Arlington Designer Homes is committed to green building for the health benefits, energy savings, and reduced environmental footprint it provides for our buyers and our community. With constantly changing regulations, technologies and products, buidling a new green home from the ground up isn't always easy - but it's always interesting!

Welcome to our behind-the-scenes blog about green building and remodeling, where you can watch a green home go up step-by-step and learn about using green building techniques for your own home. And visit our website at to learn even more about green building and remodeling.

September 21, 2011

Keeping Your House Cool (Without Cranking up the AC!)

What a crazy summer it’s been here in DC! We survived an earthquake, a hurricane, and brutal, record-setting high temperatures. But even with temperatures routinely creeping over 100 degrees, I’m happy to say that our clients remained cool and comfortable in their new and remodeled homes.
At Arlington Designer Homes, we create efficient housing that keeps you warm during the winter and COOL during the summer. Part of our process is using 3rd party raters to help us identify any issues that could compromise the integrity of the building envelope and affect your comfort during extreme temperatures like those we have had here over the past two years.
Even a small oversight in the building envelope can lead to major climate changes within the house. For example, a small nail hole in the siding can allow heat and cold to enter the house. It can also provide an entrance for undesirable creatures like termites or ants, and it can provide an opening for water and humidity to enter the house, leading to mold and other hazards. We have all our homes tested to 3rd party raters, who check the building envelop in a number of ways to ensure there aren’t any holes or gaps. (And if they do identify any problems, we are able to fix them before our clients move in.)
We also use the finest materials and the most up-to-date technologies to ensure your comfort while keeping your home green and energy-efficient. For example, the installation of Energy Star roofing shingles helps to mitigate heat gain during the summer and heat loss during the winter. Energy Star-approved shingles help to reflect UV rays that cause heat gain and can help keep your house cooler during hot summers. This means you won’t have to crank the air conditioning up as high, saving energy and money. Our systems are designed to operate as efficiently as possible when the climate is at its most inefficient.
We take precautions to ensure that during the most extreme times, our homes still perform the way that we expect them to and the way our clients have come to expect.