INTRO:

In an effort to orient you so you can get the most out of our website, we wanted to answer the following two questions:

  1. 1. How should I use FreeGreen?
  2. 2. How should I navigate the FreeGreen’s Site?


HOW SHOULD I USE FREEGREEN:

We know that we will have different types of users visiting our site—in fact, we planned for it! There are essentially two main paths to viewing our content:

  1. 1. Start in the virtual tour to learn about the plans and products, then download the detailed plans
  2. 2. Go straight to downloading the detailed plans

See below for how we think you should use the site—but don’t let our ideas stop you from coming up with your own!

Consumer:

  • You’re in the market to have a home built for you and looking for house plans, products, and design ideas
  • You’re remodeling or building your own home and looking for products and design ideas

While you’re welcome to download FreeGreen plans immediately, we recommend you browse through the virtual tour to understand the different product options and design schemes that are available for your home plan. Plus, FreeGreen’s My Favorites, Learn More, and Send a Brochure functions make it easier than ever to keep track of and seek further information about the products you find most interesting.

Designers:

  • You’re looking for design ideas or new products to feature in your designs
  • You’re interested in seeing different approaches to green design in a residential setting

They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery—who are we to stop you? (We won’t tell!) Feel free to learn more about products and how our designers created each space by browsing the virtual tour and downloading the full plans. In fact, we’d like you to tell us how you used a product you found on FreeGreen!

Builders:

  • You’re looking for quality house plans to build on spec
  • You or a client would like to build a green home but don’t know how to design one or can’t afford a custom green architect
  • You’d like to learn more about green building products

For builders, we recommend that you first download one of the home plans. Our aim is to make your life easier; we hope the detailed plans and specification sheet will save you hours from having to research which materials to specify during your estimating process. We’d love to hear your feedback and thoughts on the plans—and of course if you decide to build a home with the plans, let us know about that as well!



Site Use & Navigation:

Beyond the high quality, green, energy efficient house plans that FreeGreen gives away, there are several unique site features that we’d like to explain to you:

Product Lines and Plan Options

The first thing to orient yourself around are the concepts of Product Lines and Plan Options. As FreeGreen’s library grows, it will offer more and more product lines to choose from. Similar to a car manufacturer’s product lines that feature two-door, four door, or sport models, so too does FreeGreen offer you different models or Plan Options within each Product Line.

These Plan Options let you select different versions of a particular product line, such as a two or four bedroom or a plan designed for a sloped or a flat site.

If you find that the Plan Options presented don’t suit your needs, FreeGreen is more than happy to customize them for you.



HOW SHOULD I NAVIGATE THE FREEGREEN SITE:

Beyond the high quality, green, energy efficient house plans that FreeGreen gives away, there are several unique site features that we’d like to explain to you:

Product Lines and House Plans

The first thing to orient yourself around are the concepts of Product Lines and House Plans. As FreeGreen’s library grows, it will offer more and more product lines to choose from. Similar to a car manufacturer’s product lines that feature two-door, four door, or sport models, so too does FreeGreen offer you different models or House Plans within each Product Line.

These various House Plans let you select different versions of a particular product line, such as a two or four bedroom or a plan designed for a sloped or a flat site.

If you find that the House Plans presented within a product line don’t suit your needs, FreeGreen is more than happy to customize them for you.

Virtual Tour

The virtual tour allows you to see how each product line is set up from different points in the plan. Rather than just looking at a 2-dimensional floorplan, the virtual tour takes you through each of the home’s points of interest with a photorealistic rendering. You get to see the house as if it were already built!

Within each view, FreeGreen also lists the featured products and allows you to learn more about them.

Virtual Tour Features:


  • For most views in the virtual tour, FreeGreen provides several design options along the bottom of the screen. Feel free to toggle between them to see which suits your fancy.

  • At each step of the virtual tour, we describe the concept for the room you see. The room text describes the design intent while the palette text describes the elements that create the “feel” of the room.

  • Each room and design option features different products and finishes. To learn more about a particular product, click the item in the list or within the picture. A product description pops up to tell you more!

  • For products that you want to flag for reference later, it’s as easy as clicking “Add to My Favorites”. To recall your favorites, simply click the My Favorites button to take you to your list of “favorited” items. You can even sort them by product category or print your list.

  • Throughout the virtual tour, when you click a product in the rendering or in the product list to learn more, you are given the option to request a product brochure from the manufacturer or nearest distributor. This is just another way Freegreen makes it easy for you to get the products you want.

  • This feature gives you the viewing angle and location relative to the floorplan.


Download

Download is where—you guessed it—you download your home plans. But as we’ve said before, you get more than “just plans”. In addition to the very detailed planset, you’ll also download the energy report, which is specific to the town or city you selected, and a welcome packet, which has additional info, tools, and resources to expand your knowledge.

Custom Design

Say you’ve found that floor plan that is almost perfect….but it could use an extra bathroom or guest room. Or maybe you want to widen it. No Problem. FreeGreen is readily able to modify or customize any of its plans. And, since the FreeGreen designers are versed in energy efficient and green design, you can rest assured that your change will not result in an energy liability.