Case Studies Archives | Green Built Alliance

Stephens Smith Farrell: Green Building

Green Building: A Love Story Stephens Smith Farrell On paper, Jorge and I wouldn’t be candidates for great friends. In practice, Jorge and I became great good friends through a shared passion for early-era-east-coast mountain biking (EEECMB) and mountain biking’s gateway companion, beer (B). Jorge (not his real name)...

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Randolph Richardson: Green Inside and Out

Green Inside and Out: Lessons from Europe Applied in Appalachia Randolph Richardson “We’re gonna have to build,” we concluded, as the plane climbed past Mount Pisgah on the first leg of our return to Vienna. After six years living in Austria, we would be returning to the United States...

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Darren Henegar: Enough Water for Everyone

Enough Water for Everyone: A Water Supply Case Study in Swannanoa Darren Henegar Here in the U.S., we have long been fortunate to have access to some of the safest drinking water in the world available just by turning on the tap. However, continued population growth and economic development...

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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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Rob Howard: Practical Priorities

Practical Priorities: Asheville Home Serves as High-Performance Prototype Rob Howard Today’s homebuyers have a tendency to focus on creature comforts and prioritize the components of a home that can be seen and touched like paint colors, kitchen cabinets, countertops and bathroom tiles. Especially for those designing and building a...

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Jason Martini: Dome Dreaming

Dome Dreaming: Local Monolithic Dome Serves as New Model of Stewardship and Harmony Jason Martini We are living in such a time where old systems are collapsing and failing, and it’s time to create new models that will support our future generations to survive and thrive. There are so...

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John Shore: Kermit Builds a Home

Kermit Builds a Home: Crafting the First and Last House We'll Ever Own By John Shore My wife Cat and I had five requirements for the first (and last: we ain’t young) house we’d ever own, let alone build. The house needed to be: Within walking distance of downtown. Because...

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Garret K. Woodward: Young Minds, Big Ideas

Small Minds, Big Ideas: Isaac Dickson Elementary Goes Green By Garret K. Woodward It’s taken the better part of five years, but Isaac Dickson Elementary School Principal Brad Johnson is beginning to see the light at the end of tunnel. “Currently, [we’ve completed] our first year at the new site. Overall,...

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Jamie Shelton: Home for Life

Home for Life: The Complexity and Compromise of Building My Second and Last Personal Home By Jamie Shelton In more than a decade as a green builder, I’ve built two homes for myself. The first one was easy. The house was built on a fairly normal mountain lot on a fairly...

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