certified green professional
essential 3 llc delivers green home designs to discerning clients
gregarious and down to earth, building designer karen boden of wimberley is poised to paint the hill country green, one exceptional custom home at a time. as founder of essential 3 llc and a certified green professional, at a time. as founder of essential 3 llc and a certified green professional, karen commands a plethora of skills and experiences to assist clients fortunate enough to have her on their team.
“karen has designed our home, incorporating our ideas, and extending them, to lend more beauty combined with more practicality. having used architects in the past, we find karen to be the fastest, the most accurate, and the most personally involved in the design. it isn’t just a job to her,” says renowned artist edward povey of his wimberley home and studio.
replete with masterful strokes of whimsy and monumental statements of individuality, the home that karen designed for edward povey and his wife, donna tolar, well illustrates a guiding principle behind all of karen’s projects: proactive communication and collaboration to accomplish a singular custom home for her clients.
“i work with my clients to design homes that grow from their needs and desires,” says karen. “if you want a home for your lifestyle, get plans designed that match you. don’t make yourself match existing plans from the internet or a catalog. i’ve never heard a client say of a catalog plan, ‘i love it just the way it is.’ you end up spending money for changing things when you could have had a custom plan design in the first place.”
with her designs tailored to each homeowner, including their level of commitment and budget for environmental considerations, karen infuses her work with awareness and attention to sustainable and energy efficient design and building techniques. the texas hill country climate is prime candidate for many elements of green design, including rainwater collection systems and solar water heaters, spray foam insulation and double glazed windows.
“karen understands “green” issues, and helped us to attain the level of sustainability and green economy that we wanted—within our budget,” says donna tolar. “i’m not one that says that you need to be totally green. you don’t have to go crazy; there are so many things that you can do and not spend that much more to build your home that just make total sense and have a major impact. most importantly at the start are the right roof, the right insulation, and the right windows, because those are the things you cannot change easily. the big consideration is that you don’t build too much house for your needs,” says karen.
“essential 3 incorporates site orientation, energy efficiency, water and resource conservation, sustainable or recycled products, and indoor air quality into our home designs. we try to consider all of these things and work with our clients to establish how green they want to go,” she says.
“green design seems to be a trendy thing right now, but baseline, it isn’t trendy and people are taking serious note. we are being conscious of what we are using, how much we are using, and how it’s affecting our earth. i would like something left for my grandkids,” grins karen.
karen’s passion and talent for bringing her clients’ dreams to life in earth-friendly homes will benefit several generations of families by providing tangible examples of living toward a sustainable future.
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essential 3 llc provides services that include building design, drafting, building site location, and project management with an emphasis on environmental essentials.for more information or to schedule a consultation, contact karen boden at 512-695-1356 or by email at karen@essential-3.com