SIP roofs and SIP walls in the building industry are short hand for Structurally Insulated Panels. Basically a layer rigid foam sandwiched between two layers of plywood (typically oriented strand board, or OSB) with integral structural members (2×6, 2×10, etc.). Some companies adhere the finished ceiling material like tongue and groove pine on the inside [...] Read More

The Merced is a  1,784 square foot home with 3 bedrooms and two baths. This home has the traditional lines of its Texas neighborhood, infused with a contemporary stone and truss entry.  The wide open porches almost double the living space for entertaining and relaxing and offer great views of the prairie surrounding the original [...] Read More

Solimpeks Corp has unveiled a hybrid solar panel, Volther hybrid photovoltaic-solar thermal collector, that incorporates both Photovoltaictechnology, as well as providing domestic hot water. Typically, one of the larger impediments to efficient energy harnessing from a PV system, is the fact that as the panel heats up, the efficiency drops off.  By tying the two systems together, the [...] Read More

Gravitas is a Custom Home design company.  That’s what we do, or at least, that’s a majority of what we do.  One of the immensely satisfying aspects of our job, is to work with a family, tease out their wants and needs in a new home, balance those needs with the reality of their budget, [...] Read More

We recently had the pleasure of visiting one of our smaller structures as it is going through its final steps before completion.  Derek Hurd of Gravitas worked with a couple from Texas that were permanently relocating to Boise, Idaho.  They asked Derek to design for them a small accessory dwelling unit (ADU), behind the home [...] Read More