Home A Rama Home having Green-Educational open house

[Frank Redavide]

Castalia Homes, LLC is offering a free educational open house on How to Build a Green Home. The home is in the mechanical stages so people can see the construction behind the walls. We will have manufacture reps available to discuss the Green construction techniques and benefits.

Castalia Homes, LCC announces the development of one of the first series of Green homes in the country currently under construction that will meet both Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) and National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) certification standards. A free educational open house featuring one of the homes will be held May 31, 2008 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. at 11645 Willow Springs Dr., Zionsville, IN 46077 in The Willows. The event will showcase the home in its early construction phase, providing attendees the opportunity to learn the Green building techniques that are being applied to the home. The eco-friendly topics will include: Green design, foundation products, lumber, framing practices and products, insulation, HVAC systems, plumbing and windows.

Please contact me if you have any questions on the event or would like to attend.
Frank Redavide
Castalia Homes, LLC
11805 N. Pennsylvania St.
Carmel, IN 46032
317-706-6770 office
www.castaliahomes.com

[Derek Cowburn]

I tried to interest Frank in our services because we offer some very special solutions that reduce energy consumption and allow homeowners to add features over time without significant cost and renovation damage. It's an investment in your home's "feature capability foundation" and is the only positive ROI in home electronics.
He wasn't interested and said he knew what people want and they are "not interested in any of that stuff".
It reminded me of the cartoon of the Medieval King saying “I don’t have time to talk to a salesman, I have a battle to fight!” and the salesman is selling machine guns.
I'm surprised to hear about the door, window, and insulation problems--all the Castalia homes I've seen were constructed very well. Home building requires a lot of supervision and attention from the owner no matter who the builder is. Every decision is cheaper when you make it early and quickly. That's why we do a lot of Lifestyle consulting services. We're already on site throughout the project so we use our experience to help homeowners with immediate recommendations that often result in significant savings and change order avoidance. I saved a builder thousands of dollars this past month with just a few early catches during framing.
Did you stub out the electrical system to support a future turbine inverter tie-in?

Regarding your energy bill, is that just gas or gas+electric? Do you know your average temperature setpoint? Do your thermostats have at least 2 scheduled occupancy/setback times per day and are they set properly? I did advanced HVAC control systems for pharmaceutical facilities for 15+ years so I know a thing or two about this :-)

[Susan Downs]

I have a house in Westfield, IN that Frank Redavide of Castalia Homes built for me. I took possession in December 08. From beginning construction of this house, it has been nothing but trouble. There was no supervision of this house and issues brought to the builders attention during the building process were not taken care of. No green products or design were offered to me at this time, my heating bills are $500.00 a month in the winter. I have drafty doors, windows and cold exteriors walls in the winter as well, my "new" home feels like a 100 year old home with old doors, windows and ancient (if any is there)insulation. I question the knowledge of "green" this builder has and if you would like to see my unenergy efficient house I will be more than happy to show you my thermal imaging and blower door tests. I had wanted to use a wind turbine to power my residence and he gave me one contact that said it cannot be done in my location. Since becoming a provider of alternative energy I have learned that my location would have been ideal for a 10k turbine...he did not do proper research on this matter.
Producer of energy efficient homes???? I think not. BEWARE