LandSmith Construction

120 Seale Avenue
Palo Alto, CA 94301
Phone: (650) 328-4663
Fax: (650) 328-1833

info@landsmith.net

Your New Home Construction And Design

By LandSmith Construction

Many of your specific design and construction considerations involve issues directly related to your land location, terrain and personal needs and wants. Palo Alto and Menlo Park typically don't have many issues with terrain but general construction tips are good to know and still apply.

Below are some general aspects of what you need to think about in the design and construction of your dream home.

Frame Walls vs. Concrete Block

In our mountain area, concrete block is usually only used for raised foundations and possibly bottom levels of a multiple level design to accommodate steeper terrain. You will rarely see a complete home built of concrete block in this area.

Conventional wood framing provides superior insulation and is much more flexible. LandSmith goes one further by using extra insulation in your exterior walls.

Your Energy Requirements

LandSmith is a Certified Green Builder and supports you in your efforts to save energy, save money and reduce your ecological footprint. Using ENERGY STAR qualified products throughout your new home is worthy of consideration to save energy and the environment.1

You can be certain of the lowest long term operating costs by using high insulation values and dual pane low emissivity (Low E) windows throughout your new dream home.

You can always go even further than LandSmith’s Superior Building Practices knowing LandSmith is a certified green builder and can take your dream as far as you want to go. Be sure you read our LandSmith Superior Building Practices article for more information.

Lighting

Choosing energy efficient lighting has become very common and you can expect all modern lighting to be reasonably energy efficient. However, by making sure all of your lighting is ENERGY STAR qualified or higher you can derive further benefits such as:

Cost Savings – An ENERGY STAR qualified compact fluorescent light bulb (CFL) uses about 75 percent less energy than a comparable standard incandescent bulb. Replacing a 60-watt incandescent with a 13-watt CFL can save more than $30 in energy costs over the life of the bulb.

Improved Safety – ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs operate at less than 100oF and are safer than the halogen bulbs typically used in floor lamps or torchieres, which burn at 1,000oF. Halogen bulbs, when improperly handled, can cause burns and fires due to their high heat output.

Enhanced Comfort – Compared to standard incandescent bulbs, ENERGY STAR qualified CFLs generate about 75 percent less heat. This means they are cool to the touch, help reduce home cooling costs, and keep homes more comfortable.

Durability – ENERGY STAR qualified fixtures and bulbs meet strict guidelines for longevity. Pin-based fixtures must last 10,000 hours, about 10 times longer than standard. CFLs must last 6,000 hours. In addition, ENERGY STAR qualified fixtures come with a 2-year warranty—double the industry standard.2

Appliances

Every appliance comes with two price tags: what it costs to take it home and what it costs to operate and maintain it each month.

ENERGY STAR qualified appliances incorporate advanced technologies and use 10 to 50 percent less energy than standard appliances. From refrigerators to clothes washers, ENERGY STAR qualified appliances save energy, save money, and help reduce emissions of greenhouse gases and air pollutants at the source.

BENEFITS OF ENERGY STAR QUALIFIED APPLIANCES:

Lower Utility Bills – Appliances account for nearly 20 percent of the average household’s energy use. A comprehensive package of ENERGY STAR qualified appliances can save up to $80 a year in energy costs compared to standard appliances.

Improved Quality and Durability – Energy-efficient appliances often include quality components surpassing those found in standard appliances. These can result in fewer mechanical problems, longer equipment life, and in many cases extended warranties.

Enhanced Performance – ENERGY STAR qualified appliances often outperform standard appliances due to improved design and advanced technologies. For instance, some ENERGY STAR qualified appliances include features that decrease operating noise, while others include technologies that reduce water use.

Tight Construction and Ducts

Sealing holes and cracks in the home's "envelope" and in heating and cooling duct systems helps reduce drafts, moisture, dust, pollen, and noise. A tightly sealed home improves comfort and indoor air quality while reducing utility and maintenance.

To create a comfortable home, an efficient duct system is a must. Ducts—known collectively as the air distribution system—carry air from the central heater or air conditioner to each part of the home and back again. In a typical house about 20 percent of the air that moves through the duct system is lost due to leaks, holes, and poorly connected ducts. That’s why the duct systems found in ENERGY STAR qualified homes are third-party tested for tightness and verified to be properly insulated.

