Click here to visit FreeGreen or send an email at info@freegreen.com
FreeGreen Turns House Design Industry on its Head: Brings Green to the Masses
FreeGreen.com Launches—Offers Free Green Home Plans to Consumers, a New Advertising Medium to the Home Products Industry and an Open source Platform for Designers
Boston, MA, May 6, 2008 --(PRWeb)—Consumers who once believed “green” to be a status reserved for those in the upper echelon of the housing market can now get green home plans for free.
David Wax and the Freegreen team are upending the traditional stock house plan business model. They are bringing their green plans to the masses by charging exactly what most builders and clients are willing to pay for house designs: nothing.
In the home design industry, good design is hard to come by. The majority of the 200 web sites offers the usual colonial and ranch style designs, provide consumers with shabby construction documents and charge $750 - $2,000 dollars per plan.
FreeGreen wants to change this. They offer modern green designs, detailed construction documents, 3D computer generated renderings, and a slew of other features traditional sites choose to skimp out on.
Plans rendered in photorealistic detail offer a dynamic new advertising medium. Rather than charge customers for a stock home plan, FreeGreen will instead charge product vendors, retailers, and other home building firms a slotting/performance fee for specifying their products and services in the home plans.
Consumers are able to visualize the interior of their new home. They are also able to view the environmentally friendly products that will complete the design.
In the building of a green home, the selection of these materials and complementary mechanical systems is of equal importance—not only for the design, but to achieve the desired performance efficiency of the home and applicable green certification.
David Wax, CEO of FreeGreen Inc., explains that, “Selecting these products can be an overwhelming task and an experienced green architect is not an option for most consumers.”
FreeGreen.com allows builders and homeowners to select and customize home plans in a well organized online experience. Based upon user selections, a large-format PDF of buildable architectural documents, product lists, and local contractors is compiled and provided free for download.
Right now there are two designs are ready for download: A traditional family living style home and the more modern suburban loft.
Design principle, Ben Uyeda says, “We are working as hard as we can to deliver more plans and options each month. We encourage users to submit feedback and even submit designs.”
TreeHugger writer Lloyde Alter is excited about the new site.
Architects can't make money doing one-off houses and most people aren't willing to pay for it, or don't even value it. The traditional model is broken, so why not market architecture like software or blogs and give it away, making money from the ads? Finally there is a model where somebody "looks forward to helping you [architects and designers] get the exposure and revenue you deserve."
When confronted with the question of, “Why free,” Wax responded, “There is no integration today between stock home plans and home product vendors. This leaves vendors outside the supply chain for this segment of home building and requires them to invest in blanket marketing efforts such as print and internet banner ads. The real value to be gained from selling home plans is not the price commanded for the plan, but what vendors will pay to sell their products into that home.”
About FreeGreen Inc.
FreeGreen was founded by five principals who also founded Independence Energy Homes (IEH), a leading high-end custom green home architecture firm. The company launched their site on April 1st, 2008. The site provides customizable “green” home plans to consumers for free. The plans come complete with photorealistic renderings, construction details, floor plans and elevations, regionally specific energy data, a list of local contractors and a detailed list of construction materials. The company also offers design customization and consultation.
At FreeGreen we hope to encourage progressive building practices by making green home designs free for everyone.
Click here to visit FreeGreen or send an email at info@freegreen.com
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