Would you rather drive a Yugo or a Mercedes? How about a Prius? With cars it is generally considered obvious- you get what you pay for. There are quality levels associated with cars brands and price tags. What are we talking about when we say 'quality'. Generally quality in a car refers to the power of the engine, the expected longevity of the product, the experience to the interior, the overall driving experience, etc.
Traditionally, however, in America quality has not referred fuel efficiency nor has it referred to the amount of time the car spends in the shop.
Traditionally high-end cars like Mercedes, BMW, Audi,etc do not necessarily get exceptional gas mileage and many of them have the reputation for going to shop a lot more often than- say a Toyota.
{If we start talking about even higher- valued cars (Maserati, Ferrari, Jaguar) - Gas mileage goes down, shop time goes up even more. But that is ok because they are such amazing driving experiences and usually they are not the cars we use on a daily basis - so lets not look at those for the moment.}
But lets get back to the Mercedes, BMW, Audi, Lexus etc. Nice cars. Status symbols. Fantastic! Who wants to drive a Toyota when you could drive better? These are the cars many of us drive everyday and in the last years a shift has begun to take place. Most of these companies have begun creating more energy efficient versions of their cars. In Europe more energy efficient versions of these cars have long been the norm.
Why? Because even people with plenty of money available to drive these cars have become aware of the price of oil on many levels. If you are smart enough to make enough money to buy one of these cars, you are generally smart enough to understand the value of a dollar.
[A friend of mine (a very wealthy, high achieving friend in the financial industry) asked me my opinion of the Land Rover he was about to purchase. I said right off the bat "I love it. It is a beautiful car! I have often dreamed of having one in my own driveway". he smiled. But then I said "BUT- did you know that car gets about 12 miles to the gallon?" He rolled his eyes- there she goes again, on and on about the environment. But really my argument has nothing to do with the environment this time. It is purely financial. This friends drives all over the tri-state area every day. Say he drives 100 miles a day (which he does easily- for work and on the weekends.). That would mean he would go thru just about an entire tank of gas every 2.5 days. It would cost him about $75 to fill up. That means it costs him about $225 a week- well over $11,000 a year!! simply to fill his tank!! Plus it means he has to constantly go to the gas station! What a drag. I go to the gas station once a week, spend $45, and I hate it!]
So all of these awesome car companies are going the route of the Prius...at least in the efforts toward fuel efficiency. And people are asking for it. It is slowly becoming the logical thing to drive a hybrid. It is even respected amongst the wealthy and those who don't believe in global warming. Great! There are strong reasons for fuel efficiency that have little to do with the environment.
QUALITY should refer to design, beauty, solid long lasting product, power, AND efficiency. It should be a great driving experience on every level.
The same is true of houses. You can get a builder box (a Yugo) you can get a developer home (a normal Honda Civic perhaps) or you can get something better.
That's what we design at Trillium Architects, We design anything from the Prius of houses or a Mercedes ML 450 Hybrid and beyond. If you are designing a new house or simply want to renovate or upgrade the house you are in- why waste your money? The same money can be put toward quality, efficiency, beauty and a great LIVING experience... or it can be put toward a lower quality- large quantity box.
But doesn't it cost a lot more money? Not necessarily. When we design we focus on:
1.quality of construction = energy efficiency + low maintenance
2.excellence of spacial experience and use = smaller overall square footage
3.light and air quality= less energy use and higher indoor health and a naturally cleaner environment.
4. health, beauty and textural experience of materials and products = a well loved, longer lasting home.
All of these things if planned well and executed properly may result in no or little up front additional cost and a lot less operational cost over time.
We don't design huge houses. We design extremely high quality houses of more modest size. Yes we understand that traditionally the size of your house was a status symbol. For some that will always be true(think Ferrari). But for many the quality of your house and the amazing energy efficiency of your house is the new status symbol...like a really nice new BMW X6 Hybrid.
