When Gary and I started out in 1986, we didn’t have a fancy mission statement for our company but we knew we shared a passion to build the best homes possible. Since then, houses have not only increased in size and complexity, they have also increased in quality of finishes and become more earth-friendly.  The size of the staff at Calvis Wyant Luxury Homes has increased as well.  It takes more of us to ensure that we are still accomplishing what we started out to do: build the best homes possible. The construction techniques we use to produce a “well built” home now largely translate into building a “green” home. A green home uses resources efficiently and avoids any negative impact on health and the general environment. Although only a few of our clients are willing to spend what it takes to use solar panels and collect rainwater, all of them are interested in using resources efficiently. There are some basic design and building techniques that save so much energy and so greatly enhance comfort that you should include them in your home-no matter what shade of “green” fits you best:

     1.  Design a home for our region

     Everyone wants a home with lots of natural light that assures enjoyment of our outdoor-centered lifestyle. We always use enough fenestration (that’s builder-speak for windows) to make the home bright and uplifting. At the same time, we incorporate appropriate amounts of patio cover and overhangs into our designs to properly shade as many doors and windows as possible. Our floor plans and elevations pay attention to the sun’s position throughout the year to minimize heat gain and maximize views.

     2.  Engineer the cooling system and use good equipment

     We have engineers who perform the necessary calculations to properly select and size our heating and air-conditioning equipment. A well designed system will last longer and make you feel more comfortable. You’ll often see “High SEER” (seasonal energy efficiency rating,) “HVAC” (heating, ventilating and air conditioning,) units advertised in marketing materials but high SEERs alone won’t do the job if the system isn’t designed correctly. This has to be done at the design development stage of the plan process so that there’s actually room behind the walls and ceilings to route air delivery systems for maximum efficiency.                                                 

     3.  Seal the metal ducts

     Sounds pretty obvious, doesn’t it? Surprisingly, many homes omit this critical step and rely on the crimped mechanical joints between sections of metal duct work. Large amounts of conditioned – and expensive – air escape the system at these joints if they are not sealed with mastic made for that purpose. And every time there is a loss of air on either the supply or return side of the system, the result is a pressure imbalance that causes the A/C equipment to work even harder on a hot day.

     4.  Don’t crimp the flex ducts

     Most homes these days will have some flexible air ducts which are suspended by strapping as needed along their path. The highest quality flex duct is a great product and will deliver air efficiently through non-linear spaces. But its flexibility is often abused by forcing it to make tight turns that restrict air flow. Again, the route for the ducts must be developed early in the design stage so that efficient air delivery doesn’t conflict with the aesthetics of a room.

     5.  Use dampers to control delivery

     Installed throughout the duct system are a series of adjustable dampers. These dampers can be controlled electronically to regulate the airflow to each room thereby delivering just the right amount of cooling where it’s needed.

     6.  Energy saving framing techniques

     As a former carpenter, I can tell you that the framing techniques of today are far superior to the days of yore. We now specify framing methods and blocking to stop heat convection currents from moving around inside the walls and ceilings. The framing works with the insulation package to form a barrier between the “friendly” environment inside the home and the “hostile” environment outside the insulation cocoon.

    7.  Keep the air handlers inside the insulation

     Often the leakiest part of the A/C system is at the housing of the air handler, that’s the big unit that often sits on top of a platform with duct work coming out of the top. The most efficient location for the air handler is inside the insulation cocoon, not on the outside of the house or out in the garage with the gas fumes, bugs and dust. Another good place is often the attic, but only if the home has been insulated in “cathedral” fashion.

     8.  “Cathedralize” the insulation 

      Until recently, the typical home was insulated behind all the exterior walls and across the top of the ceilings. That method of insulation is the easiest to install as an insulation crew can merely get into the attic and “blow” the ceiling with cellulose insulation through a hose. Of course, that means that the attic spaces above the ceiling insulation are extremely hot during our Phoenix summers. That heat slowly transfers through the insulation into the living spaces below and also into any A/C ducts that often run through the typically superheated attics. A more efficient way to insulate is to install the insulation at the “cathedral” or roof line above the attic, thereby keeping the attic much cooler-usually only a few degrees warmer than the living spaces below. Naturally, the attic temperature situation in cathedralized homes is far more efficient. Heat gain is reduced in the living spaces as well as any ducts located in the now cooler attics.

