The Builder’s Notes

Did you know that the average single-family home in the U.S. generates between 6,960 & 12,064 lbs. of construction waste? A home is only as sustainable as the materials used in its construction. Learn how you can keep your home out of the landfill. Your home: the sum of its parts While energy-efficiency is vital, there are other factors to sustainability. It’s crucial to discuss the selection of ecologically-friendly building materials with your designer and contractor. The source of your home’s materials is critical, as well as the manufacturing methods of the products. When...


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Building a green, high-performance home will typically always cost more than the same home built to standard building codes. The advantage is the long-term energy savings over the life of the home and the improved quality of life — which for many is priceless. Using California Code as a baseline of construction standards, these tables show the costs differences in initial construction costs, as well as the energy efficiency gains and ROI potential. Costs and return on investment People are often surprised to learn that a high-performance home only costs 5-10% more than a conventionally-built...


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The cost of energy is rising rapidly — and not just in dollars. Our environment is also paying the price: non-renewable energy consumption, carbon emissions, and pollution. In the U.S., 39% of all greenhouse gas emissions come from buildings. We use energy — electricity, gas, and water — to keep our houses at a comfortable temperature, our showers hot, our lights on, and our gardens green, all of which generates carbon dioxide (CO2). Your carbon footprint is the sum of all emissions of CO2, which are induced by your activities in a given time frame. High-performance homes support...


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We're honored to be featured in Home Builder Digest as the second best custom home builder in San Jose. Of the fifteen builders represented, we are one of only two with expertise in passive home building. Check out the article to learn more: https://www.homebuilderdigest.com/the-best-custom-home-builders-in-san-jose/ At Clarum Homes, we can answer your all of your questions with the greatest confidence. Give us a call at 650.322.7069 today to learn more about our custom home building services.


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You know you want to build a new custom home and you know where you want to build it. Now it’s time to pick a builder. What to look for exactly? These ten questions will help you better understand their operation, level of experience, and history in the market place. 1. How long have you been building in Silicon Valley? Hiring a custom home builder is similar to hiring a team of long-term employees. You should review their work history, skills, and years of experience. A deep understanding of the local area can make a big difference in moving your project forward. 2. Can you give...


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At Clarum, we work with families to leverage Passive House home building practices for extreme performance opportunities in their custom home building projects. A Passive-Certified home is one that employs a set of advanced building technologies to achieve extreme energy efficiency. Energy consumption is reduced by up to 90% compared to a conventionally-built home. The History of Passive Homes The Passivhaus house concept originated in 1988 with a conversation between Professors Bo Adamson of Lund University, Sweden and Wolfgang Feist of the Institute for Housing and the Environment,...


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When you’re planning to build a new custom home, it’s easy to focus on upfront expenses and costs of construction without thinking about ongoing costs once the home is built. These operating costs of your home are equally important and have huge effects on the lifetime return on your investment. Higher energy efficiencies lead to higher home values. Meet the Average family Mr. and Mrs. Average built a conventional 3,500 square-foot home in a northern California neighborhood where they pay about $130/month for their electricity, which is the average for California residents. The cost to build...


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The average American spends 90% of their time indoors, and air pollution levels inside the average new home are 2 to 5 times worse than the air pollution levels outside. These statistics are especially concerning as the weather gets colder: because we tend to stay indoors more often, pollutants can have an even greater impact on health. Plus, for those who suffer from allergies or asthma, unhealthy indoor air can trigger attacks. Immediate effects of exposure to indoor pollutants include irritation of the eyes, nose and throat, headaches, dizziness, and fatigue. Other health effects including...


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When an architect, designer, and builder set out with the intention of building a high-performance home, they often determine a sustainability goal based on an established certification program. These third-party certification programs define the parameters and expectations of the custom home’s ongoing energy savings. They include suggested materials, recommend efficiency engineering practices and can demand applied environmental quality controls. There are some popular and emerging high-performance home certification programs on the market today. Homeowners are increasingly familiar with...


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If you're considering building a new custom home, there has never been a better time to take the benefits of passive home construction to heart. Climate change, rising energy costs and a greater awareness of our impact on the earth leads us to question our traditional methods of home construction. For those striving to reduce energy costs, and their carbon footprint, passive home construction is becoming increasingly attractive – and viable. The inventory of passive-certified homes is growing in the US [Fig 1], with certifications more than doubling in 2017 over the previous year. By the end of 2017...


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