addition to its insulation value (known as "R-value"), this recycled product completely fills the wall cavity and further reduces the air leakage that leads to energy loss.
6. We use Icynene foam as insulation in the roofline of our second-story spaces. This advanced insulation creates a 100% air seal in the exact location where most heat is lost in typical houses--out of the roof.
7. We relentlessly air seal of each and every one of the many, many small holes that rob the typical home of heat. Even joints where two wood studs meet are sealed with caulk to prevent the loss of conditioned air.
8. Our sealed combustion gas fireplace actually produces usable heat, rather than creating heat-sucking drafts that send money up the chimney.
9. Bellevue uses a highly efficient air conditioner with a variable speed fan and a variable speed compressor. Typical air conditioning units have a single speed fan and compressor, so even when you need just a little cooling or just a little air movement, the unit must operate at full power, often in short, inefficient cycles. Variable speed units, on the other hand, can operate efficiently across a wide spectrum of demand.
10. We employ a three-zone heating and air conditioning system (master suite, 2nd story, primary living area) that allows the homeowner to set different temperatures for different parts of the house.
11. Finally, all of the above energy-efficiency items and their benefits are confirmed by a third-party official from EarthCraft Virginia.

What makes the Bellevue Cottage healthier for me and my family?

1. Big windows = more natural light. Many studies show that more exposure to natural light is good for our health as well as our overall well-being...and our common sense tells us the same thing. So we put in the biggest windows we can, consistent with the overall design of the house.
2. Our fresh air ventilation system ensures that the air inside the home is "turned over" in a controlled manner (rather than infiltrating unfiltered through small leaks in the building).
3. Our conditioned crawl space limits humidity under the house and deters the formation of mold and mildew. By adding a small amount of conditioned air to the crawl space, the crawl also becomes "positively pressurized", keeping outdoor pollutants outside the home.
4. Air returns in each bedroom enhances air movement throughout the house and reduce pressure differentials in the house that can pull in outdoor pollutants.
5. Our sealed combustion gas fireplace ensures that the air needed to feed the fire comes from outside the house, rather than back down the fireplace or from the range exhaust, and that all combustion byproducts such as carbon monoxide are safely removed from the building.
6. Our gas furnace and our gas hot water heater are also sealed combustion--the safest approach to generating energy and hot water.
7. The variable speed compressor in our HVAC system allows your air conditioner to act like a bigger or smaller unit as circumstances dictate. In humid Richmond, this means that the air conditioner can run on a low cycle to dehumidify the air even when a limited amount of cooling is called for. Typical air conditioners turn on and off frequently, which reduces their ability to dehumidify the air.
8. "Sealed" or detached garages. Car exhaust, as well as the other funky chemicals generally kept in garages, shouldn't be part of the air you breathe inside your house. Bellevue builds detached garages, or seals off an attached garage with an air barrier.
9. Bellevue limits the occurrence of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) in our cottages. VOCs are often found in glues and paints, and according to the EPA, can lead to headaches and eye, nose and throat irritation, as well as doing harm to the environment at large. To ensure a healthy house, Bellevue's interior primers are zero-VOC, our interior paints are from Benjamin Moore's low-VOC product line, our drywall finishing product is GreenGuard-certified for use in schools, and our glues are OSI's VOC-Compliant product.
10. Bellevue also limits the occurrence of urea formaldehyde (UF) in the our cottages. UF is most heavily concentrated in a product known as medium-density fiberboard, which is often used in cabinetry, shelving and trim boards. According to the EPA, exposure to UF can lead to eye, nose and throat irritation, so Bellevue uses real wood in its interior trim and cabinetry, and metal shelving in its closets.
11. Of course, the above "healthy-house" items are verified by a third-party official from EarthCraft Virginia.

What makes the Bellevue Cottage more durable?

1. Our windows are special. Made with AuraLast wood, a surface-to-core pressure treated pine with a 20-year warranty, and clad on the outside with aluminum, these windows are head and shoulders better-made than builder grade.
2. Our conditioned crawl space protects air conditioning equipment and ductwork. In a typical house, a cold duct system runs through a hot humid unconditioned crawl, leading to condensation. In a Bellevue Cottage, the air conditioning system is completely enclosed in conditioned space, extending the life of the system.
3. Our attics are conditioned as well, so any ducts running through that area are also protected from energy loss and condensation.
4. We use 6-inch studs in our 10' tall walls. Going strictly by code, we could "get away with" using 4-inch studs, but we like the sturdiness of the 6-inch studs...and the fact that this gives us more room for insulation!
5. We use coved and parged foundation walls to protect the crawl space from ground water infiltration.
6. We also double-up on foundation drains, with both an interior and an exterior draintile placed around the entire foundation.
7. We use only the best on our roofs...30-year Certain Teed roofing, flashed with long-lasting copper flashing, and installed by Craftsman Roofing, one of the very best in the area.
8. We trim the exteriors of our Bellevue Cottages for the long-term: fiber-cement siding, PVC and Miratec trim, and clear fir or cedar for special decorative elements. You will also see our siding contractors carrying around a can of primer to protect the cut ends of their work--something that should be standard but rarely is.

What makes a Bellevue Cottage more comfortable and pleasant to live-in?

1. Our world-class windows are air-tight, which reduces winter drafts. Yes, you can sit near the window on a cold day...if you are in a Bellevue Cottage.
2. Our world-class windows also feature low-E glass that reflects the heat of the sun out of the house. (Low-E stands for low emissivity; the lower the emissivity, the greater amount of the sun's heat that is reflected, rather than absorbed, by the glass.) So yes, you can sit near the window on a hot summer day and not feel overheated...if you are in a Bellevue Cottage.
3. For good measure, we diligently air seal our walls and roof lines to stop the smaller drafts that typical houses have in abundance.
4. We place sound-dampening insulation around each bathroom as well as the laundry room to keep disruptive sounds to a minimum.
5. We also use a cast iron waste pipe from the second floor bathroom as well as Schedule 40 PVC waste traps throughout--all of which are substantially quieter than typical builder materials.
6. A whole-house water shutoff valve is located inside the house, so you don't have to crawl into the crawl space to turn off the water before you go on vacation.
7. We use a combination of Advantech sub-flooring and TJI joists by Weyerhauser, as well as strict attention to construction detail, so that our Bellevue homeowners will walk on "squeak-free" floors.
8. And last but not least, our designs and our neighborhood--Oak Park--provide you with all the intangible qualities of comfort that you deserve as well--rooms that fit your lifestyle, private garden areas to enjoy, shaded sidewalks to stroll on.

Quite a long list, but as we have come to realize over time, sweating the "small" stuff is what allows Bellevue to make "big" claims for our homes, such as:

Bellevue Built = Well Built.