On the hunt for the perfect decorations for this holiday season but want to try and stay eco-conscious? You’ve came to the right place! We actually use more electricity on holiday lights than some other countries within a year; we also waste a million extra tons on garbage every week in America. To avoid more waste, here are some eco-friendly holiday tips for this holiday!
Why you Should Consider Going Green This Holiday
Making your holidays become greener may seem difficult: especially the shopping, parties, and the pressure to create perfection to meet you and the guest’s standards. In actuality though, the core of maintaining a green holiday is simplicity. By simplifying our holidays, we are better able to relax and enjoy our loved ones and the season of giving.
A holiday you enjoy is a holiday that holds meaning to you. You should start by identifying your own sense of importance, tradition, and focus within this holiday. This include asking yourself questions like “What matters most to you?”, “What do you wish to gain?”, or “What do you not wish to lose?” Once you’ve found those answers, you can focus on the details, which is:
- Finding what makes you stressed, and how can you either simplify it, eliminate it, or find an alternative for it.
- Be sure to find or list the things that create wasted resources such as time, energy, or money. These are the ones you’d want to find alternatives for.
- Spending times with others is the most important during the holidays. Be sure to talk to friends and family during this time. You can also recruit them to share ideas and work on making greener changes together.
- Lastly, remember to relax! You have the freedom of choice. Set a goal and do what you can.
Here are some ideas to reduce your environmental footprint this season.
Either Make your Own Wrapping Paper or Go Without
Most mass-produced wrapping papers found in department stores are actually not recyclable due to the shiny coat and foils on the exterior on the paper. It’s a shame so many natural resources are wasted every year just so it can produce something that’s going to be immediately torn and thrown away. However, there is a way to change that…you can make your own wrapping paper! You can wrap your presents with old maps, comics, or children’s artwork. You can also use a scarf, bandana, and another cute cloth item to decorate or tie to box together.
Decorate With Nature
Avoid plastics and opt for wood, organic cotton, or even burlap. Bring in the elements from the outdoors in, to incorporate in your home. Some of these elements can include wreath of pine boughs, maple leaves, or a nest to place a candle in!
Invest in Some Energy-Saving LED Holiday Lights
Thanks to modern and ever-so-changing technology, you can decorate your house with energy saving LED lights that use up to 90% less energy than the conventional holiday lights. This could also potentially save you and your family up to 50 dollars in energy bills during the Christmas season. They last about 200,000 hours on average and release very little heat, so it’ll be very unlikely that one burns out!
Green Christmas Trees
Artificial trees used for a few years are less sustainable than a living tree, that can be mulched and also supports small businesses. However, artificial trees can be used for 10 to 15 years or more, and may use less energy in the long-run. However, most of them are rarely made to last this long, so be sure to find the appropriate one that do last for a long time. A potted tree is another green choice, because it can be used for multiple years before planting outdoors.
Utilizing Ornaments
Be sure to choose durable ornaments that use organic resources, such as wood, metal, or cloth. Not only are they greener, but they will last way longer than plastic or thin glass.
Super Energy Efficient Modular Home: Importance of Air Sealing
Sealing up a home’s building envelope is incredibly cost effective and energy efficient, which means you can save up money in the long run. To do so, the structure must be secure, air tight, and water tight. Components of the envelope includes walls, floors, doors, roofs, and windows. Not only is air sealing cost effective, it also can improve comfort as well as indoor air quality. Achieving a high level of air tightness can be difficult, as it requires more than just filling up visible holes!
Here are some of the ways air can enter your home:
From the interior, best ways to air seal large gaps is with expandable foam. For exterior however, you must hold back a small piece of the exterior sheathing where two modules join, and then the general contractor must insert a piece of sheathing that combines the space between the modules.
Be Aware!
Buying a home means attention to detail, especially when constructed indoors in a factory controlled environment. The thermal envelope is one of the most important things to owning an energy efficient and cost effective home.
Eco-Friendly Holidays: 5 Ideas for a Greener Christmas
On the hunt for the perfect decorations for this holiday season but want to try and stay eco-conscious? You’ve came to the right place! We actually use more electricity on holiday lights than some other countries within a year; we also waste a million extra tons on garbage every week in America. To avoid more waste, here are some eco-friendly holiday tips for this holiday!
