Turtle Lake Cottage was on TV!

Check-out the link below to the TV interview of the LEED for Homes "Platinum" Turtle Lake Project and the homeowners. Great interview  

Turtle Lake Cottage - Building Our LEED/Green Home: Our House was on TV!

Earth Day 2012 Composting Bin Project

My son Joshua asked me to help him build at composting bin for Earth Day 2012. We decided to build it out of re-claimed lumber that we found in our garage and from old pallets donated to us from our friends at Apex Landscaping. My son has been actively composting everything he can ever since and I don't even have to ask him to mow the lawn anymore. Now he does it for the grass clippings so he can add them to the composting bin.

Grand Rapids Magazine reviews our 335 Freyling Place project in the Critic's Choice

Check-out the April 2012 issue of Grand Rapids Magazine, they reviews our 335 Freyling Place project built by Habitat for Humanity of Kent County in the Critic's Choice article called "A new, green-living paradigm". It's a nice article written about how a new LEED for Homes "Platinum" project can fit into a traditional historical neighborhood like Wealthy Heights. We have also designed two other new LEED certified homes to be built in the same neighborhood later this year.

We are excited to see Grand Rapids Magazine covering Green and LEED certified home within their April issue and hope to see more of it in issues to come.

Image Design registers 4 new LEED for Homes Projects

We are excite about registering 4 new LEED for Home projects with the USGBC. These projects will be built in Fife Lake, Gobles, Mio and Rennie Lake. The Fife Lake project (Traverse City Area) will be our first Off the Grid home and will be a true Zero-Energy Home. Our project in Gobles will be a Colonial Style Organic Farmstead. The project in Mio will be a retirement home in the woods on the AuSable River. And the the Rennie Lake (Traverse City Area) project will be a lake front vacation home. All of these homes are currently in design within our office. We have also just completed two new home designs for Habitat for Humanity of Kent County that should be registered for LEED for Homes certification soon.

River Escape Project Receives LEED for Homes "Platinum" Certification

It's official we just received LEED for Homes"Platinum"Certification for the "River Escape" project in Stanwood, Michigan. This is the highest honor you can receive from the USGBC, and this is our 8th LEED for Homes "Platinum" project and our 15th LEED certified home. We want to thank the members of the "River Escape" project team for project well done. Thanks goes out to Sustainable Home Consultants, LLC, Vos Energy Concepts, Turtle Wall and AES (Alliance for Environmental Sustainability) for awesome job! We would also like to thank the Homeowner for allowing us all to be apart of the special project!

Image Design, LLC Interviewed for Michigan Blue Magazine

If you get a chance please read our interview in Michigan Blue Magazine Green Issue called "Driving the Green Evolution". We were very excited to be interviewed by one of our favorite Magazines. It is great to see them dedicating part of their issue to Green Building and LEED for Homes projects. They asked us some interesting questions (See the questions below)

How did your own green philosophy evolve?

What impact have homeowners had on the green evolution within the home-building industry?

What different kinds of concerns and priorities inspire a homeowners lean toward being green?

What is the return on investing in green products or building processes?

What are the most important aspects to consider when building green?

What do you see for the future of green building?

If you want to know the answer to these question please pickup the spring 2012 issue of Michigan Blue magazine at your local newsstand, better yet get a subscription.

Turtle Lake (Terrapin Station) Project Receives LEED for Homes "Platinum" Certification

It's official we just received LEED for Homes "Platinum"Certification for the "Turtle Lake" (Terrapin Station) project in Beulah, Michigan. This is the highest honor you can receive from the USGBC , and this is our 7th LEED for Homes "Platinum" project and our 14th LEED certified home. We want to thank the members of the "Turtle Lake" project team for project well done. Thanks goes out to Sustainable Home Consultants, LLC, Let Us, Inc., Turtle Wall and AES (Alliance for Environmental Sustainability) for awesome job! We would also like to thank the Homeowner for allowing us all to be apart of the special project!

Glenn Retreat Project Receives LEED for Homes "Platinum" Certification

It's official we just received LEED for Homes "Platinum" Certification for the "Glenn Retreat" project in Glenn, Michigan. This is the highest honor you can receive from the USGBC , and this is our 6th LEED for Homes "Platinum" project and our 13th LEED certified home. We want to thank the members of the "Glenn Retreat" project team for project well done. Thanks goes out to Sustainable Home Consultants, LLC, Lake Homes Builder's, Landscape Design Services, Inc. and AES (Alliance for Environmental Sustainability) for awesome job! We would also like to thank the Homeowner for allowing us all to be apart of the special project!

335 Freyling Place SE, Project Receives LEED for Homes "Platinum" Certification

It's official our Habitat for Humanity of Kent County project at "335 Freyling Place SE" in Grand Rapids achieved LEED for Homes "Platinum" certification. This was Habitat's 300th home built in Kent County and most radical and energy efficient project they ever built! The goal was to reduce the amount of energy needed to power the home, then to produce enough energy to heat itself. This small affordable home is was built in partnership with GRCC Tassell M-TEC New Construction students in the revitalized, historic Wealthy Heights neighborhood near the corner of Wealthy and Diamond on the southeast side of the City of Grand Rapids.

Besides the LEED certification the home was GreenBuilt Michigan "Gold" certified and also received ZeroStep certification and was featured on the Great Lakes Renewable Energy Tour and in World Habitat Day 2011. Some of the unique feature of this Habitat home are

Super Insulated 18" Thick Exterior Wall.

Logix ICF Exterior walls.

SIP Panel Roof.

Advanced Framing.

Jeld-Wen Energy Star Windows.

Passive Solar Design.

Solar Hot-water.

Pre-Wired for Photovoltaic's

Passive Cooling.

Prison Built Cabinetry.

Pre-Cast Concrete Counter-tops.

CertainTeed Fiber Cement Board Siding.

Radiant Heat Floors.

Whirlpool CEE Tier III Energy Star Washer.