Interview with the Owners of VISION House Austin

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Sara Gutterman: Hi there. I'm Sarah Gutterman, CEO of Green Builder Media, and I am here today with Judy and Robert Jury. So Judy and Robert, you are the owners of the vision House Art, and I'd love to hear about your experience living in the vision House. Austin. Can you talk about some of the features that you like best? Is there anything that pleasantly surprise you or anything that you're struggling in the home?

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Judy George: Well, of course, one of my favorite features is the screened in porch. It's so pleasant out there, even in the Texas heat. Mid day I've gone out there and it's it's just very relaxing.

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Robert George: And the deck is very nice. We have a beautiful view here. Looking north in the hill country. And you know we can see. Well we figured it's about 7 or 8 miles. We can see from the back into the horizon. It's very nice. And it's also shaded. So there's no, direct sun out there. Very pleasant.

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Robert George: And, some of the things I like is we have some, big ceiling fans and all the rooms which make it very pleasant. We don't have to run the the, train, AC as high as would normally be the pros and, again, I think Judy likes the open concept with, all of the open space here.

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Judy George: Definitely. Definitely. I didn't realize how just how much I was going to enjoy that. Really been nice. We've done a little bit of entertaining, since we moved in, and it was so great to be able to talk with our guests while I was finishing up the meal. So, yeah, it's that part of. It's been wonderful. Yeah.

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Robert George: Yeah. Some of the things the, appreciate or the single floor being able to, not have to worry about stairs and, going up and down. So the bedrooms are, all on the same floors with the living area, and that makes it really comfortable for us.

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Judy George: Yes.

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Sara Gutterman: So you have touched on this a little bit, but the house has been designed to be climate responsive. So how is it performing in the Texas heat?

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Robert George: Well, let's see, so far we've got, 100 and some, dollar credit with, our utility supplier, RPC. So we're still, we're generating more power with the solar than we're using with the, climate control system. So, we're happy with that.

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Judy George: And, and we've been able to we keep our thermostat set at 78 here, and it's it's still very comfortable. Now, if I'm working around the house and doing any heavy cleaning or anything, which I haven't had to do so far, but, I will turn the AC down a degree or two, but most of the time we leave it set at 78 day and night.

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Judy George: So yeah, and it's very comfortable, you know, very comfortable.

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Robert George: So I think that all the insulation that was put into that construction, both in the walls and the ceiling and the, the wrap that was put on the house as well as the, they put another insulation layer, they put the wrap around on the, OSB and then they put another layer of was it half or three quarter inch, sort of foam.

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Robert George: And then they put the Hardie board over that. So it's really well insulated.

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Judy George: Oh yes. Yes. Of course we have not tried the heating side in this yet.

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Robert George: No we haven't. Winter is like about three months. You know, probably December, January and February. And that's about it. But yeah. So it'll be a while before we get to the, the heating and, we have the fireplaces. We'll get a chance to use those, too.

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Sara Gutterman: So the house was also designed to facilitate aging in place. Is it conducive to your lifestyle and what motivated you to design and build a new green home at this stage in your life?

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Judy George: I think it is very conducive to our lifestyle now. We were not super active. But, everything within the house, it's all it's manageable. It's definitely more manageable for us. Again, just having it all on one floor, having wider doorways where we're prepared, and we haven't had a need for that yet. But down the road we may.

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Judy George: And, and that was one of the big, driving forces for us because we are both in our mid 80s and, we've had some health issues in the past that have limited us, in various areas. And so, I believe if this is going to be absolutely perfect for us as we get older, how.

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Sara Gutterman: Specifically has this home impacted your comfort and your health as well as just energy efficiency, cost savings? You touched on durability and maintenance, but can you talk about, how this house is now contributing positively, to those different elements?

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Robert George: Yes. Well, the only utility bill we have now is the water. Okay. And, the home is all electric, so there's no no gas. It's, as long as the, we have, sunshine here in Texas, we should be in good shape, because the solar makes up for all of our electric utility. And that was one of the goals that we had when we were looking for, a new home is we wanted to eliminate, the utility bills and, the bother with having to worry about, you know, whether we're going to continue to be able to afford utility uses, you know, cost keep going up and and it's nice to be

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Robert George: able to say, well, you know, we don't have to worry about, and peak for electricity here in the future.

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Sara Gutterman: Anything in particular about the Henry products that, really stand out to you?

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Judy George: Well, I think one of the uniqueness, factors is the way that first layer went on. It was like putting Saran wrap on the house. It it looks great. And, you know, we came down and watched after they put this layer on and there were I mean, it was just, no nails were evident. Yeah. You know, it covered everything beautifully.

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Judy George: And, it definitely seems to be doing the job it was intended for.

