a story about the first storey

for a long time, people would tell us our house was a hole. and to be honest, that was tough to hear.

thankfully the weather has decided to cooperate and we've transformed that hole into a wood frame above a hole.

the ground floor flooring system and framing have begun. as with all construction, we are trying to be ecologically sensitive where possible. the tji joist beams (part of the flooring system) are made with recycled materials. and the icf common wall is a continuation of the icf foundation, providing greater sound and thermal insulation than a traditional wall.

most importantly, the design of a semi-detached features only 3 exterior walls - as opposed to 4 for detached homes. this greatly decreases the energy needed to heat the home. combined with some passive design features to take advantage of winter sunlight and summer shade from trees and the homes will both be substantially more efficient than conventional builds.