Why you Should Consider Going Green This Holiday
Making your holidays become greener may seem difficult: especially the shopping, parties, and the pressure to create perfection to meet you and the guest’s standards. In actuality though, the core of maintaining a green holiday is simplicity. By simplifying our holidays, we are better able to relax and enjoy our loved ones and the season of giving.
A holiday you enjoy is a holiday that holds meaning to you. You should start by identifying your own sense of importance, tradition, and focus within this holiday. This include asking yourself questions like “What matters most to you?”, “What do you wish to gain?”, or “What do you not wish to lose?” Once you’ve found those answers, you can focus on the details, which is:
Here are some ideas to reduce your environmental footprint this season.
Either Make your Own Wrapping Paper or Go Without
Most mass-produced wrapping papers found in department stores are actually not recyclable due to the shiny coat and foils on the exterior on the paper. It’s a shame so many natural resources are wasted every year just so it can produce something that’s going to be immediately torn and thrown away. However, there is a way to change that…you can make your own wrapping paper! You can wrap your presents with old maps, comics, or children’s artwork. You can also use a scarf, bandana, and another cute cloth item to decorate or tie to box together.
Decorate With Nature
Avoid plastics and opt for wood, organic cotton, or even burlap. Bring in the elements from the outdoors in, to incorporate in your home. Some of these elements can include wreath of pine boughs, maple leaves, or a nest to place a candle in!
Invest in Some Energy-Saving LED Holiday Lights
Thanks to modern and ever-so-changing technology, you can decorate your house with energy saving LED lights that use up to 90% less energy than the conventional holiday lights. This could also potentially save you and your family up to 50 dollars in energy bills during the Christmas season. They last about 200,000 hours on average and release very little heat, so it’ll be very unlikely that one burns out!
Green Christmas Trees
Artificial trees used for a few years are less sustainable than a living tree, that can be mulched and also supports small businesses. However, artificial trees can be used for 10 to 15 years or more, and may use less energy in the long-run. However, most of them are rarely made to last this long, so be sure to find the appropriate one that do last for a long time. A potted tree is another green choice, because it can be used for multiple years before planting outdoors.
Utilizing Ornaments
Be sure to choose durable ornaments that use organic resources, such as wood, metal, or cloth. Not only are they greener, but they will last way longer than plastic or thin glass.
Seasonal Christmas Decor Ideas for your Manufactured Homes
Happy Holidays! It’s finally Christmas season, and you are probably thinking about decorating your home soon with snowmen, lights, and garland. No matter what your holiday tradition might be, we can provide you with many options for decorating this holiday season without taking too much space. Set by the fire or get yourself a cup of hot chocolate, and get yourself ready to see these festive ideas!
Lights
Christmas lights are a staple for anyone’s Christmas decorating. Lining your manufactured home with icicle lights can be a really trendy look, or you can also use large light-bulb strings to give off a more ambient light with a soft vintage look. Lights can also be used indoors as well, whether it’s strung up on your walls, lined on your doorways or mantles, or wrapped around pillars. When lights are inside your manufactured home, it can make it seem brighter, bigger, and more spacious.
Proportioned Tree
One of the most important things during the Christmas season is making sure that you choose a tree that’s not too big for your home. When looking for Christmas trees, make sure the size is proportionate to your living room. If you do get a big tree, it may make your living room much smaller than it is.
Sprucing Up your Dining Area
The easiest way to decorate the dining area is to place down a festive tablecloth and display a charming centerpiece on top of the table. This can include a variety of examples such as a glass vase filled with garland and snowflakes or an elaborate bowl filled with cookies. Draping wide ribbons on the back of the dining room chair can also create a comfy and stylish seating place for your guests. You can also hang ornaments from the cupboards or shelves to make your dining area look trendy this season!
Christmas Scents
Make your home feel cozy and filled with Christmas vibes by adding holiday scents around your home! Christmas is usually associated with the smell of cookies, pine, cinnamon, spices, and so on. Adding peppermint oil in a spray bottle of water can be sprayed on top of your furniture and around your rooms. Baking gingerbread cookies or house can also help your guests enjoy the scent of Christmas wafting from the oven.
Why Modular Means More: It’ll Exceed your Expectations
Modular home is really a misnomer, because it actually describes the method of construction rather than a type of home. Modular homes can look like any other traditional home, and is built to the same building code as a traditional site-built home. However, modular home construction is built offsite in modules, and assembled together on foundation. This construction process produces a home that not only is built quicker than a traditional, site-built home, but also because the homes are built in high quality with affordable prices.
