Happy Easter/contract-signing day. The final choice is...the first one we talked to! Vox Design Group of Mountain View:

In short, we liked their level of expertise, enthusiasm about sustainable design & processes, quantity of experience, and familiarity with Mountain View. The proximity is a non-negligible bonus too (their offices are within walking distance, and also across from city hall). Personality matches are always nice: husband + principle found they have the same manufacturer tastes in power tools. Also, our dog loves the principle's dog. We're pretty excited.

It was definitely worth talking to all the other architects, however. We learned something new with each conversation.

Now the fun begins. Today we signed the contract, cut the retainer check, and have the as-built guy scheduled for Wednesday (he will take professional measurements of the current house), and there are surveyors on deck for bids.

Today, we met with Tali Hardonag. She was great to speak to and takes on many projects of our scope, as well as smaller ones (which is reassuring...when an architect's portfolio doesn't contain smaller remodeling examples, it's hard to tell if they are good at remodeling, or want to do remodeling).

Tali pointed out a very important note regarding doing our own finishing work (e.g. tile, flooring, light fixtures, small plumbing fixtures, etc.): it's the GC's name that's on the permit, and it's the GC that's on the hook until the city gives the final move-in-ready approval. Typically, the move-in approval requires water-proof flooring in the kitchen and a working sink, and probably at least one working bathroom. In other words, we don't want our finishing work to delay the sign-off on the permit.

For meetings with architects, we refined our checklist and provided a copy of the house's current layout. We refined the checklist over the course of the meetings and finally ended up with this:

the current house:

• built 1947
• lot is 5100 square feet
• house is 1266 square feet, 1 level
• 3 bedrooms
• 4 entrances
• 1 bath (needs to be removed and replaced entirely, due to water damage/dry rot)
• 1 small laundry/pantry room (water heater currently located here)
• 1-car garage (washer and dryer currently located here)
• combination dining/living room
• centrally located brick fireplace
• recently removed un-permitted room in back (pad, chimney & fireplace still present)
• wall-furnace, no A/C
• very large redwood + jacaranda tree in backyard

---

what we want:

• 4-bedroom, 2.5-bath (either add 2nd level or expand on 1st)
• 3 entrances + 1 interior garage entrance
• maybe 1700 to 1900 square feet total
• open kitchen-dining-living space
• remove brick fireplace; if replace, looking at gas/ethanol fireplace
• add one master suite, one nursery/office-sized bedroom on 2nd floor
• add interior entrance to garage
• add half-bath off of living room
• larger garage (move up front of garage?)
• possibly move up front entrance to create larger receiving area
• skylights in stairway, bathrooms, kitchen if possible
• we want to fit in with other houses on the street as best we can

• would like to move out of house for as short a time as possible
• install central heating/air (also interested in zero-energy options)
• need to replace exterior siding & windows
• insulation in exterior walls, roof & attic
• seal & insulate crawl space
• all new plumbing (current plumbing is very old, and not up to code)
• all new electrical (current electrical is very old, and not up to code)
• we plan to handle finishing work: cabinets, tile, paint, vanities, fixtures, hardware as long as it doesn't delay other work, or getting the sign-off inspections

---

things we're considering:

• balcony off of new master bedroom (if we do a 2nd story)
• location of current 1st floor bath seems like best location for new stairwell
• if not now, eventually: solar water heating and maybe photovoltaic
• rainwater collection (cistern)
• gray-water collection
• on-demand hot water heater for the house
• individual on-demand hot water heaters at high-demand sinks/bathrooms
• zero-energy setup, or prep house for future zero-energy setup

---

green layout thinking:

• not so big spaces
• good sunlight
• use of skylights
• recessed LED lighting in entertaining spaces
• ceiling fans in bedrooms
• use of operable windows to create airflow on temperate days
• passive solar heating (e.g. take advantage of southern exposure)
• glass floor sections to bring sunlight from 2nd floor to 1st
• native plants for garden

---

construction processes/material choices:

• pre-fab/modular construction if cost-effective
• reuse, or recycle material from demolition
• no/low-VOC materials
• energy-efficient windows & glass doors
• on-demand hot water
• efficient dual-flush toilets
• reclaimed materials when possible (flooring? glass block? pavers?)

