Want to learn more about green home building or remodeling? Welcome!

Hello, and welcome to our new blog. You can find all the information you need about our company, Arlington Designer Homes, from the attached contact links. But I also wanted to include a little bit about me - the author of this blog - before moving forward.

Our most recently-completed custom green home is the
first house in Arlington (and only the 6th in the state!)
to be awarded NAHB GOLD certification for its
green features.



My name is Andrew Moore and I’m the President of Arlington Designer Homes, Inc. I started in the construction business when I was old enough to hold a rake. I learned the business from the ground up from my father, William Moore. The whole construction business has changed A LOT since that time. I was looking at the construction documents for the first house we built back in 1978 (where I now live with my family), and it is two 12"x18" pieces of paper that contain all the information a carpenter was given to build the house. These days I can't get all the information I need for a grading plan alone on two 12"x18" pieces of paper.

I’ve spent a lot of time and money over the past decade going to 'green' classes and educating myself about green building. I am a Certified Green Professional, and a Residential Construction Supervisor, as well as a contributing member in both my local building industry association (NVBIA), as well as the National Association of Home Builders, and our Green Building committee.

What I have learned is that I learn the most from doing, and being a part of a larger 'green' community. It is the interactions that I have with HERS raters, Spray Foam installers and building officials that really get me thinking. The green building field is still emerging, and constantly changing. There are new technologies coming out every day that we have to keep on top of. It is a great challenge, but one that I really enjoy. All of us at Arlington Designer Homes are passionate about green building, for the benefits it offers our customers and the communities we live in, as well as our own families and our contractors.

All the education, time and money invested in growing our green business becomes worth it when you have a success like we had this week.

This week, we were able to certify our first (and the first in Arlington County) NAHB Gold home, with a HERS rating of 55.

This means that our house will save its new owner significant money by operating 45% more cost effectively than a standard home built today.  We are among only 6 houses in the entire state of Virginia to be certified Gold by NAHB!

So, welcome to our green homes blog, and please stay tuned! Soon we’ll start providing regular behind-the-scenes updates on a couple of green homes that we’re currently building. If you’ve ever thought about building a new home, or are pondering a remodeling project, and you’re interested in green building, this is the place to learn what you really need to know before you get started. And if you have any questions, let me know!