As a nonprofit organization, the Green Built Alliance has a long track record of success in educating and transforming the building industry throughout the western region of North Carolina.
The Green Built Alliance began as a casual gathering of five building professionals over food and drink in the spring of 2000. A common desire to educate others on the health and environmental impacts of design and construction led to the official formation of the council.
Founded in 2001 by a small group of volunteers, Green Built Alliance added its first full-time staff member in 2004 and its second in 2006. Throughout its existence, the Green Built Alliance has directly educated thousands of building industry professionals and homeowners by providing building science and weatherization trainings. Green Built Alliance has offered free classes, public forums and technical trainings. We have worked with local governments and utilities to provide training and incentives for green building and energy efficiency.
In 2009, Green Built Alliance administered a Community Development Block Grant which weatherized 60 homes for low-income families.
Green Built Alliance is the administrator of an affordable, local Green Building education and home certification program, Green Built Homes as well as a LEED for Homes providership, which transform the way homes are built. Green Built Alliance also provides consulting as project administrator for nonprofit and affordable LEED NC commercial projects.
In August of 2013, we began hosting a Living Building Challenge Collaborative which goes beyond green building towards truly sustainable, non-toxic, zero water and zero energy buildings.
In August of 2016, we relaunched our Appalachian Offsets program, geared toward giving area residents and businesses an outlet for supporting local clean-energy projects while reducing their carbon footprint. Appalachian Offsets’ largest project to date came to fruition in spring 2021 when a 300 kw solar system was installed at Isaac Dickson Elementary School in Asheville.
In March of 2018, we launched Blue Horizons Project as an outgrowth of our work on the Energy Innnovation Task Force. The program’s goal is to make a clean-energy future a reality in Buncombe County by improving access to and engagement in the wide variety of programs and resources available to local residents and businesses. Blue Horizons Project plays an active and ongoing role in the region’s efforts to transition to 100 percent renewable energy in the next two decades.
In the beginning of 2020, we assumed management of Energy Savers Network‘s efforts to offer energy-efficiency upgrades to low-income homes in our region, with the intention of continuing to expand the grassroots program’s impact and reach. After previously serving as the program’s fiscal sponsor since 2018, we are now the exclusive implementer of Energy Savers Network in Western North Carolina.
While celebrating our nonprofit’s 20th anniversary in 2021, we rolled out Green Built Homes Version 3.0 with a new version of the checklist that places more emphasis on regenerative elements, including the addition of a Net Zero Water Ready Certification and a pilot Regenerative Certification. Also in 2021, Green Built Alliance has marked the milestone of 2,000 projects certified through the Green Built Homes system and introduced the Regenerative Professional Accreditation credential that acknowledges a deep, evolving competency in advanced green-building best practices.
Impact By the Numbers
- Years since Green Built Alliance was formed: 20
- Homes certified to green standards by Green Built Alliance: 2,480
- Educational Green Building Directories distributed: 300,000
- People educated on sustainability by Green Built Alliance: 12,500
- Collective savings on energy bills resulting from GBA’s work: $1,309,624
- Metric tons of CO2 savings annually resulting from GBA’s work: 5027.1
- Gallons of water savings annually resulting from GBA’s work: 108,211,550
- Low-income homes in Buncombe County that have received efficiency upgrades since 2017 through Energy Savers Network: 500
- Year by which the City of Asheville and Buncombe County have committed to completing a community-wide transition to 100 percent renewable energy with support from Blue Horizons Project: 2042