---

the yard (we will probably do this work ourselves...it's here to see if any aspects impact the house)

• remove concrete pad & fireplace in backyard
• new deck
• widen driveway into combination driveway/front walk, remove concrete pad & replace with permeable pavers
• native plants, minimal grass 
• probably want to remove and replace the large evergreen in the front yard and replace with a deciduous tree(s)
• vegetable garden & fruit tree in backyard
• rainwater collection
• composting

Today I chatted on the phone with Christian Dauer of ChrDAUER Architects. We're starting to reiterate mostly the same information, so not much new to say here. His information coverage was good, and their website has some of the best-looking work. One drawback: they're based in San Francisco (harder to oversee Mountain View projects).

(photo from michaelheacock.com)

Today we met with Michael Heacock. He was also great to speak with.

We are now confirming a few things: the spray-in insulation is best (expands and also stays flexible to maintain seals), but can cost 3 times as much as conventional insualation. This is fine because you recoup the cost relatively quickly; you just have to be ready for the up-front cost. Also, solar water heating is definitely worth it in California (lots of sun + some tax breaks = can recoup your cost in 5-8 years). Solar photovoltaic is more like a 10-year recoup time.

Michael's is a straight-up architecture outfit as well.

We met with Sunny Tam of studio02 today. Another nice meeting. Sunny provides straight-up architectural services, meaning his studio does not handle the general contracting, but will bid out to GCs and oversee the construction process.

We did feel that the interest in sustainable architecture and construction wasn't as strong as ours.

[photo from Henry Jackson's site]

Another good meeting. Henry has been a builder and moved into architecture. He had many interesting observations about our ideas, both in terms of design as well as logistics. Again, great familiarity with our sustainable construction/design ideas. He has a design-build partnership with his builder partner so we can go that route throughout the length of the project. Budget: still scary.

Also, our dog thought it was great we brought someone into the house to play with him again. :) He can look forward to at least two more meetings this coming week.

The past owners of a coworker's home used this architect for new plans for a remodel on their home:
http://www.schulte-architecture.com/

Notes: I like the work on their site; I'm not sure they're necessarily into sustainable design, since it isn't mentioned on the website.

Today, we met with a principle of Vox Design Group. It was a very good meeting. Our dog thought it was awesome we brought someone into the house to play with him.

I realize that I probably can't be totally transparent about the discussions in these vendor meetings, but I can say he had some good responses to our requirements and ideas (some of them actually reduce the size of our project, so that's nice), the majority of information and stats he cited were consistent with our research. He was familiar with nearly all the green design & energy efficient ideas we have in mind. The budget is a little bit scary, we should expect to have to move out during construction, 50% of project time = design and planning, 50% = the physical construction. Lots learned, and lots of thinking to do.

Vox is a design-build outfit, meaning they also act as the general contractor and work directly with the sub-contractors (plumbing, electrical, etc.).

We finally have a layout we feel pretty good about. It seems it will be within square footage limitations and covers everything that we're looking for. I'm sure we'll run into many obstacles, but as a client who will need a design consultant, we finally know enough about what we're shooting for...and now we go from there. Time to find an architect, or, a really really great builder.

Here's our first start on the hunt:

NOT SO BIG HOUSE's website has a list of professionals. Note: the list members are formally interviewed or vetted; they just have to demonstrate enthusiasm for not-so-big living.
Here's the URL: http://notsobighouse.com/directory.asp

Here's what I found so far:

Sargent Construction, Inc. (remodeler)
http://www.sargentconstruction.com/
Rich Sargent
Burlingame, CA
(650) 949-4009

Alice Y. Hwang Architect, AIA
Mountain View, CA
415-244-5607

---

We saw this place walking around downtown Mountain View:
Vox Design Group
http://www.voxdesigngroup.com/

---

LEED AP DIRECTORY:
My sister-in-law, who does planning consulting in the Chicago area, gave us this link:
https://ssl27.cyzap.net/gbcicertonline/onlinedirectory/

And here's what she found doing a quick search of Mountain View, Sunnyvale, and Palo Alto. In no particular order:
http://www.henryjacksonarchitect.com/

http://www.michaelheacock.com/projectsprefab.html

http://www.carriegomez.com/
[update, 2011-04-08: not currently practicing
but she called back and gave me the name of her employer who does LEED-certified work:

Ken Hayes
Hayes Group
http://www.thehayesgroup.com/
650-365-0600
they do both commercial and residential work]

http://www.studio02.net/