Architect Services

As architects you bring a homeowner’s vision to life. We seek to work with architects to provide the performance vision for that home. By working with Lightly Treading consultants and “House Doctors” we can help ensure the home you design has the energy efficiency to meet energy goals such as Energy Star or net zero. We can also help ensure comfort that can be quantified to be no more than 3 degrees temperature difference between any room in a house. We can also help ensure the environmental vision of you clients is achieved; whether that is goal having a carbon footprint that is almost too small to be seen, or indoor air quality for someone with asthma, or green building materials that use less resources and have lower embodied energy than standard materials would offer. We provide the following services to help you meet your design performance goals:

Performance Testing of the Existing Home:
When you are working on a remodel job we recommend a Thermal Audit including an IR Camera scan and testing of the portion of house that will remain after remodel to indentify where performance weaknesses exist.

Performance Goals Meeting:
A meeting to review plans and discuss what will be necessary to have your home achieve goals such as:

A 5%, 25%, 50%, etc. reduction in current utility bills after the remodel.
Comparable performance to a newly built house which meets Energy-Star, Built Green or LEED for Homes standards.
Increased overall comfort. For example, no more than 3 degrees of temperature difference between any room in the house.
Indoor air quality/safety that meets Energy-Star’s Indoor Air Package (IAP) standards and
Environmental stewardship through “green” building materials.

Passive Solar Design Consulting & Calculations:
With Colorado’s “300 days of Sun,” designing a home or strategically placing an addition to optimize absorption of the Sun’s heat in the winter and release warmth to the cool evening air in the summer can cut utility bills by 25% to as much as 80%. Since passive solar design requires no moving parts it becomes the most reliable renewable energy source you can have, so long as the design has been carefully analyzed and engineered. Through design review, calculations and/or computer modeling and modifications to your plans, we will help you optimize this emission-free form of warming and cooling your home.

Active Solar Design Consulting:
With our knowledgeable House Doctors we can identify possible locations for solar PV or water heating and through our computer modeling we can help tell you how much you will save on your utility bills and how much benefit you will provide for the environment by installing these systems. Additionally, we will put you in touch with high quality certified contractors who can provide you with detailed bids and actually perform the installation of your solar equipment.

Computer Modeling of the home’s performance:
Through certified (i.e., HERs) home performance computer modeling of your home’s:

insulation levels,
air-leakage,
windows & doors,
heating/cooling equipment,
water heating,
lights & appliances, and
renewable energy options

we quantify how much utility bill savings and reduced global warming emissions are possible through quality building materials and construction practices. Once we have identified options, the builder/remodeler’s pricing can be included to provide accurate Return-on-Investment (ROI) data to help you see how these energy savings improvements compare with other investments you could make.

Please see the remodelers or builders sections for details on quality assurance testing during the construction process.

Please call us at 303-733-3078 for more information or to schedule a service.