Green Building Materials Archives - Green Built Alliance

Emilio Ancaya: Blue Sky, Green Roof: Reimagining Asheville’s Rooftops

Blue Sky, Green Roof: Reimagining Asheville’s Rooftops By Emilio Ancaya Nestled on Lexington Avenue in the heart of downtown Asheville is an apartment building that offers a unique and distinguishable feature. Situated on top of the building is a beautiful 8,200-square-foot green roof that can be seen and enjoyed...

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Ariane Kjellquist: Affordable for the Long Haul: Habitat Tests New Style of Housing in Curry Court

Affordable for the Long Haul: Habitat Tests New Style of Housing in Curry Court Ariane Kjellquist On 2.7 acres in Candler, not far from shopping and services, is a thriving community of 12 certified Green Built Homes created by Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity. Previously the site of five abandoned...

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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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Demystifying Crawl Spaces: Crawl Space Choices in Southern Appalachia

Demystifying Crawl Spaces: Crawl Space Choices in Southern Appalachia Sara Sabol and Marcus Renner If you are confused about the best method to control moisture and humidity in your crawl space, you are not alone. We recently visited Marcus’ 84- year-old independent father, Helmut. It quickly became apparent that...

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Whole Living: Completing the Green Experience

Whole Living: Completing the Green Experience Sean D. Sullivan It’s not hard to see why so many people have been bitten by the green bug. Coast to coast, consumers are realizing that green homes can sell faster — and for more money — than non-green homes. And consumers have...

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Love of Life: Incorporating Biophilic Design at Home

Love of Life: Incorporating Biophilic Design at Home Emily Boyd We all know from experience that being immersed in nature makes us feel calmer, happier and rejuvenated. We seek a connection with nature, particularly when we are feeling stressed or sick. It was only about 55 years ago that...

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Amplifying Agrihoods: The Benefits of Neighborhoods Built Around Working Farms

Amplifying Agrihoods: The Benefits of Neighborhoods Built Around Working Farms Allison Smith Sometimes new problems call for old solutions. That’s the best lesson to be taken from the recent rise of housing developments built around working farms, also known as agrihoods. Created to foster a sense of community and...

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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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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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