     9.  Use return air ducts in every room

     Have you ever had a home with a bedroom or some other room that didn’t heat or cool properly when the door was shut? When the A/C kicks on, a blast of cool air runs through the supply duct into that room. If the room has a return air duct, the increase in air pressure in the room from the newly introduced conditioned air is immediately offset by the vacuum created at the return air grille and air circulates as it should. However, if there is no return air duct in the room and the door is shut, the room becomes temporarily pressurized. The increased pressure in the room prevents some of the new colder air from entering and you suddenly have a room that won’t ever heat or cool correctly.  This problem is eliminated by designing return air ducts for all areas of the home.

     10.  Use third party inspectors to test the work

     Our A/C crews know that their work is going to be tested by independent third party inspectors on every one of our homes and those inspectors are not afraid to fail the job if it doesn’t meet our standards. Once word got out that we were hiring an outside company to test our duct work for leakage on every home, the crews responsible for installing air delivery systems rose to the occasion and made sure that their work always passed the first time!

     Are there more things that we do in each home that can make a difference? Absolutely!  Building science is always changing but you can count on us to hold fast to our mission while staying abreast of new information and technology.

     Calvis Wyant builds “green” homes” - we’ve just been calling them something else all these years!

Calvis Wyant is proud to be the recipient of three Design Excellence Awards presented by Residential Design & Build Magazine. These awards honor the best in Design and Business in the Custom Home Market.

This past summer, their panel of judges examined hundreds of entries for their 2008 Excellence Awards. The end result is a group of 30 elite projects that range from a custom home with more than 7,000 sq. ft. to details as specific as an architectural element.

Judges on this year’s panel included Mark Perlman, president, Empeco Custom Builders; John Anstad, AIA, managing principal, Orren Pickell Design Group; Tracy Holmes, president, Studio H Designs; and Craig Ciaglia, general manager, Homes by Pinnacle.

We invite you to learn more about these presigious awards and the winning projects:

EXCELLENCE AWARD IN HOME OFFICE	EXCELLENCE AWARD IN OUTDOOR LIVING AREA
EXCELLENCE AWARD IN SPECIALITY ROOM

To see more from Award-Winning Calvis Wyant Luxury Homes click here.

FROM NEXT EDGE VIDEO:   
The Emmy® Nominations for 2008 are in and we are thrilled to be recognized!  
We are honored to announce our nomination for the prestigious Emmy® Award for excellence in Photography/Videography in Advanced Media presented by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences (NATAS). The honor is particularly meaningful because it recognizes our luxury home video division and our Internet broadcasting of these beautiful homes, communities and lifestyles. From the beginning, it was a project near and dear to our hearts and we would like to thank all of our wonderful clients for embracing the concept and being so kind-hearted in your praise. We would also like to congratulate everyone on their marketing success with the videos. We are thrilled when we get your notes and emails about how happy you and your clients are. 
 
We would like to extend a special thank you to Tony Calvis of Calvis Wyant Luxury Homes and Marv & Karen Leff of Realty Executives International Premier Marketing Group for their enthusiasm from the beginning and giving us such beautiful material to work with.
 
The Emmy® Nomination was given for our portfolio of  work which included a magnificent Calvis Wyant estate in Silverleaf (Click here to see DC-1522 Video) and a profile of upscale sophisticated living at Scottsdale Waterfront Residences (with a breakout cameo by Mr. Marv Leff). To view these videos, please click through to our website www.nextedgevideo.com  

                                                                                                              

Many properties in this area are in a floodplain of some sort. The distinction between different floodplains is expressed as how often the probability of a storm delivering enough rain to flood a particular area is likely to occur. Theoretically, a 100-year floodplain should only be affected by a storm so large that the probable chance of a flood occurring is once every 100 years. Unfortunately, there have been a few years in recent memory where we had more than one 100 year storm in the same season!  Properties financed in a High Risk Flood Area (Special Flood Hazard Areas, or SFHAs) require annual flood insurance.  This generally includes areas with flood zone designations other than B, C, or X.  FEMA defines flood zones on Flood Insurance Rate Maps (FIRMs), which evaluate levels of flood risk.  Zones B, C, and X are considered Low to Moderate Risk Zones.  As a rule, these zones have a 1% or less annual chance of flooding.  High Risk Zones, which have a higher statistical chance of different types of flooding, include zones A, AE, AH, AO, AR, A99, V, VE, and D.

