To grass or not?
It’s conventional wisdom that grass lawns are not green or sustainable. When we built our net-zero house, my husband and I wanted to make very sustainable choices whenever we could. […]
Succeed with Sunsense
Thinking about installing solar PV in Western NC? You’ll need to learn about the locally available utility buy-back agreements and decide which one is right for you. We’re fortunate in
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Finishing Up
We are within days of making it to the final finish details of our Green Built NC home in Asheville. We still lack a second radon test and some of
Is it just me?
Is it just me? Or, does there seem to be an unprecedented number of energy related spills going on right now? In November, in rural Alabama, a train derailed and
The $100 challenge
If you knew that you could save a meaningful amount of energy for less than $100, would you do it? So often we think that energy efficiency has to be
Amy’s Energy Efficiency Gift Buying Guide
Between Thanksgivukkah and the unusually short three-week (shudder) shopping season between Thanksgiving and Christmas, you may just now be realizing that you have some serious work to do. The energy
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The importance of the Living Building Challenge
I’m writing to introduce The Living Building Challenge (LBC). This collaborative’s mission is to encourage the creation of Living Buildings, Landscapes and Neighborhoods around the world while inspiring, educating and
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What to do when your bath fan fails
Bath fans are an incredibly important part of a high-performance home. Unfortunately they are also a frequently failed item when we perform final testing for programs like Energy Star and
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The Role of Precast Foundations in Green Residential Building
Premise; as essential elements of sound building practice, foundations are expensive in time, money, and are carbon intensive. Further, foundations require a considerable sum of human capital or brain-space, to
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Count up to improvement: New trends to help with your green upgrade
One of the more interesting aspects of green building is the continual influx of new ideas and products. A product can be made with a lower impact than what it
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