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A good home begins with a good design. An EcoNest design starts with an exploration of your dreams, your needs, your budget and the opportunities and constraints presented by your building site. Thoughtful decisions during the design process will serve you well throughout the life of the home. We will guide you through the process and help you to get it "just right".
You may wish to create a custom design personalized to your exact specifications or purchase an EcoNest stock plan. Each set of drawings comes with a project manual that provides you, your builder and all sub-contractors with complete instructions including a resource guide explaining where to find everything you will need to ensure that your new home will be a health enhancing environment.
All EcoNests are designed with the following trademark features, which make them unique:
As our European predecessors have proven, natural building materials can last for centuries provided they are protected from the elements. A good roof overhang or "hat" will protect the building from driving rains and standing snow. Our EcoNests typically have a three to five foot overhang and additional portals and pent roofs to protect lower elements under gable roofs. Similarly, natural materials need to be protected from the ground up. A stone base provides this "pair of boots".
The EcoNests utilize several natural climate control design features to help reduce the need for mechanical heating and cooling. Shading roof overhangs, cross ventilation in each room, earth coupled flooring and massive adobe internal walls help keep the homes comfortably cool in the summer. Technically the clay/straw walls themselves provide an R-24 insulation value. We have experienced them to perform at a much higher rate than a frame wall of the same R value would. This is due to the uninterrupted monolithic wall plane and the mass provided by the clay, which helps store heat.
Nature has provided us with an infinite palette of colors and textures in the form of finish materials. Each EcoNest shell is an opportunity for the owners to create a personal expression. The role of our design team is to nurture you in this process by providing examples, ideas and resources.
An EcoNest is designed to work in harmony with its natural surroundings. Mindful siting, reverence for what is present in the nature of the site, roof water collection, alternatives for gray water and human waste, recycling, composting and power from the sun ... these are considerations that reach well beyond your building envelope that we will help you explore during the design phase and turn into a reality during your construction and beyond.
Our vision is one of creating an ecological landscape for the cohabitation of humans in nature. We envision building a green community with each EcoNest as a building block and where, grouped together they create a synergy that offers a viable alternative to the ecologically destructive patterns of human settlement that are prevalent today.
These are the design components that combined with the EcoNest® Building System, create your EcoNest.
EcoNest designs are models of beautiful simplicity. View our portfolio of natural, healthy homes.
PortfolioEcoNest invites you to meet the homeowners of ten different EcoNests around the country who live simply, in harmony with nature.
BookstoreThe EcoNest design is just the beginning of the journey home. Learn more about the EcoNest Build Process.
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