David Ide, director of customer relations for Deltec Homes in Asheville, N.C., sits down with us to explain why round homes are beautiful-and better.

CL: We're willing to bet some builders haven't even heard of you. Tell us a little about Deltec Homes.

DI: Well, we're a family-run business that has been providing finely crafted round houses to satisfied customers since 1968. We have a reputation for delivering a quality product and we're committed to customer satisfaction. We're the world's leading supplier of circular homes.

We don't do manufactured housing; our manageable size and decades of experience allow us to work with each homeowner individually and share our knowledge in ways that will be of the most benefit. The result is a unique home, special to each client's needs and one that will function and perform to the highest of standards. Our homes look great in any setting, too, from the beachfront to urban or rural areas.

Each Deltec Circular Home is hand-crafted to suit the life and style of its owner. We take pride in every home we build, using only the finest materials available to create spacious homes with open floor plans that don't box you in and with panoramic views that bring the outdoors in.

CL: But why round houses? What makes a round house better than a conventional square or rectangular house?

DI: For starters, there are several design elements that make them better. Circular structures in general are inherently more energy efficient than square- or rectangular-shaped homes. That's because, compared to a square, there's about 15 percent less outside wall area needed with a circle to enclose the same amount of space. This means 15 percent less area to gain or lose heating and cooling.

Deltec's unique trussed roof design also allows for continual roof venting throughout the year. And the shape of a Deltec home is more aerodynamic, so air and wind can't build up enough significant pressure on any side to cause drafting.

The overall quality of our home design also contributes greatly to making a Deltec home very energy-efficient. Our precise production techniques ensure that each home's walls, floors, and roof components will fit together precisely in the field. Our components are built to much higher tolerances than industry standards; this high-quality construction helps reduce the drafting effect so common in conventional construction.

CL: But round houses are about more than energy-efficiency, right?

DI: Right. Deltec homes also offer high wind and seismic resistance. Our record against damage from high wind speaks for itself. We have been building hurricane-resistant homes for almost 40 years and have never lost a home to high winds of any kind. Never.

In 2005, many of our homes were put to the ultimate test when Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast. None of the homes in her path suffered any structural damage from high winds. A few homes were hit by 20-30 foot tidal surges and winds over 145 mph, and still incurred no structural damage.

We had homes in Pass Christian, Miss., which was all but obliterated by Katrina, and our homes were some of the only ones left in that area. They were some of the first homes that people were able to move back into, too.

This is not to say that Deltec homes are hurricane-proof; no home truly is. However, we know that in these challenging conditions, our hurricane-resistant home design will perform far better than conventional construction and better than most other circular structures. Our unique engineering and high-quality construction play a role in this performance, too. And, the same qualities that make a Deltec home so resistant to wind also contribute to making it a seismic-resistant home.

CL: A lot of people think all round homes look pretty much the same. What kind of flexibility do you offer in your designs?

DI: The design possibilities of a Deltec home are virtually endless. Just about anything you can imagine can be accomplished with the Deltec Building System. Our unique home design and building system allows our customers to build their dream home without compromising quality, versatility, and functionality.

The heart of a Deltec circular home is our self-supporting roof system. Because there are no load-bearing walls on the inside of a Deltec home, floor plans can be customized with little to no limitations. Our wall and floor systems add further flexibility, and customers can also connect multiple round structures in an almost endless variety of configurations. Rectangular and crescent wings can be added to a Deltec circular home, too.

CL: There has to be more to your approach than just the shape of the house. What other strategies do you use to make your houses more energy-efficient, "green," or sustainable?

DI: The shape is one of the big things, obviously. One of the reasons is the limited impact on the land with a round house. You can build a 2,000-square-foot Deltec home and have less of an impact on the land (a smaller foundation and fewer exterior walls) than a square home of the same square footage.

We've discussed the aerodynamics issue, but it bears repeating because the U.S. Department of Energy says that about 25 percent of the energy used to heat or cool a home goes toward offsetting air leakage. Because of a Deltec home's round design and aerodynamics, the home doesn't present "sails" to the wind like the exterior walls of square or rectangular houses do; therefore, pressure can't build up and drafting is minimized.

Our homes are panelized and built in jigs using sustainably harvested wood. We assemble the panels in a climate-controlled factory, which ensures that each panel is square and true and the home fits together tightly, unlike stick-built homes.

We offer energy-efficient windows, low-VOC stains and exterior finishes, composite-wood decking, fiber-cement siding, and many other options for a sustainably built home. One of my favorite options is BlueWood, a nontoxic pest control and mold-inhibitor that we apply to our studs and trusses. It makes the wood very durable because it bonds to the wood at a cellular level; we guarantee it for life.

And, by the end of 2007, all of our homes will be produced with solar renewable energy. We're installing the photovoltaic solar panels right now; when the project is complete, ours will be the largest private solar installation in North Carolina.

CL: Have you ever run into codes issues by building round houses? Ever have trouble siting the houses on lots?

DI: No more code issues than you would have with any kind of building. Florida and California have the toughest permitting processes because of the wind and seismic issues, respectively. But nothing prevents us from shipping there or anywhere; in fact, Florida is our top state, in terms of sales.

As for lot siting, because a Deltec home's footprint is smaller, our homes often are able to fit on lots where conventional homes just don't fit, because of setbacks or odd shapes. We hear that story all the time: the oddly shaped lot that won't accommodate a square or rectangle house.

CL: Does anything during the construction process cost less because the house is round? Anything cost more?

DI: We find our homes cost about the same amount as a quality, custom, stick-built home in whatever area it's going to be built-and we deliver all over the world, even down to the Caribbean islands.

CL: Any other reasons your customers choose Deltec Homes?

DI: There are many reasons besides the green aspects, inherent energy-efficiency, and high-wind/seismic performance. They build them for the panoramic views that can be gathered from a round home. They build them because they're beautiful. And some folks just want something a little different!

We're not a house for everybody, but we're a house for a lot of people. With our circular homes, we've taken one of the most unique, yet time-proven design concepts in history and added our own touch to create custom-designed, quality homes that are beautiful, adaptable, incredibly strong, and affordable.