High-Performance Homes

Building a beautiful, healthy home means so much more than high-style interiors. It also means choosing high-performance construction and low-impact materials. This comprehensive approach to building fresh, eco-friendly homes describes the team approach of St. Louis-based R.E.A. homes, LLC and The Design Source Ltd.

Jeff Bogard, president of R.E.A. Homes, and Kris Keller, president of The Design Source Ltd., feel strongly about the team approach and the superior results achieved for clients. In 2011, they formed a new consulting firm, Bogard Keller Design Build Consulting, in an effort to advocate for and educate perspective clients that there truly is a better way to approach residential projects. The key to their success involves assembling a winning team, including the client, architect, builder and the interior design firm from day one. This gives the client the best results possible, including the best overall value. 

With a comprehensive offering that emphasizes smart, high-performance construction, the company creates homes that live big, but have small carbon footprints. “True luxury,” says Jeff, “combines beautiful finishes and lower utility bills, comfortable interiors and good indoor air quality. What’s behind the drywall is equally as vital as what is in front.” Jeff is a certified green professional; a designation administered by the National Association of Home Builders, and was named a fully credentialed LEED green associate by the United States Green Building Council.

The team’s most recent project is a transitional home in Town & Country. Stylish and breathtaking inside and out, this luxurious residence showcases Kris’ artful, elegant interior design, in perfect balance with high-performance construction and functionality by Jeff and architect Dick Busch. As with all of the team’s projects, they worked closely with the homeowners to design a home that incorporated high-performance construction and luxury interiors as one. Both objectives were extremely important, as the homeowners’ son carries the diagnosis of asthma and allergies.

The home is 73 percent more efficient than houses being built to the International Energy code and up to 90 percent more efficient than many homes built in the St. Louis area. Every aspect of the home’s design was considered before being incorporated into the construction plans. “The ultimate luxury home starts with properly engineered and installed HVAC systems and proper insulation for the entire home,” says Jeff.

Some of the many innovative elements of the home include ground-source heat pumps comprised of 22, 200-feet deep, wells that heat and cool the house, swimming pool and hot water; indoor air filtered to hospital-operation-room-standards, which guarantees that every room is within one degree of its set temperature; a rainwater harvesting system that provides 200,000 gallons of rainwater per year and serves indoor uses as well as outdoor landscaping needs; and solar panels to provide a significant portion of the home’s electric power. “It’s the way it performs initially and over time,” says Jeff. “Everybody would rather pay less than more on their monthly utilities now.”

Marc Bluestone, president of Home Green Home, an energy efficiency and sustainability consultant agency, has praised the home as a “remarkably efficient house, especially for its size,” and comments that, “there aren’t more than a handful of homes in the whole country that are this efficient.”

Jeff worked with Marc and Home Green Home on much of the house’s energy design, including its advanced insulation and ventilation system, the home automation system, the locally sourced materials used and walls built using optimization software to minimize waste. 

The company’s hard work and dedication to build a sustainable home was certainly a success. Not only do the homeowners love their happy, healthy home, so do local and national sustainability professionals. The house has been awarded four green certifications, including Gold St. Louis Home Builders Association, Silver National Home Builders Association, Energy Star and EPA Indoor Air Plus. In addition to those honors, the house is also expected to earn certification under the prestigious LEED For Homes program. 

To learn more about this fantastic, eco-friendly home, click here to read the Suburban Feature in SLHL’ January/February 2012 issue.