Design
Everyone has different needs and uses for their home. Blu provides modern green features in all our standard designs, which have multiple configurations and customizable finishes to meet a wide variety of tastes. We believe that homebuyers of every income bracket should be able to be involved in their home design so that they have the ability to fit their new home to their lifestyle.
Blu Homes Design Process
i) Custom fit for you: Many people find it hard to visualize how their home will look when just given a set of floor plans or line drawings. Blu’s cutting edge technology allows you to a) visualize your home in 3-D b) do it on your own land, and c) configure the design fit and finishes to meet your specific needs.
As part of our process, you have the chance to configure our standard designs with your own choices on cabinetry, green countertops, flooring, siding, shower and bath fixtures, modern tile, eco-friendly carpeting, etc.
ii) Optimized for green: Blu homes are optimized for many green features, with a focus on achieving a very healthy, fun and ecological design at a reasonable cost. We have an ongoing research team that sources the best green products, negotiates for bulk prices and still allows for your aesthetic involvement.
iii) Design within your budget! Blu does not charge fees for configuring our standard designs to create a home that is right for you and your family. If you provide us with the feedback necessary to convert your preferences into a complete design, our three design meetings are enough for us to finish a set of construction documents for you options, on your own.
iv) Blu Respects your time. Blu saves our clients’ money by keeping design time structured around a few key meetings.
Initially, Blu will sets up an online meeting with you to go over the design you’ve chosen, make recommendations specific to your site, and then pull together detailed pricing based on your custom choices for the home. This is typically a 2-3 week process that can include a site visit by Blu. At the end of this initial design process, you can decide whether you’re ready to move forward on a preliminary purchase order with a small down payment.
The initial design meeting and visit include:
1. orientation on land for passive solar and wind, as well as views, and window location choices based on orientation
2. discussion on local building code issues, zoning, etc.
3. choices on products, any key upgrades, and any special changes to the design
After you move forward with an initial purchase order, we start the ‘deep dive’ design meeting, as well as giving you a password-protected login to look at product choices and other interactive online tools that will help you choose the features for your home that are right for you.
The third meeting is structured to flesh out all the detail of the home. It will include a detailed kitchen design discussion, detailed review of lighting in the home, various renderings of different flooring products, and a review of bathroom fixtures, sinks, and cabinetry.
We also use this time to make recommendations on layout of solar thermal or solar photovoltaic panels, and show you a solar analysis and energy model that gives an overview of the expected energy use over time for your home. To see an example of an energy model like this, click here.
Conventional Builders Design Process
i) Many homebuyers find it hard to customize their home when they cannot get a sense of the look and feel of the interior beforehand. Conventional builders and architects commonly provide only 2-D designs, sometimes without necessary detail on how the interior would be laid out.
ii) Clients and individual builders frequently lack the resources to do the research to meticulously go through dizzying array of green product options available. Though well intentioned, they sometimes lack the tools available to Blu to both do valuable research and negotiate bulk purchases.
iii) Unlike Blu, conventional architects charge either a percent of the house cost or hourly fees for their design work. By contrast, Blu’s standard designs are already fully engineered, saving you thousands while providing designs done by top quality architects that are still configurable for your specific site. At Blu, we aim to give you a full sense of the look and feel of our standard design on your site, under a structured ‘product’ design schedule, without charging fees.
Client To Dos in the Design Process
You will need to:
1. Determine a good time for the first meeting, as well as times when you and any other interested family members can meet online or in-person for ‘deep dive’ design meetings.
2. Fully complete our detailed forms in advance so that we understand your key design constraints and questions
3. Have a good sense of your budget, your design ideas and a good sense which Blu Home style might fit best.
