The Importance of Green Construction Techniques

Green building and construction techniques emphasize a holistic approach throughout the entire construction process, from start to finish. Due to the large volume of materials consumed and materials added to landfills, the building and construction profession plays an important role in materials recycling and energy conservation. Our projects must stand the tests of weather, time and provide our clients with the value and comfort of energy efficiency. In the past, I knew colleagues in the same profession who touted bamboo floors and tankless hot water heaters as ‘building green’. Residential construction does not have the same initiative for specified green certification processes and systems that commercial construction has been familiar with. Green concepts start in the design process and must be carried through the production and punch list phases, regardless of the size of the project. From a window replacement, to the construction of a new home, your team must be constantly aware of green techniques.

Chicago Construction Works is currently in the construction phase of a multiple unit apartment teardown, converting the square footage into high-end finished condominiums. Our firm takes pride in following simple principles during the demolition phase of the project to reduce the volume of debris going to a landfill. Currently we have employed smart demolition techniques during the teardown of the interior and exterior elements of these apartments. All metal from the old electrical conduit, wires, furnaces, ductwork, cast iron, and black pipe was separated during the removal and properly recycled. All structural elements, including old floor joists and heavy timber were carefully removed, cut down and stored for future reclaimed wood projects.

Moving forward into the production of project, Chicago Construction Works plans to implement several green features to promote energy efficiency, which will produce lower heating and cooling costs for the future homeowners. Insulation planned for the project is spray foam ICYNENE insulation, providing a higher R value and a low vapor permeance. This insulation type is water based and blown-in without any ozone depleting chemicals. This type of insulation works very well with masonry construction, considering masonry buildings are susceptible to a high vapor penetration due to the porous nature of brick and block. Other energy efficient features include tankless hot water heaters, low VOC paints, energy efficient windows, double insulated new roof and new building materials made of recycled components. Our firm’s philosophy is to constantly research, implement and reinvent green construction techniques in every project, large or small.

Basement Design Considerations

Are you considering expanding your living space into your unfinished basement? This home renovation is one of the most versatile and valuable features you can add to your home. Your basement has so much potential to be a new playroom for the kids, an entertainment room for guests, a quiet home office, or even an exercise room for that treadmill in the corner of the bedroom covered with clothes. Any realtor will tell you that houses listed on the market with nicely appointed finished basements tend to sell much quicker than other comparables in your neighborhood. Your home should grow as your lifestyle and your family’s needs grow. Here are a few useful design ideas and value considerations for a successful basement renovation project.


Alternative Ideas for Designing Your Basement

Here are a few boutique design ideas for your basement living space that will truly separate your home from your neighbors. Wine and cigar aficionados should consider a climate controlled room as to protect your fine wine and cigar collection. Finely appointed humidity and temperature controlled rooms can include rough saw cedar paneling with built-in shelving and bottle racks. Families with young children should consider a playroom and mudroom area with shoe cubbies to keep boots, shoes and coats organized. Other ideas for playrooms include built-in play-sets or HDMI cable pre-wire for video game and movie consoles. Entertainers and hosts should consider a pub style bar with accent lighting, custom hand crafted bar tops and shelving for pilsner glasses and storage for your ‘top shelf’ liquors. Taps for your favorite craft brewed beers and comfortable bar stools will invite guests to ‘pull up a seat’. Finally, for baby boomers looking to modify their existing homes to comfortably accommodate visiting friends and grown children, consider converting the basement into a master bedroom / master bathroom suite. This new basement master suite gives your existing home a ‘dueling master suites’ feature that is attractive to some buyers in the marketplace today.

Temperature Control Considerations

Due to the insulating factor of the surrounding earth, your new basement living area will naturally stay cooler in the summer and will only take a minimal amount of additional heating in the winter. Consider radiant heating as the best option for heating your new basement living space. Electrical radiant heating mats can be placed easily under new flooring and installed with a programmable thermostat for easy operation. Another advantage to radiant heating is the ability to maintain the ceiling height by not having to frame soffits to hide new ductwork. Avoiding the modification of existing ductwork to supply heat to the basement also ensures the temperatures of your upper floors do not change after your basement renovation has been completed.

Natural Lighting Considerations

Natural lighting is a precious resource for comfortable basement living areas. Needless to say, small basement window wells provide very little sunlight. Instead of covering up these window wells with plastic covers to keep the leaves out, consider opening up these areas for more natural lighting. If your basement window wells are concrete you have the option of applying veneer brick such as Eldorado Stone to the inside of the window well for a more appealing look through the window from the basement level. If your window wells are corrugated metal, consider digging these out and installing retaining wall block. This option will provide more natural lighting and also accent the appearance of the window wells.

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Easy Remote Management of Your Home's Thermostat

Having easy access to all of all your home’s important features is not a familiar concept to most families. Now most people have instant access to all of their emails, photos and friend’s updates with a quick look at their mobile phone. Consider being able to turn on your living room light, bump up the heat on your thermostat or find out when the kids arrived home while sitting at work, with that same simple quick look at your mobile phone. Now is the time to take advantage of low cost, easy to manage home automation giving you peace of mind and total control of your home. Not to mention, consider the savings on monthly utilities when you always have easy access to your home’s thermostat. With that in mind, Trane’s Remote Energy Management Thermostat is a simple option which can be added simply to a new or existing wireless Z-Wave network.