BENEFITS OF EFFICIENT DUCT SYSTEMS:

Improved Comfort - When ducts are properly sealed and insulated, they deliver conditioned air more effectively to all rooms—helping to ensure a more constant temperature throughout the home.
Lower Utility Bills - The average homeowner spends more than $600 on space heating and cooling each year. Tightly sealed and well insulated ducts found in ENERGY STAR qualified homes can reduce annual utility bills by $120 or more.
Improved Indoor Air Quality - Leaky ducts in attics, unfinished basements, crawl spaces, and garages can allow dirt, dust, moisture, pollen, pests, and fumes to enter the home. Sealing these ducts helps improve indoor air quality.
Lower Equipment Costs - When ducts are leaky, the heating and cooling system has to work harder to condition the home. Duct sealing, along with proper insulation, allows the installation of a smaller, less costly heating and cooling system.

Fireplaces

Your new home will have a gas fireplace for warmth and coziness. You may choose a wood burning stove or fireplace that meets EPA requirements or none at all. LandSmith recommends gas fired fireplaces for those desiring no muss and no fuss while minimizing emissions.

Hot Water

There are two primary hot water heater configurations, the classic hot water heater tank and the on demand “instant” hot water heater. You can also use on demand smaller units in remote locations as boosters to a conventional tank system, offering the convenience of near instant hot water and less wasted water while you wait.

Re-circulating systems can also be used in tandem with a tank system so hot water is always available. Very common in commercial buildings, these systems use a return loop from the furthest hot water fixture back to the tank with either convection or pump circulation. This keeps the hot water in the line at all times for truly instant hot water. The extra cost of installation and heating/pumping may be offset by water savings.

Tankless hot water systems can provide substantial energy savings, as much as 50% over tank systems due to the fact you aren’t heating water except when needed. They use either a gas or electric heating element in the hot water line heating the water only when used. Flow rates are typically lower than with a tank system however modern fixtures are low flow so this issue has all but disappeared. Gas systems typically have greater flow rates than electric systems.

Heating and Air Conditioning

Your LandSmith home will have a split system, separate air conditioner and forced air furnace. With our relatively mild climate this system is more than capable of providing you with efficient value-conscious interior comfort.

With these systems conditioned air is distributed and returned via ductwork in a circulatory fashion. Supply air is fed into a room and then returned via strategically placed returns air ducts. This will prevent the pressurization of closed rooms that can limit the entrance of conditioned air into the room.

Running this system will represent a large portion of your utility bills justifying potential energy saving upgrades be considered. The short-term cost is higher with a long-term yield and payback.

Some upgrades to consider are:

Higher Efficiency Equipment - These more efficient units will reduce your utility expense while providing better quality and comfort. Above 20 percent savings is a typical return on investment. The efficiency of air conditioners is often rated by the Seasonal Energy Efficiency Ratio (SEER). The higher the SEER rating of a unit, the more energy efficient. SEER 13 is now the standard in the US for new construction. Obtain the highest SEER rated unit you can afford for extra savings.
Improved Air Filtration - Indoor air quality will be greatly improved with upgraded filters. Filters come in basically three types: electronic, pleated media and electrostatic. Choose the one that gets you the result you need. LandSmith will help you decide.
Heat Recovery Units - Waste heat from your air conditioning system can be captured to heat your hot water. A typical payback is less than 3 years. This is for those really serious about energy savings. Ask LandSmith for more information.
Programmable Thermostats - Programmable thermostats have been around a long time but many people still don’t take advantage of them. By programming various times and temperatures you can save 30%.
Zoning the System - Common in modern commercial office buildings zoning allows you to manipulate even further where and when heating and cooling occurs. Your system can be separated into multiple zones each with its own thermostat controls.

Electrical

As all permitted homes are wired to code and inspected your real concern here is receptacle locations. Code will make sure you have ample receptacles in various locations but if you want more or special locations let us know right away. Floor receptacle locations need to be known well before the foundation is poured.

Just be sure you give this some thought because you will have to live with your receptacle locations for some time.

Special lighting needs should be addressed early as well. LandSmith can answer all your questions and help you make informed decisions throughout the planning process.

Furniture

Planning your furniture can be helpful in making sure your floor plans works for your. You can obtain furniture templates from office supply stores that portray furniture sizes and styles and use them with your specific floor plan to draw your furniture into the rooms of your new home.

Ask yourself if floor receptacles are needed, do windows need to be moved, are special ceiling outlets and lights needed, and are wall electrical outlets in the right location. Thinking everything through now, during planning, makes for the smoothest most enjoyable home building experience.

Early and thorough planning is part of any successful building process. LandSmith will help you make your plan, and work your plan.

1. ENERGY STAR is a voluntary partnership between the government and more than 9,000 organizations, including more than 3,500 of the nation’s home builders. Together with home buyers and their families, we are working to achieve a common goal—protecting the environment for future generations by changing to more energy-efficient practices and products today.

2. Courtesy of EPA