News About Sierra Homes
"Hill Country Home: Houston's green architect LaVerne Williams gets LEED Silver Certification with the first certified green home in the Texas Hill Country."
From Change Magazine, July 2008.
Hunt, Texas will never be the same! It is now the locale of the first certified green home in the Texas Hill Country. The home was designed by LaVerne Williams, of Environmental Associates, for homeowners Bernadell Larson and Stu Thompson and built by Sierra Homes of Fredericksburg. The LEED recognition honors the homeowners' commitment to build a green home that woulc cost less to own and operation, would last for generations, and that reflects their dedication to environmental sustainability.
"We want the home to be the last one we ever have to build," said Larson, "and to be as affordable and maintenance-free as possible as time goes on."
"This home is designed for passive sustainability," said Williams. "If necessary, the homeowners can live in relative comfort without any off-site sources of power or water. With the rising cost of energy and increasingly scarce resources, more clients are seeking our ability to design homes that provide livable conditions in spite of future environmental events and basic essentials supply challenges. Designing a home for 'passive sustainability' requires an expert's use of materials and the integration of proven architectural techniques in an aesthetic manner, which my firm has been perfecting for more than three decades of green home design."
A 20,000-gallon rainwater harvesting system provides the sole source of water for the home and the separate guest quarters. The standing-seam metal roof will last a minimum of 50 years and doesn't contribute pollutants to the rainwater collected on it, as would an asphalt or composition roof. Natural ventilation and daylight increase the passive sustainability features of the house.
Larson and Thompson named their home "Sky Fire at North Fork."