Friday, October 1, 2010
Monday, September 13, 2010
Donate Home Materials for aTax Deduction
Save some cash...
Getting your home renovated? Going to be throwing out half your home?! You can donate items including appliances, windows and counter tops and may be eligible for tax deductions! Not too shabby getting cash for trash.
The Boston Building Materials Co-op is a non-profit who's purpose "is to provide high quality materials at a reasonable cost and to teach people how to maintain and improve their homes". They do this by collecting your donated construction materials. Check out the BBMC here.
Interested in donating your materials or purchasing recycled ones? Check out the BBMC's Materials Resource Center here. The BMRC handles all donating and sales. There are some great finds and even better prices, plus you can feel good making a green choice by giving new life to old materials.
Other helpful links:
What they DO accept
What they DO NOT accept
Donation Guidelines
Contact Dave Adams with any questions. 617-442-8917 x 232 or dave@bbmc.com
If you're working with Villandry Contracting in the future and wish to donate, simply notify VCI prior to the start of the project of the items you wish to donate. VCI will carefully remove the items and place them at street level for BMRC pickup.
Save your home...
Be sustainable by extending the life of your home. Homes deteriorate over the years. Materials naturally weaken and can cause major pain-in-the-neck issues. Do not be afraid of home repair! And do not be ashamed you don't know the first thing about home repair. Most people don't! Villandry Contracting is glad you don't. :)
But knowledge is power and the BBMC also offers, get this!, affordable and approachable workshops (mostly on weekends), teaching you handyman basics. Intro to Power Tools, Pest Prevention, Tiling and Kitchen Design are just a few offered.
Gain some homeowner bragging rights and become a DIY guru by checking out their Fall Workshop Schedule!
Facebook us!
Any questions or comments? We'd love to hear from all of you in VCI Nation! Check out the Facebook Page and say hello!
Getting your home renovated? Going to be throwing out half your home?! You can donate items including appliances, windows and counter tops and may be eligible for tax deductions! Not too shabby getting cash for trash.
The Boston Building Materials Co-op is a non-profit who's purpose "is to provide high quality materials at a reasonable cost and to teach people how to maintain and improve their homes". They do this by collecting your donated construction materials. Check out the BBMC here.
Interested in donating your materials or purchasing recycled ones? Check out the BBMC's Materials Resource Center here. The BMRC handles all donating and sales. There are some great finds and even better prices, plus you can feel good making a green choice by giving new life to old materials.
Other helpful links:
What they DO accept
What they DO NOT accept
Donation Guidelines
Contact Dave Adams with any questions. 617-442-8917 x 232 or dave@bbmc.com
If you're working with Villandry Contracting in the future and wish to donate, simply notify VCI prior to the start of the project of the items you wish to donate. VCI will carefully remove the items and place them at street level for BMRC pickup.
Save your home...
Be sustainable by extending the life of your home. Homes deteriorate over the years. Materials naturally weaken and can cause major pain-in-the-neck issues. Do not be afraid of home repair! And do not be ashamed you don't know the first thing about home repair. Most people don't! Villandry Contracting is glad you don't. :)
But knowledge is power and the BBMC also offers, get this!, affordable and approachable workshops (mostly on weekends), teaching you handyman basics. Intro to Power Tools, Pest Prevention, Tiling and Kitchen Design are just a few offered.
Gain some homeowner bragging rights and become a DIY guru by checking out their Fall Workshop Schedule!
Facebook us!
Any questions or comments? We'd love to hear from all of you in VCI Nation! Check out the Facebook Page and say hello!
Wednesday, August 18, 2010
Monday, July 26, 2010
Some New Home Energy Stats
There are some fascinating and staggering statistics in a recent article in Dwell Magazine title The Power is Yours. It is a clear graphic representation on where our energy comes from, where energy is lost and where energy is used. I’ll highlight some of the coolest and craziest below!
Crazy stat number 1: 65% of energy from burning a unit of coal is not converted to electricity! That one is pretty shocking because burning coal is responsible for just under 50% of our energy production in the United States.
The other heavy hitters in energy production are Natural Gas and Nuclear. They are just under 25% each of the energy produced. All of the greener energy producers (wind, solar, hydropower, etc.) total about only an eighth of the total energy produced.
The culture of greener living seems to be more and more a part of our lives, but we are far from making a significant change in our ways.
The average annual kW/h usage for an American home is 12,244 kW/h. Home lighting occupies, on average, about 15.3% of a home’s energy consumption. Water heating is about 9.2%, Refrigerators are 8.1%, Clothes Washers are only 0.6% but Dryers are 5.5%. Space Cooling (AC or central heating) tops the list at 16.4%.
Using Energy-Star rated appliances will significantly reduce your home’s energy consumption. It will save you money and demand less from the environment.
Check out Energy-Star online at www.energystar.gov or read the whole article in the July/August 2010 issue of Dwell!