Modular Home Construction
Modular home construction, also called off-site construction, means that the home is built mostly in another location that’s not its permanent location. The home, for the most part, is per-assembled into modules in a factory controlled environment. Modular construction can also reduce some of the risks faced by site-built construction, such as:
Little Things That Mean A Lot
While other contractors continue to grapple with the skilled labor shortage, modular construction requires less labor and time to complete. Both site-built and modular construction starts with the design and engineering phase, and then they progress to permitting and approval; however, the time and labor efficiencies with modular construction take off. Modular construction are also as safe, or arguably safer than typical construction, due to how much more the construction process is predictable and repetitive, and can be analyzed and modified easily to maximize efficiency and safety.
Modular Going Global
Modular construction is getting even more popular with Google, Starbucks, Marriott, and many other business; they’re investing millions of dollars into this method. Take Japan for example, around a quarter of all new houses are prefabricated (off-site construction). Japan’s success within the modular construction industry shows both the quality of assets manufactured in controlled conditions and how many homebuyers they can attract. Even Toyota has been utilizing modular construction for over 20 years!
New technology and the increase in popularity is making it easier to expand modular construction to a global level as well. With 3D printing, costs for both material and long transports will decrease substantially.
Modular construction lives up to its processes to build faster, safer, and more affordably than any other construction methods; so why not invest in them now? Call us at (518) 580-1305, visit our Facebook, or send us your questions here!
Construction Risks of a Traditional, Site-Built Home
If you want to build your own home, you’re probably trying to figure out which construction process would be better; modular home construction or site-built construction? It’s even harder knowing that modular home construction look exactly like traditional, site-built homes. Both can have any of the structural features you want, and they both come in various different home styles. However, aside from the cosmetics of the home, modular home construction is more quicker, safer, and forgiving than traditional site-built homes. Now these days, there are better and more effective ways to build a home, and it’s the modular construction way.
What Exactly are Site-Built Construction?
This construction method means that your home is assembled on site where it will permanently stand until it is finished. All the materials that are used to build the home are transported to the site for the assembly, which takes several months (even longer than modular and manufactured homes). During the construction process, because it is built on the site, the materials may be stored on the site and exposed to weather until the walls, windows, or doors are placed. With site-built homes, they are subjected to state and local building codes to make sure the homeowners stay safe.
How Risky is Site-Built Construction?
The traditional approach to building a home isn’t the best way to manage risk when it comes to custom homes. In fact, subcontractors are suffering from an extreme lack of skilled labor, and it won’t be changing anytime soon. Also, because the homes are built on the permanent site rather than an off-site location (like modular and manufactured homes), the unpredictability of weather is another risk factor during the construction process.
Modular homes are able to provide home buyers with well-built, high quality homes. Not only is the construction process much safer, but you get more with modular. When utilizing the efficiency of an indoor factory construction, energy efficiency and design flexibility is ensured! Modular is the better choice, and the old way of site-built construction just isn’t the most efficient way anymore! If you’re interested in either a modular or manufactured home, be sure to contact us!: Call us at (518) 580-1305, visit our Facebook, or send us your questions here!
The Increase in Need of Quality, Affordable Homes
In today’s world, manufactured homes now deliver outstanding quality homes with affordable prices, that can potentially be about 50% less per square foot than traditional site-built homes.These days, manufactured homes are primed for more growth to face the high prices of locally built, site-built home. This makes the manufactured homes more appealing option, especially since they’re much fancier now! Manufactured homes are customizable, and be upgraded.
The affordability around manufactured homes are because the indoor factory building process is extremely efficient. The manufactured homes are built to standard building code (the HUD code), with standard building materials, and are built mostly inside an indoor environment. The controlled environment removes any problems encountered with a traditional, site built home construction; which can include weather, theft, damage to material, and unskilled labor. The HUD code help regulates home design, construction, strength, durability, and energy efficiency.
The building materials for manufactured homes are the same as the materials used for traditional, site-built homes; which are engineered for wind safety and energy efficiency. According to the Department of Energy, the measures taken in an energy efficient manufactured homes are:
Manufactured homes are one of the safest housing choices that are available today.
The manufactured home business is growing, but houses aren’t getting cheaper; so why not look into buying an affordable, greener, manufactured homes?
