ThinkDwell, Inc. joined today with U.S. Department of Energy Secretary Samuel Bodman as part of a new national energy-saving initiative—the U.S. Department of Energy’s Builders Challenge.

“For ThinkDwell, building high-performance homes is a priority,” said Suzanne O’Leary, President of ThinkDwell, a company that provides highly affordable custom green home design nationwide. “We welcome this voluntary initiative, and look forward to working with DOE to build consumer awareness of the benefits for building highly energy efficient homes.” ThinkDwell also offers LEED Certification (documentation of how green your new home is) and quality control services for small projects, including mold- and allergen-free certification.

The EnergySmart Home Scale, or E-Scale, serves as a tool for marketing energy-efficient homes. Consumer interest has been increasing in the top energy-performing homes, and now there is a tool that clearly allows builders and designers to rate the level of efficiency.

“ThinkDwell believes it is possible to build new homes that are more efficient than code by 30 percent or better at little or no net cost,” continued Ms. O’Leary. “We can achieve these efficiencies on tight budgets. High technology is not necessary to achieve energy efficiency in our market. Small homes have an advantage: they use less energy than larger homes to begin with. With high quality design features and innovative affordable building strategies, we assure that the home project will not only come in on budget, the owner will experience the benefits of having a home that is customized for their needs while saving money on energy bills for the duration of the time they live there. We believe this kind of high-performance building is the right thing for our nation, our natural environment, and our customers.”
Anyone in the industry can voluntarily join the Builders Challenge. Contact ThinkDwell if you'd like more information. www.thinkdwell.com

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As the NRD discusses how they are going to address flooding and the designated flood plain, are any of you addressing it at your own home? Is anyone using rainbarrels, installing rain gardens, permeable paving, green roofs, etc...

I have noticed a number of people who are more and more interested in the permeable paving, green roofs and rain harvesting. I would love to put together a workshop on such topics/issues for our homes, what do you guys think?

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I know that this does not fall under the category of neighborhoods, but thought it would be fitting to bring up the idea of a green scorecard for Earth Day participants. For example; the Arbor Day Farm/Org. practices NO sustainable agricultural -yet they are one of the nation's most revered conservation organizations. All of their produce is grown with the use of toxic pesticides and synthetic fertilizers.

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Hello everyone, it's good to be here, I just joined and looking forward to using this site.
There a so many ways that we can make our lives more sustainable, but do we know about them all? Do we also know what should be targeted first when we are first shifting our lives to become sustainable?

I attended the workshop this past Saturday that covered stormwater management and water conservation. (Impressive crowd I must say). One thing that stood out to me was that quite a few people were intrigued by permeable paving but didn't know much about it. I absolutly love it and promote it.

Since everyone is very knowledgable and has many experiences to pull from, it would be great for everyone to share them so that when we talk with our neighbors, we can spread the word. Again, it's great to be here, and I hope this gets some discussion going between everyone on here, Thanks!

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