Crazy stat number 1: 65% of energy from burning a unit of coal is not converted to electricity! That one is pretty shocking because burning coal is responsible for just under 50% of our energy production in the United States.
The other heavy hitters in energy production are Natural Gas and Nuclear. They are just under 25% each of the energy produced. All of the greener energy producers (wind, solar, hydropower, etc.) total about only an eighth of the total energy produced.
The culture of greener living seems to be more and more a part of our lives, but we are far from making a significant change in our ways.
The average annual kW/h usage for an American home is 12,244 kW/h. Home lighting occupies, on average, about 15.3% of a home’s energy consumption. Water heating is about 9.2%, Refrigerators are 8.1%, Clothes Washers are only 0.6% but Dryers are 5.5%. Space Cooling (AC or central heating) tops the list at 16.4%.
Using Energy-Star rated appliances will significantly reduce your home’s energy consumption. It will save you money and demand less from the environment.
Check out Energy-Star online at www.energystar.gov or read the whole article in the July/August 2010 issue of Dwell!
Beauty in Structure
For the past seven summers I’ve been lucky enough to spend time with my girlfriend’s family during their vacation in Maine. For the past 13 years the family has rented the same lovely beach house. It’s a fascinating and intriguing house because it puts on display what every other wood frame home conceals: the wood frame! And it turns out, that it can be quite beautiful.
The home is a simple 2 story beach house built for sandy feet, family gatherings and empty winters. It looks like every other home on the street with its gabled roof and quaint front porch. But the inside is where its personality lives. It keeps you subtly aware that you’re at the beach with its casual and natural look.
The only plastered and painted room is the recently renovated bathroom. Every other room is a honey brown of wide-plank wainscoting panels and exposed studs and joists. It provides character to a fairly uninspired home layout because the typically smooth surfaces now are textured with shelves and nooks and other cool geometries.
The amount of exposed structure is appropriate to the site and the surrounding beach culture. This exposed look is not something that would be found so extensively in an Arlington or Cambridge home. But this same approach of exposure, executed with more restraint, could translate well into Greater Boston’s homes.
A great example of this is the Void House in Brussels, Belgium. It celebrates wood and the construction method and does it in a clean and contemporary way.
Wood framing is cool and it already is a part of traditional and contemporary colonial homes. Why not highlight it?
The home is a simple 2 story beach house built for sandy feet, family gatherings and empty winters. It looks like every other home on the street with its gabled roof and quaint front porch. But the inside is where its personality lives. It keeps you subtly aware that you’re at the beach with its casual and natural look.
The only plastered and painted room is the recently renovated bathroom. Every other room is a honey brown of wide-plank wainscoting panels and exposed studs and joists. It provides character to a fairly uninspired home layout because the typically smooth surfaces now are textured with shelves and nooks and other cool geometries.
The amount of exposed structure is appropriate to the site and the surrounding beach culture. This exposed look is not something that would be found so extensively in an Arlington or Cambridge home. But this same approach of exposure, executed with more restraint, could translate well into Greater Boston’s homes.
A great example of this is the Void House in Brussels, Belgium. It celebrates wood and the construction method and does it in a clean and contemporary way.
Wood framing is cool and it already is a part of traditional and contemporary colonial homes. Why not highlight it?
Wednesday, July 21, 2010
Hello
This is the official blog of Villandry Contracting, Inc. We would love to create as much of an opportunity to connect with current and potential clients as well as people in the building industry. We hope to use this blog to do so!
You can expect company updates, announcements, employee profiles, project profiles, construction news, new product info, photos and our thoughts on trends and current events in the building industry.
If you're unfamiliar with us, please check us out. We are a design/build general contractor out of Arlington, MA servicing the needs of Greater Boston. We are experienced builders in all aspects of residential construction and renovation with a specialty in kitchens and bathrooms. We are fully registered, licensed and insured and are an active member of the Better Business Bureau.
Check out our Website
LIKE us on Facebook
FOLLOW us on Twitter
This is the beginning of the VCI blog and we are so excited to share our business and experiences with you so stay tuned and keep checking back with us!
Nice to meet you and thanks for stopping by!
You can expect company updates, announcements, employee profiles, project profiles, construction news, new product info, photos and our thoughts on trends and current events in the building industry.
If you're unfamiliar with us, please check us out. We are a design/build general contractor out of Arlington, MA servicing the needs of Greater Boston. We are experienced builders in all aspects of residential construction and renovation with a specialty in kitchens and bathrooms. We are fully registered, licensed and insured and are an active member of the Better Business Bureau.
Check out our Website
LIKE us on Facebook
FOLLOW us on Twitter
This is the beginning of the VCI blog and we are so excited to share our business and experiences with you so stay tuned and keep checking back with us!
Nice to meet you and thanks for stopping by!
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