Article Category: General Features

Green Building for All: Green Building is Key to Affordable Housing

Green Building for All: Green Building is Key to Affordable Housing By Sophie Mullinax   Green-built homes afford their residents countless benefits. Healthier indoor air quality, lower energy bills, and increased comfort top the list.  These benefits should be available to all people, especially our lower-income neighbors who are more...

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Jacqui Patterson and Mandy Lee: Centering Equity in Sustainable Buildings: Why Green Buildings are a Civil-Rights Issue

Centering Equity in Sustainable Buildings: Why Green Buildings are a Civil-Rights Issue By Jacqui Patterson and Mandy Lee   [caption id="attachment_5141" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Sustainable buildings promote the health and wellbeing of building occupants while minimizing climate change and pollution, but not everyone has equal access. Photo courtesy of iStockphoto /...

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Small-Scale Residential Housing: Infill Housing, ADUs and Tiny Homes

Small-Scale Residential Housing: Infill Housing, ADUs and Tiny Homes Joe Archibald   Often when people think about sustainable building, they think about material sourcing, location of the building on the property, renewable energy sources and the other more common metrics. Just as important a factor, however, is where the building...

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The Value of Carbon Offsets: Testimonial from a Former Skeptic

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The Value of Carbon Offsets: Testimonial from a Former Skeptic Chrissy Burton   The term “carbon offset” is unfortunate. It is so literal but still somewhat figurative. What exactly is a carbon offset? It begins by calculating my personal carbon footprint. How much carbon is produced every year in support...

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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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