Benefits

Amaris custom built green homes offer many unique benefits to you as the buyer. These benefits are both tangible and intangible, but together equal uncompromising quality and unprecedented value. Not only are Amaris custom built green homes architecturally appealing and finished with excellent materials, they are well built from the ground up. Your Amaris custom built green home will outperform every home in your neighborhood. In fact, your neighbors will say, ”We wish we would have built with Amaris”.

1) Energy and Water Efficient – Saving You Monthly on Energy & Water Bills

Your Amaris custom built green home will save you money on both your energy and water bills. On average, an Amaris built home will be between 45-55% more energy efficient than is required by local building codes and 40% more efficient than an Energy Star Certified home. Low flow faucets and showers, dual-flush toilets, compact plumbing systems, tankless water heaters, metered irrigation are just a few of the ways we reduce your water and sewer bills too. Saving money every month on energy and utility bills means you have extra money each month for other things more important to you. Because you are using less energy, you automatically reduce your carbon footprint too.

2) Stronger, Safer Homes – Extra Protection for You and Your Family

Every home built by Amaris Custom Homes is built to withstand higher wind events than is required by code. This is accomplished by attaching the entire exterior structure (exterior walls, floor and roof trusses) to the poured wall foundation with specially designed metal strapping. Our exterior walls are filled with 3” of closed cell insulation, which tests have shown provide at least 200% additional sheer (lateral) strength. We also use upgraded hold downs and reinforced garage doors. Together, all these systems work together to provide you and your family extra protection from high wind events. While no builder can guarantee your house against a tornado, you can be well assured you have provided your family extra protection and sleep better at night.

3) Healthier Air Quality – Healthier & Happier Family

An Amaris custom built green home is designed to reduce health related problems caused or aggravated by mold, radon, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde, and toxic chemicals (Volatile Organic Compounds). A healthier family translates into many tangible benefits such as less days missed from work or school and intangible benefits including happiness and general well being.

To achieve superior indoor air quality for you and your family, Amaris Custom Homes pays very close attention to your home’s moisture control systems, active radon management, building materials and finishing products installed, HVAC systems (heating, ventilating, air conditioning and filtration) and combustion venting systems. The details on how we accomplish all of this are too lengthy to list, but building a healthy home with Amaris Custom Homes is all about protecting the health and welfare of your family.

Amaris Custom Homes is an EPA Indoor airPLUS Partner and recognized by the MN Department of Health who automatically made us a Gold Standard Builder.

4) Built to Last – Reducing Time and Money Spent on Maintenance

Your Amaris custom built home is built to last, which means less time and money spent on maintenance. To achieve our goal of the best quality home for the money, Amaris Custom Homes follows a four-step durability process.

Evaluation:

When Amaris Custom Homes designs a new home, we are continually evaluating common industry problem areas that tend to cause durability issues. These include exterior and interior water and moisture, heat loss, damage caused by natural disasters as well as premature failure caused by poor design. Potential problem areas are quickly identified and designed out of the home or methods are developed for eliminating or minimizing the issue.

Planning:

Amaris Custom Homes develops a durability checklist that becomes part of the construction documents. Each of the durability measures is also incorporated into the drawings and specifications. Sub-contractors are alerted to special durability requirements via preconstruction meetings and contract documents.

Execution:

Durability measures are implemented during the construction process. Amaris Custom Homes has made significant enhancements to its construction process. Many of these improvements are now part of our standard building practices, which deliver a better quality home that don’t cost as much to maintain. A home that cost less to maintain, costs less.

Verification:

A third-party rater measures durability to ensure proper implementation.

5) Beautiful and Comfortable – Like You’d Expect From Amaris

With today’s busy lifestyle your home needs to be a place to relax and recharge. A comfortable home environment doesn’t happen by accident and Amaris Custom Homes maximizes your home’s comfort by planning every detail of your home very deliberately. We evaluate every factor that contributes to occupant comfort, starting with building and window orientation to maximize natural light. We utilize closed-cell insulation, which make your new home much quieter blocking out the noise of the outside world. Amaris Custom Homes designs its HVAC systems in such a way you will hardly hear them and the temperature will be even throughout your entire home.

Secondary Benefits

Third-party Verification

You don't have to just take our word for it either because Amaris custom built green homes are independently verified by a third-party rater at each stage in the building process. Upon completion, a series of quality and performance tests are conducted and reported by the independent third party. All of this well-documented evidence is available for you and future buyers.

Higher Resale Value

Homes built to similar standards of Amaris-built homes are selling and reselling for more money throughout the country and are proving to be smart investments.