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Robert George: And they put another type on the the roof to the, roof underlayment. They have, a different product that goes on that one that goes on, the house itself and one that goes on the roof. But they look nice when they put them up. The builders were not real happy about working because of the the sticky nature of that stuff.

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Robert George: So it really seals well. So yeah, both of us were happy with it done. But

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Judy George: And I and I think it's going to, I think it's going to prove itself, to be, you know, a worthwhile product.

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Sara Gutterman: Wonderful. What about the train Hvac system and controls?

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Judy George: The units working.

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Robert George: Well, and and it's.

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Judy George: Quiet.

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Robert George: Yeah. And that control interfaces with the, dehumidifier and stuff. So that's all linked together. And if the exhaust fan over the, stove runs, it, makes up air and dehumidifiers it when it brings it into the house. So that's all linked together. But, like we said earlier, that stuff we don't see, it's all sort of hidden back there.

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Robert George: And, we just know that it's, very comfortable here.

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Judy George: Yes.

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Sara Gutterman: What about the James Hardie fiber cement siding and trim and soffits? Robert, this goes to some of the maintenance issues. I suspect that you were talking about.

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Robert George: We have, of course. We haven't had it long enough to know about maintenance, but, it really looks nice. I mean, they've used the Hardie products everywhere, especially in the, the covered, porch area. All of the siding. Well, I don't know if you'd call it siding, but, the framing around the the screens and the doors and everything is all the hardy stuff, and it's not going to warp or show any, discoloration because it does get some rain on it because it is an open area.

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Robert George: So but so far we haven't had any problems with now.

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Judy George: And we're very familiar with Hardy because, we had to have some of the siding on our old home replaced. And this was several years ago, and we went with Hardy at that point and, had absolutely no issues with it at all. So I was very happy when, when I learned they were going to be putting it on the new house.

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Sara Gutterman: What about the Andersen windows and doors?

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Robert George: Oh they're beautiful. Yes they are. I like the open area that we can look out. And Judy wanted to put shades on, and I said, no, no, not not in the living area at all. So all the windows are open here in this area where we're just like your house behind you. Yes. It looks similar to that.

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Robert George: So I really like that.

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Judy George: Well, and again, we're familiar with Andersen products because and our former home, we replaced all our windows. And that was a few, again, a few years ago, maybe eight years ago, and have had no problems. And in fact, it solve some of the issues we did have. Yeah. So, we're familiar with it and, it's, and these, these windows here, and the doors are, like rubber said, they're beautiful.

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Judy George: They really add to the decor of the home.

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Sara Gutterman: Tell me a little bit about the flooring and tile and countertops from IHF. That is the parent company for brands like Armstrong and Glass Wall Tile.

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Judy George: Oh, wow. What can I say. But again, beautiful. The countertops are just as a dream for me. I'm very happy with, the the countertops that I picked out, and I've had lots of compliments on them. And people are actually amazed when we mention that they're, porcelain. And it's like, oh, I never heard of that used for countertops.

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Judy George: So, so we're introducing people to something new and, the flooring, the flooring is absolutely gorgeous. I love it, it's, light. It just adds to the, the brightness in the home, as do the countertops and all. I mean, everything is just it just makes it so much lighter and brighter. The tile is is really nice.

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Judy George: And we've used it in, you know, lots of areas. Of course, all the, all the wet areas and the tile.

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Robert George: The bathrooms.

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Judy George: And.

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Robert George: Showers.

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Judy George: So, you know.

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Robert George: And surround and all that, it's all the same color. And so the whole blends pretty seamlessly.

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Judy George: It does. It just makes the home look nice and actually makes it more comfortable.

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Sara Gutterman: Speaking of comfort, I suspect that for brow cool metal roof, with energy efficiency and cost savings and just keep in Riverside.

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Robert George: And the, the architect for the additional touch on that by having the, metal roof separated from the underlayment by some one by, roofing that, like, you know, it's or lap stripping that allows for air movement underneath the metal roof. And it also helps keep the metal in this, that roof is something that they call Galveston that, does a lot for reflecting, heat away from the house.

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Robert George: And, that is something we were looking forward to make sure we get, the lowest penetration, of heat into the interior for the air circulation, plus all the insulation that's in the attic. You know, I think we've got a real good, roofing system here.

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Judy George: For the solar, too, which. Yeah, the solar. It's a great product to put the solar panels on.

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Sara Gutterman: What about the timber tech? Composite decking.

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Robert George: I'm looking out there. Yeah, yeah, and that is. It's really beautiful the way they put it, they, put it in two colors. Different, color on, sort of a border effect. And then, plus the railing and everything. It it's just a beautiful deck. I didn't realize it would be that.

