Building an environmentally responsible home isn't something that's done as an afterthought. It requires taking a systems approach to the building process that begins with sound, well thought-out structural design. At Building Alternatives our designs are guided by three fundamental principles:

1. Utilize interior and exterior space as efficiently as possible. We favor compact designs with open floor plans and large expanses of glass that allow even our smaller models to have an airy and expansive feel.
2. Incorporate passive solar design into every model. While the final decision on how to place the home on the lot is up to you, we encourage all our customers to keep their home oriented as close to true south as possible. With large expanses of south-facing glass and our extremely tight and well-insulated building envelope many of our customers come back to us after living in their home for awhile expressing amazement at how low their winter heating bills are, even at elevations in excess of 9,000 feet in the Colorado Rockies.
3. Use dimensioning that will result in a minimum of wasted material. It's such a simple yet overlooked thing. By dimensioning exterior walls in two foot increments we make the most efficient use of materials during construction.

Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs): The exterior walls of all our homes are made of SIPs. The result is an exceptionally strong, air-tight, well insulated building envelope.