LOW-TO-MODERATE RISK ZONES (Non-Special Flood Hazard Areas)
Zones B, C, and X
• Areas outside the 1% annual flood risk floodplain
• Areas of 1% annual shallow flooding risk where average depths are less than 1 foot
• Areas of 1% annual stream flooding risk where the contributing drainage area is less than 1 square mile
• Areas protected by levees from the 1% annual flood risk. Insurance purchase is not required in these zones.

 

HIGH-RISK ZONES (Special Flood Hazard Areas)
Zone A
Areas with a 1% annual flood risk and a 26% risk of flooding over the life of a 30-year mortgage. Because detailed analyses are not performed for such areas, no depths or base flood elevations are shown within these zones.

Zones AE and A1-A30
Areas subject to a 1% or greater annual chance of flooding in any given year. Base flood elevations are shown as derived from detailed analyses. (Zone AE is used on new and revised maps in place of Zones A1-A30).

Zone AH
Areas subject to a 1% or greater annual chance of shallow flooding in any given year. Flooding is usually in the form of ponding, with the average depths between one and three feet. Base flood elevations are shown as derived from detailed analyses.

Zone AO
River or stream flood hazard areas, and areas with a 1% or greater annual shallow flooding risk, with flooding usually in the form of sheet flow with average depths between one and three feet. Average flood depths are shown as derived from detailed analyses.

Zone AR
Areas subject to a 1% or greater annual chance of flooding in any given year, which results from a temporary increased flood risk due to the building or restoration of a flood control system (such as a levee or a dam).

Zone A99
Areas subject to a 1% or greater annual chance of flooding in any given year, but which ultimately will be protected by completion of a flood protection system under construction. No base flood elevations or flood depths are shown.

Zone V
Coastal areas with a 1% or greater flood risk and an additional hazard associated with storm waves. Because no detailed analyses have been performed of these areas, no base flood elevations are shown.

Zones VE and V1-30
Coastal areas with a 1% or greater flood risk and an additional hazard associated with storm waves. Base flood elevations are shown as derived from detailed analyses. (Zone AE is used on new and revised maps in place of Zones A1-A30).

 

UNDETERMINED-RISK ZONES
Zone D
In areas of possible but undetermined flood risk, flood insurance rates reflect the uncertainty of the flood risk.

 

FLOOD INSURANCE
Flood insurance protects you from the financial devastation caused by floods. Even a few inches of water can bring thousands of dollars in repair and restoration costs. Most homeowners insurance does not cover floods. You need flood insurance.

Flood insurance, like earthquake insurance, is “single peril” insurance, sold separately from homeowners insurance. Flood insurance protects against losses to buildings and their contents, not the land surrounding them. The coverage applies whether the flooding results from heavy or prolonged rains, coastal storm surge, snow melt, blocked storm drainage systems, levee dam failure, or other causes. To be considered a flood, the waters must cover at least two acres or affect at least two properties.

Flood insurance is available both within and outside of floodplains. Your property’s flood risk is shown on flood hazard maps. Different types of policies are available depending on your flood risk.

If you live in a high-risk area, you will need a Standard Policy. Most mortgage lenders will require that you have such a policy before they will approve your loan.

Outside of high-risk areas, flood insurance is also available, usually at lower cost. A Preferred Risk Policy covers both a home and its contents, with premiums as low as $119 per year. While you aren’t federally required to have flood insurance in a low-to-moderate risk area, that does not mean you won’t ever need it. Large floods often extend beyond the boundaries of high-risk areas and smaller floods occur outside high-risk areas as well. In fact, a quarter of all flood insurance claims come from low-to-moderate risk areas.

