Take a look inside the Chuckanut Cottage just one of the small homes you will find from Building Design Services in Bellingham, Washington. The design services offered include small homes, in-law suites, and ADUs. A fundamental component of sustainable and green design is to build as small as possible. This reduces loads in the areas of building materials, energy, and building performance as well as environmental impacts. ADUs give opportunities for studios and in-laws’ cottages. They promote low-impact living with their expertise in and passion for smaller home design. Building Design Services was founded in 1990 by Deborah Todd who is a certified Building Designer, certified Sustainable Building Adviser, and LEED-accredited professional. BDS designs finely crafted, custom, single-family residences that set the standard for functionality, sustainability, and aesthetics. With a passion for community building, BDS has designed collaborative communities, multi-family projects, and aging-in-place residences.

In addition to completing over 400 homes in the Pacific Northwest, projects can also be found in Hawaii, Arizona, California, and the Bahamas. Building Design Services has been recognized for designs that are beautiful, sustainable, and affordable. Collaborative from the start, the team remains committed to helping clients realize their dreams in a manner that is creative, productive, and fulfilling. At the same time, it has earned a reputation from both government planning agencies, as well as, building contractors for its high design standards, proficiency in computer modeling, and professional integrity. Remodels and Additions. The primary objective with remodels and additions is to blend the existing with what is possible in the context of the homeowner’s goals. Style, budget, and existing conditions guide the design. Like all Building Design Services projects, careful attention is paid to conforming to current sustainable design benchmarks.

The goal of green building design is to reduce a building’s environmental impact. To achieve this goal, organizations are turning to innovative building solutions that can help protect and heal the Earth. When it comes to heating and cooling methods of thermal and solar heating and cooling are beginning to gain attention. These methods are relatively low-threshold, high-impact design techniques that can not only be incorporated into new structures but also be used to retrofit existing ones. The need for innovation in this area is urgent. The need for conventional air conditioning and heating systems could be eliminated by strategically constructing structures to make use of sunlight and thermal mass objects. These building materials, which are dense enough to absorb and store heat energy, include large bricks made of building materials such as earth, concrete, or stone.

Thermal mass building materials, when strategically placed, could absorb the day’s sunlight and then release that heat energy during the night hours to regulate a structure’s temperature. Firms and research centers around the world are developing approaches that could effectively harness thermal and solar energy, drastically reducing or eliminating the need for fossil-fueled heating and cooling. Building Materials. Using natural and recycled building materials provides multiple benefits by reducing waste, lowering a project’s material costs, and mitigating the environmental costs necessary to produce new materials. Innovative designers are using everything from reclaimed wood and building materials to recyclable discarded items like glass and plastics in building structures of all types.