WHAT IS BUILDING GREEN?

Green Building is a design and construction process that saves energy and natural resources while protecting the environment. A green home uses less energy, water and natural resources, creates less waste and promotes the health and well-being of the home owners and their families. Westchester Modular Homes participates in the Energy Star and LEED programs that encourage the growth of green building.

THE ADVANTAGES OF BUILDING GREEN

Modular manufacturing by its very nature is Green by recycling materials, reducing material waste and a having a low environmental impact on the job site. Every Westchester Modular Home is built in a climate controlled factory in Wingdale, NY. Building this way reduces the chance of weather related damage or costly delays in completion of the home. Building in a environmentally controlled environment also eliminates the possibility of lumber becoming wet and incurring mold damage.

Westchester Modular Homes are energy efficient as well. Quality engineering and the latest construction techniques significantly increase the energy efficiency of your new modular home. Your energy costs will be lower and your home will be more comfortable with less drafts and humidity because every Westchester Home is built with R-19 Wall Insulation and R-38 Ceiling Insulation. In addition, Westchester uses 2x6 framing for walls which allows more insulation to be placed in the wall, thereby ensuring greater energy efficiency. Finally, Westchester Homes have much less air infiltration, which is one of the largest causes of heat loss in a home. By these energy-saving features, the customer will pay less to heat their homes in winter and cool their homes in summer.

Post & Beam construction is a centuries old technique of joining vertical posts and horizontal beams to create the skeletal frame of a building. Post & Beam construction materials need not be solid timber. Often, they are steel posts, concrete and laminated conventional lumber. Most Post & Beam manufacturers simply use exposed metal plates and through-bolts to secure the members together.

A Timber Frame home is a classification of Post & Beam construction. The majority of Timberpeg^® homes use the timber frame construction method, which is to build using solid timbers with integral mortise-and-tenon joinery, secured with wooden pegs eliminating the need for unsightly exposed metal fasteners. Occasionally, we may use pre-installed and concealed bolted timber connections when requirements suggest that a wood-to-steel connection may be preferable. Our over-riding goal is to provide you with the most secure timber frame that will withstand the test of time without exposed metal fasteners, which we feel take away from the natural beauty of the timber frame.

WOOD JOINERY TYPES

Traditional mortise-and-tenon joinery is at the heart of every Timberpeg^® design. The centuries old technique of joining timbers secured with oak pegs is the primary fastening system. Housed tenon, bird-mouth, shouldered, fork & tongue, dovetail, tusk tenon, and splines are but a few of the more common joinery techniques used.