As Architects and designers know site analysis is crucial to good building design.  Where are the views, where does the sun come up and go down, where are the deciduous trees located, etc. Our program shows developers and builders how to properly choose and develop the site in a green manner, which enhances and protects the site and the neighboring environment.  At this stage we also select our green team that will help our endeavor become a success.  This team includes the designer, project manager, the energy rater, and specific subcontractors needed to make the project a success.  Goals are identified by the team and a written plan of action is devised that includes the mission, the goals and the tem member roles.  

My wife, kids and myself decided that we might like a change of scenery, something with a pond and a little space.  We found a nice 3+ acre piece not too far out with good schools and the price was comparable to a nice lot in a nice subdivision.  So we bought it.   After a year of  designing, pricing, and starting construction I've actually walked on almost all of  it.  Man it was so thick in the beginning I really couldn't get a handle on what I had.  Lots of trees and lots more thick brush and vines.  I started by cutting a few trails in and out so I could get the lay of the land.  Then I bought a small tractor with a brush hog.  That has helped out a lot. I cut a driveway in around the top part of the lot around to the middle where I'd picked a good site for a house.  Made my first green discovery in the fact that you can buy crushed concrete to build your driveway out of.  Cheaper than crusher run and really packs and works better too.  Who'd have thought that Green makes economic sense.

On my site I chose a compact, three story design, selectively, hand cleared the building and access areas, and tried to lessen the impact my site as much as possible.  An on site inventory helped drive the design of the home in this direction.  Design adjustments paid off later in better line of site views, minimal encroachment of the driveway, and less glazing on the east and west sides of the home.  I even went so far as to find a used Vermeer wood chipper with about a twenty horsepower engine.  Takes stuff up to six inches in diameter.  I piled up all the tree limbs into a huge 40’ long pile and then later mulched it and it all went away.  I used the mulch for erosion control on the site.  Works great.  Had a couple of big trees that I cut up and drug to the rear of the property with my tractor, and found a guy that will take them to the wood products place for me when I’m ready so they won’t get into a landfill.  The smaller ones, I was able to cut up and split and give to my friends and family for firewood.  I’ll have sealed combustion gas fireplaces in my home so I won’t need any of it. So I missed out completely on that first clearing load to the landfill.