The Green Built Homes Program encompass all aspects of environmental design and construction including:
- SITE AND LANDSCAPE: healthy outdoors by using erosion control and saving existing trees
- WATER EFFICIENCY: lower water bills by using high efficiency irrigation and plumbing fixtures
- BUILDING ENVELOPE: lower utility bills by using high efficiency windows and insulation
- HEATING AND COOLING SYSTEMS: higher comfort with efficiency equipment and sealed air ducts
- APPLIANCES AND LIGHTING: lower utility bills by using Energy Star appliances and lighting
- INDOOR AIR QUALITY: a healthy interior with non-toxic finishes and minimizing moisture
- MATERIALS: a low maintenance home using durable, local, and recycled content materials
Benefits for Builders:
- Market your expertise and experience as a green builder through your participation in our program (past participates are listed here, current participants are listed here)
- Technical assistance and design reviews available
- Third party verification reduces callbacks for you, improves construction outcomes, and catches costly mistakes
- Enhanced up-front planning helps the construction process go more smoothly with fewer change orders
- Permit fee rebates from the city of Asheville and Town of Black Mountain ($500)
- Substantial rebates from Duke Energy Progress and Duke Energy Carolinas for qualifying homes
Benefits for Homeowners:
- Greater home resale value in the Asheville/WNC market
- Quality assurance and peace of mind during construction
- Key provisions require: basic energy efficiency as a minimum, smart heating/cooling system design, whole house fresh air ventilation, radon resistant construction, erosion control, smart spot ventilation, combustion safety.
- Then minimum requirements in each of the following categories:
- Sustainable sites: practices that protect the land during construction, provide future benefit to the homeowner, and reduce transportation energy
- Projects that plan for and reduce indoor and outdoor water use
- Projects that achieve insulation and air tightness practices that go above and beyond minimum standards, or even Energy tTar for homes minimums
- Projects that offer efficient lighting and appliances, and may even use or be prepared to use advanced monitoring, renewable energy, or battery technology to prepare for a decarbonized, electrified, grid-integrated future
- Projects that minimize heating and cooling energy needs by design, that use efficient heating and cooling options, and that design and install those systems according to industry best practices that improve homeowner comfort and reduce callbacks
- Projects that preserve indoor air quality by science backed and verified ventilations systems, radon systems and material selections
- Projects that consider the materials going into the project, that reduce waste and source materials based on carbon impact and other sustainability attributes
- Projects that serve as examples to others with innovative education, construction management, and homeowner engagement and warranty attributes
Benefits For Realtors:
- A label you can trust to alert your clients to higher quality, better energy and air quality performance
- Access to checklist and radon testing information of past certified home
Benefits for the Environment:
- Residential energy use contributes approximately 20% of US annual carbon emissions–energy efficiency measures can reduce this by design
- Embodied carbon account for 11% of US carbon emissions–smart material selection can reduce this by design
- Reduced regional air pollution, erosion, stormwater runoff, and tree canopy loss