4 Tips for Decorating for the Season
Decorating for all 4 seasons is a trend that is popular around the world! It’s very fashionable to make changes to your interior designs based on the upcoming holidays or seasons. These decors come in a variety, so there are MILLIONS of fun, yet simple ideas you could use in your home per each season. Here are some tips for decorating for the season:
Adding Some Color
Most of the homes have neutral rooms built, which consists of natural whites and browns all around the home. You can shake things up by painting an accent wall a bold color! Experiment with wallpaper if you want a new, bold look without the permanence of paint. To emphasize even more, be sure to use a seasonal color!
Holiday Parties
What makes a good party unforgettable? The difference in the details. Transform your home space into an area that your guests will rave about for months, maybe even years! Your times with your family and friends are special, especially during the holidays. Take the unnecessary stress of decorating a new space decorating with things you can use in multiple seasons!
Mantel As a Focal Point
The fireplace mantel is the perfect place to display unique decors, family pictures, and seasonal lights. Arrange your decorations neatly along the mantel. Some ideas can include: pine cones, pumpkins, candles, ribbons, flowers, and so on.
Adding Some Flowers
Plant some beautiful flowers and put them in your vases. If you are not interested in real flowers, perhaps artificial ones are more useful. There are MANY artificial flowers that look realistic, so if you come them in a clear glass or vase, you can decorate around them with other decors (ribbons, books, etc.) You can also put pots of colorful flowers in the front or back porch to give your guests a good first impression.
Avoiding Disasters this Thanksgiving Dinner
Thanksgiving is the perfect time to meet up with family and friends for a grand feast during the colder days, maybe even catch up with football! With Thanksgiving dinner being the focal point of the holiday, the kitchen can be the most perilous rooms in the home if sound practices in cooking are not observed. According the National Fire Protection Agency, Thanksgiving is the peak day of the year for fires; so we want to help you ensure that you have a plan for safely celebrating your holiday!
The Basics
Cooking Safety
Buying your turkey. Avoid fresh, stuffed turkeys if you can. Perhaps you should try to buy a turkey that is a couple days before cooking it. Make sure you store it properly in the fridge or freezer.
Defrosting your turkey. If you thaw your turkey in the fridge, you will need a day for every 4 to 5 pounds of turkey. If you want to de-thaw your turkey under water, just remember that water is cold, and expect each 1lb to take about a half an hour. Use a microwave safe pan and remove any additional packaging if you wish to de-thaw your turkey in a microwave.
Be careful of carving. You should wait 20 minutes to let the juices of the turkey settle before carving a turkey. No one likes waiting but it’s better than an upset stomach.
Avoiding choking hazards. Make sure you keep choking hazards away from your kids and pets. Be especially careful with turkey bones.
Champion Homes, Impressions A96278
Charming, adorable family home with breathtaking natural light. If you’ve been searching high and low for a perfect home that blends homey charm with a modern flair, look no further! Impressions A96278 is a 1,653 square feet home that includes 3 bedrooms and 2 bathrooms; as well as a luxurious master bathroom, spacious kitchen, a cleverly concealed laundry room, and an open living and dining area. Some options can also include an entertainment center with barn doors, furnace and water heater in the utility room, and sliding glass doors! The generously proportioned interior flows effortlessly through the open living space, this home provides all the elements for relaxing, comfortable and easy care living.
Champion Home’s environmentally conscious design maximizes efficiency in this modern family home and provides plenty of space for entertaining. This is the perfect home for a family of 4!
If this floor plan is perfect for you and your family but needs a bit of tweaking, we can help you with that here at Showcase Homes! For any questions or requests, please call us at (518) 580-1305.
Champion Homes, Essentials A25002: Cozy Home for a Growing Family
It won’t be easy to click off the relaxation mode in this spacious, contemporary, 1,333 square foot family-home. The floor plan encompasses three spacious bedrooms with plenty of room for study, sleep and storage; as well as a utility room to set up your laundry machines! From the open concept living and dining room, to the quait kitchen and the modern bathrooms, there is plenty of room for the whole family to enjoy. A home that can be situated to your liking, this home is sure to be likeable.
As all homes we offer, this modular home is completely customizeable! We’ll help in any way we can to make sure you find a home that is truly a dream abode for a growing family. For any questions or requests, please call us at (518) 580-1305.