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Judy George: Yeah. And we've had loads of compliments on it. One of the, you know, one of the builders even mentioned, he said, oh, he said, you you really got a winner here. He said, this is absolutely is, is one of the best products I've worked with. So yeah.

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Sara Gutterman: Indeed. Well it's both sustainable and durable in addition to beautiful.

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Judy George: Yeah. Right. That's nice. And I know we're going to get a lot of use out of it because it does phase our nice view. And in fact, we had company on the fourth and we sat out there on the deck and watched the fireworks. So it was a perfect, viewing, situation. So, yes.

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Sara Gutterman: How are you enjoying the GE appliances?

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Judy George: Well, I love them. I haven't had a chance to use all of the features. I'm anxious to, try the, air frying feature in the ovens. I understand that. That's, from different people who have air fryers. They love it. So, I'm working on that. Working up to it. But, yeah, they're.

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Judy George: Those are very nice. I've use the ovens frequently, even in the summer, because, because we are able to keep the home comfortable and, so that's that's great. I love the induction cooktop. I had tried a little induction plate just to see what induction cooking was like, but it's nothing like what I have now. It's it's been really great as far as I love to cook on it.

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Judy George: I'm still learning because things tend to cook a little faster and with a lower heat. So. So there's there's a bit of a learning curve there, but.

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Robert George: All the appliances are, linked, to smartphones and Bluetooth and they're all tied together, with Wi-Fi. So everything talks to everybody else and. Yeah, monitors all the energy usage too, and.

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Judy George: Well, and things like, I forgot.

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Robert George: The dishwasher.

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Judy George: Yeah. Starting the dishwasher. I had set it because I wanted to try. There's a, time delay on there, and so I set that, and, I pushed the button on my phone to do it. It turned out I had forgotten to shut the door on the dishwasher tightly. So of course it didn't start. But anyway, I learned a lesson there, and it is nice to be able to, you know, set it and forget it.

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Judy George: And the the washer combo washer dryer combo is been very interesting. It's been a little bit of a learning curve there, but I like it and I think it's an ideal product for a small family or like us, it's just the two of us. Now, if you had a large family, I could understand wanting separate washer and dryers because you're going to be doing multiple loads at the same time.

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Judy George: But for us to just put it in and forget it, hey, it's great and it really doesn't take that much longer, if at all, to do to do both washing and drying. So yes, it's turned out to be very nice.

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Sara Gutterman: Talk to me about the savant smart home system for demand side energy management.

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Robert George: First, that the system has lots of, advantages and properties that I like. And, you know, being able to see where everything's going and be able to control it is very nice. And right now it's performing excellent with, solar panels that we have installed. So, like I said, we are, accredited on our, peak utility bill.

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Sara Gutterman: And then, last but certainly not least, tell me a little bit about the field controls, whole home indoor air quality system.

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Robert George: Well, again, like we said, that's sort of, you know, out of sight, out of mind. We don't really see it. We know it's there working. We know it's supplying fresh air and the dehumidifier air, when the house needs it.

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Judy George: Like I say, it's not physically visible. And,

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Robert George: You don't hear it running.

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Judy George: So.

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Robert George: You know, it's automatic. So, there's it doesn't show it's present, but, and.

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Judy George: It's, we're happy to have it. Yeah, yeah.

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Sara Gutterman: So do you have any advice, for members of our audience who are looking to design, build, or buy a sustainable home?

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Judy George: We're very happy with the the cost savings that we're seeing. We're happy with the the comfort of the home. Yeah. I just I just think I'm big on this. I just think it's really important for people to start looking at, more sustainable homes and and do what they can, to, to attain that.

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Robert George: Yeah. We were fortunate that we found an architect that has the same mindset as we do. So that's and that's why it did takes longer because we went back and forth, you know. You know, let's look at this. Let's look at that. And you know, they understood what we were trying to do. We were trying to find something that is sustainable and will last us, you know.

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Robert George: Yeah, we, as we age and we want to age a lot longer, too, because we want to stay with the plan.

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Judy George: But, yeah, I mean, we we have talked about this for.

00:21:03:13 - 00:21:03:28
Robert George: A long.

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Judy George: Time. Yeah, probably within the last couple of decades. And it just wasn't doable until now. But, yeah, I'm. I'm definitely glad we did it.

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Robert George: Yeah, we were able to get to a point in life where we, were able to afford it, and still we needed to make the changes for health reasons and for, us being comfortable in a position where we didn't have to worry about a two story and worry about maintenance on an older home. And so, you know, I think we were very fortunate in the journey we took that we were able to make a, a pleasant outcome for all of us.

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Robert George: You know, the the builders, the architect and us as owners. Yeah. So Judy and I are very happy with the result.