Alternative Renewable Energy Archives

Douglas Ager: Sweet Spot: Custom Home Balances Comfort and Environmental Responsibility

Sweet Spot: Custom Home Balances Comfort and Environmental Responsibility By Douglas Ager Mike Herrick loves Western North Carolina for the area’s temperate year-round climate, and his wife Ellen wanted to live closer to their grandchildren on the east coast. But their shared goal when building their new custom house...

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Cari Barcas: Solar for Schools: Appalachian Offsets Completes Fundraising for Isaac Dickson System

Solar for Schools: Appalachian Offsets Completes Fundraising for Isaac Dickson System By Cari Barcas Green Built Alliance’s Appalachian Offsets program is celebrating the successful completion of its fundraising campaign to install a solar system at Isaac Dickson Elementary School in Asheville. Appalachian Offsets funds renewable-energy projects and energy-efficiency upgrades...

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Emily Boyd: Net-Zero House, Below Zero HERS: Recent Project Sets New Green Built Homes Record

Net-Zero House, Below Zero HERS: Recent Project Sets New Green Built Homes Record Emily Boyd Becky Wood and Carol Kemp came to us several years ago with the goal of relocating from Seattle to build a new net-zero house in the Asheville area that would support electric vehicles, have privacy...

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Taking the Plunge: Preparing A Home for Electric Cars

Taking the Plunge: Preparing A Home for Electric Cars Amy Musser and Matthew Vande We recently took the plunge to buy a plugin hybrid electric car, and wanted to share some things we’ve learned from our experience to help people in Western North Carolina plan for future plug-in cars....

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A Net-Zero Adventure: Setting New Records

A Net-Zero Adventure: Setting New Records Raymond Thompson There are many ways to link in to the green revolution. A person can focus on energy consumption, human rights, individual health, environmental protection or a little bit of everything at once, but it is generally driven by a calling in...

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Learning New Tricks: Lessons from WNC’s First DOE Zero Energy Ready Home

Learning New Tricks: Lessons from WNC’s First DOE Zero Energy Ready Home Leigha Dickens The Department of Energy wants builders to up their game. Though it’s worth celebrating the energy savings achieved by the DOE’s ENERGY STAR® Homes program (said to be 20 percent), it’s possible to build homes...

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Sustainable Academia: Appalachian State University Leads the Way

Sustainable Academia: Appalachian State University Leads the Way Garret K. Woodward Though Appalachian State University has always been at the forefront of sustainability, the academic institution took another step forward with its latest P3 project. A public-private partnership (P3), the project will develop energy-efficient housing on its campus in...

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Bridging Sustainable and Social Gaps: Earth Care, Fair Share and People Care at Echo Hills Cottages

Bridging Sustainable and Social Gaps: Earth Care, Fair Share and People Care at Echo Hills Cottages Garret K. Woodward When Ron Czecholinski and his wife moved to Asheville in 2010, he had one goal in mind: to create a sustainable development that truly focused on the meaning of the...

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Margaret Chandler: Craven Gap Residence

Craven Gap Residence: A Passive Solar, Living Future Institute Net Zero Energy Home Margaret Chandler Our clients came to us after purchasing five acres of steep mountain land with great views looking down the Beaverdam Valley. Avid hikers and mountain bikers, they bought the land in part because of access...

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Boone Guyton: Going for Zero and Beyond

Going for Zero and Beyond: The Journey to -8 HERS Boone Guyton We built our last house with the goal of being net-zero energy. The West Asheville lot is a small 0.08-acre infill lot with great southern exposure. That allowed for both solar photovoltaics and passive solar design on...

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