Trane’s Remote Energy Management Thermostat can be accessed over your existing home’s wireless network from a laptop or smart phone. This thermostat has a few features that can provide text or email alerts directly to you. If your furnace hits a temperature which is out of a preset range or if a keypad change is made to the thermostat while you are not at home you can receive this notification via text or email. Maintenance service and filter change intervals are also recorded and displayed. Additionally, daily graphs displaying your heating and cooling habits according to the home’s hourly usage are available for understanding your furnace’s operating trends.

This Z-Wave system is the base-point for connecting these components wirelessly and allows a wide variety of remote control options for other parts of your home via your laptop or smart phone. Lighting switches, shades, garage doors, thermostats are just a few options that are compatible for this wireless system. Once this system is in place at your residence, these other options can be added at anytime. Stay tuned for future discussions outlining the functionality of each of the systems. Next month’s home automation discussion will focus on lighting controls. To subscribe to this blog feed, click on the RSS icon on our Blog Tab at http://chicagoconstructionworks.com/id2.html

Chicago Construction Works, Inc. 

Untangling Home Automation – Entry Lock Integration

You are now entering through the doorstep, into an era of home automation without needing to install wires or cut holes in your living room wall. Imagine controlling all of the important parts of your house from your smart phone or laptop, while eating lunch at work. The days of expensive systems, clunky stationary desktop and wall control panels are over. Simply, decide which parts of your home you would like to control or monitor, set up the wireless system access point and add other parts to this system later, as your family’s needs change and grow. This discussion, with others to follow later, will highlight on different parts of the house you can easily control and monitor, remotely and wireless.

Schlage Link offers entry lock-sets without keys. These keypad lock-sets can be connected to a Z-Wave wireless access point and can be monitored, locked and unlocked from your laptop or smart phone. Simple 4 digit different numeric codes can be given to your kids, cleaning company, spouse, etc. for access to the entries of your home, without having to pass out several sets of house keys. Ninety day reports or text message alerts are a few of the options to use to determine who is entering your home and at what time.

How does this lock work without wires, you ask? A small battery with a 3 year lifespan operates the lock and keypad. The wireless connection communicates with your front door via your established secure encrypted access point. Battery life and the status of the entry lock (locked or unlocked) can be monitored online from a desktop, laptop, or with your smart phone. Schlage also offers the option to actually lock or unlock the door remotely via your smart phone. For example, if a guest arrives to your home early while you are not home, unlock the door and let them in! Apps are currently available for one touch access from your I-phone.

This Z-Wave system is the base-point for connecting these various wireless components of your house and allows a wide variety of remote control options for other parts of your home via your laptop or smart phone. Lighting switches, shades, garage doors, thermostats and sprinkler irrigation are just a few options that are compatible for this wireless system. Once this system is in place at your residence, these options can be added at anytime later. Stay tuned for future discussions outlining the functionality of each of these systems.

Next month’s home automation discussion will focus on controlling and integrating your thermostat. To subscribe to this blog feed, click on the RSS icon on our Blog Tab at http://chicagoconstructionworks.com/id2.html

Under-cabinet Backsplash Design Options to Accent Your Kitchen.

I am constantly seeing more and more newly renovated ‘high-end’ condos and homes on the market today showcasing kitchens missing the accent of custom backsplashes. This simple feature can be designed to meet any budget based on materials selected and methods of installation, which leaves no excuse to see painted walls below cabinetry in your kitchen. Take a look at the ideas below to find which option grabs your attention and agrees with your pocket book….


1. Recessed cove trimmed with a tile molding and recessed mosaic. This option requires some preliminary carpentry work, but allows for a spot in your kitchen to sit items used day-to-day which also removes the clutter from your countertop area. This option works very well above your self rimmed range (as shown in the image above) a sink without a kitchen window.

2. Completely custom decorative tile wall murals. Various companies online such as Pacific Tile Art provide very custom wall murals made to any size depending on your kitchen design and wall sizing. Even further customized options allow you to capture your unique vision in your kitchen by sending a picture from your photo album (the Italian countryside photographed on your vacation) which is screened onto tiles and shipped for installation.

3. Recycled Glass Tile backsplashes. Glass tile mosaics work well with under-cabinet lighting by provide a shimmer and glow from reflecting indirect lighting. Glass tile is very durable, easily cleaned and maintained when cooking gets exciting.  If sustainability is part of your design vision, recycled glass mosaic are available using 80-95% post consumer glass content as the base materials.

4. Full slab granite and marble backsplashes. For homeowners who are in love with the veins and color variations of their existing kitchen countertops – consider turning the granite up the wall to the underside of the cabinetry. This option also works very well with under-cabinet lighting, but can be a pricey installation.

5. Ceramic tile backsplash. Ceramic tiles manufacturers have made great strides in competing the looks and cost of marble and granite. Daltile has ceramic, slate and glass options available for purchase and viewing.

Bringing your vision and material selections full circle requires understanding what materials are available and an assessment of your kitchen layout including the consideration of how you use the space. To schedule a design appointment to discuss your options and visions call or email anytime.

Chicago Construction Works, Inc.