Design + Planning

Our services.

 

Consultations

We offer comprehensive sustainable building knowledge and will advise you through completion of your project.  We can provide you with the most appropriate environmental and economical choices for your specific location and project.  Ask specific questions regarding sustainability and how you can incorporate those practices into your daily routine.  Are you planning a remodel project and are unsure of your finish selection and material applications?  Are you planning a new construction project and would like to obtain information on all sustainable practices from site selection to finish materials.  Are you a residential contractor wanting to incorporate sustainable building into your current construction methods?

Interested in being an owner/builder?  We can help in the beginning stages of design, make recommendations for your construction plans and offer material selections for more sustainable options. Site selection and building orientation play a key role in the design.  We can provide you with soil testing, passive solar techniques and choosing the appropriate ecological building construction specific to your site and location.  

Preliminary consultations during the design phase can save a lot of time, effort and money spent on aspects that were not properly developed.

 

project management

Our team can plan and implement ecological building strategies from the groundwork through to finishes. We work together with our clients to create a custom budget plan for each design. Each project is different and requires custom budget and timeline planning. If you already have construction plans, our team can work with you to plan and implement accurate and economical planning for your budget. If you already have a contractor whom you want to work with, we can help train those builders to incorporate such practices. Another goal of ours is to train professionals who can benefit from adding sustainable building practices to their current model.


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Design + Construction drawings

Healthy Home Artisans works with clients to translate their ideas to paper, bringing your vision to fruition. The design parameters are based on the local climate, site selection and client specific needs. We do not design for code minimum construction. Our focus is on human health, planetary resources, and future generations. Pairing those parameters with well designed spaces and natural non toxic materials brings us to our Healthy Homes model. The design phase is most important as it sets the tone for what is to come during construction and occupancy.

The design phase demands multiple meetings with the client and principle designer. After multiple design meetings, our team can begin to draft construction plans, preparing them for county review. We work with licensed engineers to establish structural calculations ensuring a long lasting structure specific to local codes and regulations. Our team during the design and planning phase is a collaboration between the client, designer, drafter, engineer and contractor. This integrative collaboration leads to a successful communication process throughout construction, a great benefit to hiring a full service Design & Build firm.

*If you are an architect looking to incorporate natural building methods into your designs, we can work with you to develop those plans further.

 

work parties + workshops

If you are planning a project, consider supporting educational programs throughout various stages of the building process.  We have a directory of experienced teachers available to teach workshops and work with the homeowner to plan for the most economical way to get your structure built.  

Areas of the construction phases that lends themselves to educational programs are; strawbale install, natural insulation install, natural plasters, paints and finishes, earthen floors, sculptural details, cob or adobe thermal mass interior walls and so much more.

We teach 1 day to multiple month internships to compliment structures being built. Our affiliate Muddy Hands is the founder and organizer of our educational programs.

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