The beauty of these tall windows belies their practical purpose: to light the interior without electricity and (when leaves drop in winter) to invite radiant heat from the sun.
Design Build & Green Remodeling
Alan Abrams takes a design build approach to all of his green remodeling and green building projects. Alan’s body of work in Washington DC and Maryland demonstrates his commitment to perfecting a sustainable approach to making (or remodeling) real homes that people really love living in.
With every client and every project Abrams aspires to stretch the boundaries of imagination and desire, to achieve radiant simplicity, to deliver always what the client expects, but in a completely unexpected package.
What is residential design build?
Typically, the term applies to a remodeler or builder who provides architectural design services as well as project supervision and construction. A design build firm is responsible for all aspects of a project whether it is an extensive home remodel or custom home design.
The alternative approach would be design-bid-build. This approach requires the homeowner to develop trusting relationships with two separate firms: an architect and a contractor. Once a design has been developed, the architect and homeowner present the plans to several contractors who then bid on those plans. The owner then selects a contractor recommended by the architect (or not) to do the build—and off they go.
Here’s the hitch. It can take an architect and builder years of working together on and off before they achieve the level of efficiency, high standards and easy communication of a design build firm where team members share a common language and methodology.
The Value of Working With a Green Design Build Firm
Because the “green” starts with the first idea, it starts with design. It isn’t something can be pasted onto the project once construction has begun. The conceptual phase will determine what products and materials are best suited to the project goals. The construction methods employed will then make correct use of those green products and materials.
Another benefit? Efficiency and accountability. These are key benefits to the homeowner when their project is entrusted to a high performing design build firm. Home remodeling requires vigilance to manage complexity and tame a wild production schedule that is always one slip away from spinning out of control. As practiced by Alan Abrams, the design build process ensures your attention goes where it should be going: toward achieving your vision of comfortable, beautiful, sustainable living in the home you design together.