Taking Extra Steps with Light and Insulation

Maybe you saw what we are doing with geo-exchange and what's on the boards for solar -- neither are features you see in standard construction projects.  But we think they're worth it and that we'll recover the expense through lower utility bills.  But there's a lot more we're doing to make our new homes more live-able and to reduce our environmental footprint.  One of them you can see: our windows, they're big, a lot bigger than you'll see in most construction. This costs more but we think the benefits are clear.  Take a look here

Another thing is insulation.  Using green energy sources is good, using less energy is even better, so we've invested a lot in insulation.  For example: instead of one layer we have two layers of insulation; one between the sheetrock and the plywood sheathing, and another between the plywood sheathing and exterior layer.  That's just one example.  All this of course costs money, but it's another up front expense which we think we'll recover through lower utility bills.

A third one is noise-insulation.  We have put a lot into that as well.  Inside the walls between units we offset the studs; the stud attached to your sheetrock does not connect to the sheetrock in the adjoining unit; instead there is a layer of insulation. Again, there's more to it than that: with geo-exchange we won't have AC units rattling around on the roof all night.  Cohousing is all about connecting with our neighbors, but you should hear your neighbors only when you want to.