Green house plans for LEED certification aren’t just good for the planet – they’re also wonderful for the people who end up living in the homes they describe. People who have lived in a house constructed from green house plans can vouch for the following advantages of LEED certification:

1. Reduced water and energy costs. Sustainable home design must provide significant energy and water savings in order to qualify for LEED certification. As an example, one way green house plans achieve improved water efficiency is by including rain gardens that harvest free water.

2. No toxic off-gassing or other fumes. Paint, vinyl and other traditional construction materials may release toxic chemicals. Vinyl off-gases have been found to contribute to cancer rates. To avoid noxious materials, the “Materials and Resources” section of the certification process confers points for selecting toxin-free, environmentally friendly materials. You can be confident that your family will be safe in a home built from green house plans.

3. Exceptional durability. Another section of the certification process, “Innovation and Design,” obliges builders to create long-lasting homes that will require fewer costly repairs in the future. This is one of the top benefits of sustainable house plans – less worry over the entire period of habitation.

4. Universal green building standards. Peers, family members and neighbors will be in awe of your green roots when you show them your LEED certification. Your positive example could even induce some of them to choose sustainable house design!

5. Qualification for environmental incentives. A slew of environmental building incentives require LEED certification.

6. Assured transit access and walkability. Another certification category, “Location and Linkages,” considers accessibility to common locations such as churches, daycare centers and grocery stores. If you enjoy walking or biking to nearby restaurants and boutiques, you will love living in a LEED certified home that has been created according to green house plans.

7. Improved air quality. The EPA estimates that indoor air is often five times more polluted than outdoor air. Builders must pay attention to interior air quality when earning LEED certification for sustainable house plans. As an example of how this manifests in design, a detached garage helps isolate toxic fumes and combustible gases.

8. Complimentary homeowners’ manual. The last LEED certification category we’ll mention is “Awareness & Education.” This section awards points for efforts to increase homeowner knowledge. Many builders choose to earn points in this area by providing handbooks on the green technologies that are included in specific green house plans. Many LEED builders also include a walk-through to personally describe how to care for a new green home over the long haul.

These eight advantages are key reasons why many homeowners choose to purchase homes with residential LEED certification.

Learn more about the benefits and versatility of sustainable house design at HousePlans.co, your online destination for stock and custom home design. Their large inventory of house plans is only a click away.

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1. European. Anything from the European continent would fall under this category of home styles, including Spanish home plans as well as French Country, Georgian and Italianate homes. Overall, European styles feature stucco, stone or brick exteriors. Different European characteristics may be combined in a single plan. For instance, Italian windows can compliment vaulted arches from Norman France. Spanish home plans, in contrast, often feature low-pitched clay tile roofs and terracotta decoration.

2. Colonial. In America, the colonial period ran from the 1600s through 1800s. Many different home themes fall within that date range. For example, you may find homes described as Dutch Colonial, Spanish Colonial, German Colonial or French Colonial. Country-specific variations add color to the general colonial style. Dutch homes, for instance, were customarily constructed with brick and stone, so U.S. Dutch Colonials often feature these materials too. Colonial Spanish home plans, in contrast, may showcase interior courtyards. In spite of these country-specific variations, all colonial homes share a few basic traits, including an overall rectangular shape, chimneys on both ends of the house, large square rooms and barn or gambrel roofs.

3. Victorian. America and Britain were enamored with the Victorian style from 1825 to 1900. Victorian house plans’ most noticeable feature is their ornamentation, including bright exterior paint patterns, corbels and gable trim. Victorian house plans often feature decorative railing, sweeping verandas and two-story turrets, as well.

4. Prairie school. Prairie school homes are designed to blend in with the surrounding landscape. Here are a few common characteristics of a home designed in the Prairie School style:

- An indoor/outdoor approach.
- Rows of square windows.
- Low, long lines.
- Overhanging eaves.
- Little ornamentation; prairie school homes are simple and sleek.

5. Coastal. The beach lifestyle fuels coastal home designs. Raised foundations, rows of expansive windows and wraparound porches are common in coastal homes

6. Craftsman. Exposed roof rafters, decorative wood trim, sweeping porches and low-pitched gabled roofs are typical features of Craftsman home plans. In case you’re wondering, the bungalow is a certain category of Craftsman; home plans for bungalows often include stone columns and pedestals, horizontal wood shingle siding and a lower gable hanging over the porch.

7. Cape Cod. Typical Cape Cod features – single story designs, a central chimney and steep roofs – were intended to make life easier during harsh New England winters. (Steep roofs, for instance, allow snow to slide off, reducing the hazard of home collapse under heavy snowfall.) Today’s builders enhance the Cape Cod style with contemporary elements, such as rear garages and dormer windows.

By appreciating these stylistic differences, you can select the best home plans for your family. Regardless of whether you choose Craftsman home plans or a more modern design, your house will add to the melting pot that is American architecture.

Always a classic, Craftsman home plans will help ensure that your home is always in style. Visit HousePlans.co to view their wide selection of both stock and customizable Craftsman house plans.

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Add a sunroom or covered patio. Adding a covered outdoor area will boost your livable space without exceeding the site boundaries.

Vertical building 101. As the exponential growth rate of the world’s human population continues, smart city planners are favoring height over sprawl. In condominium skyscrapers, higher urban density is paired with comfortable living arrangements.

Likewise, if you want to maximize the space in your narrow house plans, favor designs that make creative use of multiple stories. As an example, an architect designing plans for narrow lots may opt to locate a den and garage on the ground level. Main doors at the top of a set of stairs would lead to the second story, consisting of a great room complete with kitchen and living area. Finally, the third floor would contain bedrooms. There are many other possible multi-story arrangements.

Carefully place your garage. For architects, the garage is a major challenge to creating beautiful house plans. Garages are enormous and unsightly. Your garage will suck up all of your prime space if it isn’t wisely located. One way to add a garage to narrow house plans is to locate the car park in the rear, accessible via an alleyway. Or a detached garage may be installed at a slight angle to the house. Lastly, as described earlier, you can keep a ground-level garage but relocate the main living area to the second floor. (This creates a lovely tree house feeling that many people who live in narrow lot house plans enjoy.)

Add interior windows. Does the kitchen in your narrow home plan feel cut off from the dining area? If so, you can cut out a section of the dividing wall to create the illusion of added space. Similarly, any space will seem larger if you add more light via interior windows. To keep rooms private, fill interior windows with glass blocks.

Remove unnecessary walls. Rooms with four full walls are unwise in narrow lot home plans. Rather, create airy, open spaces by combining several rooms into one. For example, many house plans for narrow lots do not have walls between the dining room, living room and kitchen.

Maximize long sight lines. It may seem counterintuitive to purposely accentuate the long, stacked feeling of narrow home plans. However, by aligning wide entrances between rooms, you can create the experience of a larger overall space. Unbroken sight lines take advantage of long, narrow lots.

Add comfort in upper stories by adding side gables. A side gable can transform an unusable attic space into a charming bedroom. Basically, gables are roof cutouts that add livable space. Dormer and eyebrow windows are different styles of roof gables. Side gables compliment nearly any architectural style. For narrow lot home plans, side gables can create cozy, usable upper-story rooms.

All of these design elements combine to create comfortable house plans for narrow lots. Look for these techniques in the narrow lot house plans you’re considering.

Are you having difficulty finding narrow house plans? Visit HousePlans.co to find a number of stock and customizable house plans for narrow lots, as well as pictures of final designs.

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