Flood insurance is sold and serviced by private insurers, and backed by the federal government. More than 85 companies sell flood insurance. Often the same insurance agent who wrote your homeowners insurance policy can help you obtain flood insurance. Flood insurance costs the same wherever you purchase it, because the rates are set by the National Flood Insurance Program.

Flood insurance covers both homes and businesses. With residential coverage you can get up to $250,000 of insurance to protect your home and up to $100,000 to protect its contents. If you are located in (or moving into) a high-risk area, federally regulated or insured lenders will require you to have flood insurance for the amount remaining on your mortgage, or $250,000, whichever is lower. With commercial coverage, you can get up to $500,000 of insurance to protect your building and up to $500,000 to protect its contents.

If you have additional questions regarding flood zones and/or flood insurance, please feel free to contact Tony Calvis at 480-905-0200 or 480-220-9900.  The Calvis Wyant team is always happy to provide information to industry members as well as potential customers.  We invite you to visit our website at calviswyant.com where you will find other topics of interest and can sign up to receive our monthly newsletters.

I pushed my patient and long-suffering staff hard to get a Calvis Wyant blog figured out and started, so naturally it happened at an incredibly busy time in the Calvis family’s life. The first-born son and namesake of this Italian father (for those that haven’t heard the story, our last name used to be “Calvisi” ; it was suggested to my grandfather at Ellis Island that a more “American” last name would help his job prospects) officially moved out to start school in California as a film student and beach-goer. His traumatized mother is there with him helping him get set up in his new digs and easing the transition for both. That leaves me home alone with my wonderful daughter Rachel for some quality time together with dad - probably much to her chagrin. She’s 15 and I’m definitely not cool right now…

It has been explained to me by aficionados of social networking that blogs should be used to chat about one’s life and give the reader some idea of what’s important to the writer, what makes him or her tick. I don’t know if I can quite manage all that the first time out; if someone wants to ask some direct questions about that sort of thing, they may have to call me or stop by for a face-to-face meeting. I’ll try to answer honestly, but it seems like there might be more fascinating things to explore.

Unless, of course, you’re in the middle of trying to do business of some sort with us, because business cannot be done without the existence of trust. Transactions where the risk of loss or negative consequence is relatively small don’t merit a lot of time building trust. Neither do mundane or common everyday purchases. When you go to the car wash, get gas (which used to be a minor transaction…) or buy a grande with a double shot of espresso, you might make small talk and be polite but there usually isn’t going to be an exhaustive interview of the company representatives you’re dealing with. You don’t need their story in order to do business at their store.

However, if it’s a transaction that will be very expensive, involve a large time commitment, have an emotional significance, affect your quality of life or perhaps it’s an important investment you hope to see a return on - well, you’re going to spend a lot of time developing a high level of  trust before you actually sign the papers. We could be talking about your doctor, jeweler, stockbroker, maybe even your homebuilder. You won’t - and you shouldn’t - buy until you know a lot about who you are dealing with. Which is I guess the point of this new blogging thing. Maybe I’d better take it seriously…

Thanks for reading this-
Tony

Tony is out of town for a few days and I graciously offered to make the first posting.  Well, that’s not actually how it happened………………

When Tony announced he would be gone for several days, he rattled off a list of things he needed help with, one of which was someone to look after his new dog.  Being a dog lover (I have three at home,) I jumped at the chance to care for a cute little puppy.  Besides, nobody else in the office offered.  What was wrong with them anyway?

It wasn’t until last night when Tony was walking out of the office that I realized I was in charge of his blog, not his dog.  Wait, I changed my mind!  What am I supposed to do with this jeweled collar and chew toy?

Anyway, I’m here now and ready to fulfill my duty as promised.

So, what would Tony say if he were here?

“Let’s meet at one of our completed specs – we’ll have some wine and stinky cheese.”

Or, “Stop by and tour the office.  You’ll love my personal commentary, (that has been known to embarrass my staff.”)

Or, “Just buy one of our damn houses, will you!?”

We invite you to check back to see what Tony will really say!  Will it be  informative, funny, insightful, fresh, quirky?  We only promise it will be “Uniquely Tony!”

Karen Dunlap, Customer Service, Puppy Queen, and Blogger

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