Designing a new home is one of the most exciting, and often, most financially significant, decisions you’ll ever make. But what happens when your vision is larger than your current budget?

With autumn all around us and winter soon approaching, many of us are looking to feel the burn… from a fire, that is! One of the questions we are most often asked is: Can I put a fireplace in my high-performance home? If careful conditions are met, the answer is yes.

As the days grow shorter and the evenings get cozier, it’s only natural to reach for the light switch a little more often. But just because the lights are on longer doesn’t mean your energy bills have to spike like a vampire at sunrise.

Building a new home is a big deal, and when you make such a major investment, you want to feel confident that the people performing the work are doing it right. As with any other types of products or services, builder quality can vary significantly, especially if you are building a high-performance home.

How do you know if you’re choosing the right builder for your new home? Ask these important questions.

Have you ever walked into a house that just feels uncomfortable, no matter what the thermostat says? Maybe the floors are cold, the air feels stagnant, or there's a persistent dampness that never quite goes away. These aren't just quirks of old homes, they're symptoms of fundamental design decisions made long before you see the finished product.

At BrightBuilt Home, we believe that designing and building a new home should feel inspiring—not overwhelming. While the traditional process can be complex and opaque, our mission is to guide homeowners through a simpler, more sustainable, and more efficient process. From the first moment you connect with us to the day your home is craned onto its foundation, we've designed every step to bring clarity, collaboration, and confidence to your journey.

Your chance to save significantly on solar and battery installations ends December 31st, 2025—here's what you need to know. (Important: Tax laws can change. Please consult with a qualified tax professional for advice specific to your situation.)‍

The path to energy independence shouldn't feel like navigating a maze of missed opportunities. Yet for many homeowners, that's exactly what happens when valuable incentives quietly expire while they're still weighing their options.

Why air quality matters and how your home can help you stay healthy and comfortable, no matter what's outside.

In recent weeks, much of New England has been blanketed in wildfire smoke drifting in from afar. As unsettling as it is to see our skies dimmed and our outdoor time limited, it's also a stark reminder of something we often take for granted: the air we breathe.

While we can't always control what's happening in the atmosphere, we can make smart, proactive choices about the environments we live in. That's where high-quality HVAC (Heating, Ventilation, and Air Conditioning) systems and ERVs (Energy Recovery Ventilators) become essential allies in protecting our health and comfort.

For homeowners considering a new build or renovation, energy modeling might sound like a complex, technical term, but it’s actually an incredibly valuable tool that ensures your home is designed to perform optimally, both in energy efficiency and comfort. By leveraging advanced software, energy modeling allows us to predict how a home will function under various conditions, offering insights that guide design choices and prioritize performance. Let’s dive into how this process works and why it’s such an essential step in creating a high-performance home.

Building vs. Buying: A BrightBuilt Perspective on Coastal Living (As Featured in Dwell)

When Laura Bayne began her search for a home on the shores of St. George, Maine, she faced a common challenge: finding a home on a property that matched her goals for quality, sustainability, and long-term value. Not finding anything she liked in the existing housing stock, then experiencing the frustrations of a traditional design and build approach, she reached out to us to help her create not just a house, but a thoughtfully crafted home.

This week's question was fielded by our founder, principal, and architect extraordinaire, Phil Kaplan...

"I sell new construction, and am seeing homes that are steeply increasing in price due to rising costs in materials. Since BrightBuilt is made in a controlled environment, does this help offset some of these increases?"
                                                                   -B. Morrison, New Hampshire

We field a lot of different questions all of the time, whether on the phone, via email, during design, or in one of our webinars.  There are some questions that we hear over and over, as they seem to be common topics of concern from inquiring, intelligent minds. We understand: you want to know how it all works!  Well, we thought we’d pick a couple of favorites to help shed some light... in short answer form!

If you’ve been following our blog and newsletters for a while, you’re probably fairly familiar with the concept of the Accessory Dwelling Unit (ADU). So, let’s say you’re interested in the potential that could bring to your property. What happens next?

To help simplify your fact-finding process we’ve put together a few key things to have in place to prepare for the addition of an ADU.

Here are four steps to help ensure your ADU is a sure bet.

The season of frenzied cooking and colossal meals is fast approaching - can your kitchen keep up? High performance home design considers the efficiency and functionality of every detail, including the layout and outfitting of the rooms we use most. A well-designed kitchen improves not only the aesthetics of the space, but also its comfort and usability. To everyone who has ever dealt with a sink too small to wash pans in, or had to banish a partner from the room so there would be enough space to open the oven door; we see you, and would never do you dirty like that.

At BrightBuilt, we are lucky to get a chance to work with many different builders based across New England and beyond. We love building these relationships, and getting to know each outfit well enough to determine who might have the most impressive tool collection, who might have the cutest shop dogs, or who would be most likely to win in a local potato sack race (and of course practical things, like who would be the best fit for a given client).  

At BrightBuilt Home, we aim to design homes that are both beautiful and sustainable. To do this, we enlist a combination of materials and methods that are tuned to each other and to the environment. The net result is a home that is a holistic sum of its parts, operating harmoniously with its occupants and its surroundings. Each element plays a role.

At BrightBuilt, we are lucky to get a chance to work with many different builders based across New England and beyond. We love building these relationships, and getting to know each outfit well enough to determine who might have the most impressive tool collection, who might have the cutest shop dogs, or who would be most likely to win in a local potato sack race (and of course practical things, like who would be the best fit for a given client).

When we think about summer, images of beach days, barbecues, and perhaps a cooling dip in the pool come to mind. But let's face it, the reality often involves sweltering days when the air feels downright oppressive. Keeping cool becomes the top priority, and this is where a heat pump can be a game-changer.

At BrightBuilt, we're fortunate to collaborate with a diverse array of builders from New England and beyond. We relish building these relationships, diving deep enough to discover who boasts the most impressive tool collection, who has the cutest shop dogs, and who would undoubtedly win a local potato sack race. And of course, we also focus on the practical aspects, such as finding the best fit for each client’s unique needs.

At BrightBuilt, we are lucky to get a chance to work with many different builders based across New England and beyond. We love building these relationships, and getting to know each outfit well enough to determine who might have the most impressive tool collection, who might have the cutest shop dogs, or who would be most likely to win in a local potato sack race (and of course practical things, like who would be the best fit for a given client).