Directory Articles

Below are the articles from our most recent editions of the Green Built Directory.  You can also find articles from our older publications in the menu on the right organized by category and year.

John Mueller: One Green Feature You Don’t Want

One Green Feature You Don’t Want: Mold in the Home Environment By John Mueller   Here in Western North Carolina, we have a perfect storm of interrelated environmental factors which often lead to excess moisture and mold growth in houses of all ages and design. As an equal-opportunity fungal parasite,...

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Scott McGehee: A Tale of Two Practices

A Tale of Two Practices: Finding harmony between architecture and structural engineering By Scott McGehee   Two ivory towers stand purposefully across from one another along an age-old road called “Design.” The first monument resembles and admires the Greek civilization. Ionic columns preserve the entry way as the eye is...

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Amy Smith: Redlining and Green Trees

Redlining and Green Trees: The History of Inequality in Asheville’s Urban Tree Canopy By Amy Smith   Asheville is known for being a small, mountain town nestled among the forests. Our urban tree canopy is prized by residents and visitors alike for its scenic beauty, wildlife habitat, climate change mitigation,...

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David Gordon: The Perplexities of Pristine Power

The Perplexities of Pristine Power: Buncombe County’s Plans to Reach 100 Percent Renewables Goals By David Gordon   Five years ago, Buncombe County, in collaboration with the City of Asheville, voted to adopt a resolution for county operations and the community as a whole to be powered by 100 percent...

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Jason Seickel: Green Spaces that Give Back

Green Spaces that Give Back: Parks as Places for Community Resilience By Jason Seickel   Parks and other public spaces are hubs for recreation, gathering, socializing, and providing opportunities to strengthen communities.  They can also serve to provide greater resilience within our communities. Sustainably designed and built parks can provide...

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Melissa Reardon: Beyond Ornamentation

Beyond Ornamentation: Living Roofs and Green Infrastructure as a Path to Climate Resilience By Melissa Reardon On the third-floor terrace of Mission Hospital’s North Tower, patients and staff can take a lunch break or respite amid a sun-dappled ornamental garden, while savoring westward views of Mount Pisgah and the Blue...

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Rebecca Morris: Natural Partners

Natural Partners: Pairing Affordable Housing with Renewable Energy By Rebecca Morris Going hand in hand with its mission to provide safe, attractive and affordable homes in good neighborhoods, Mountain Housing Opportunities (MHO) is committed to building energy-efficient and environmentally sustainable buildings.  The Asheville Housing Authority (AHA) has invested more than...

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Stuart Zitin: Decades in the Making

Decades in the Making: From Foreclosed Overgrown Parcel to Green Homes in Progress By Stuart Zitin The first time my wife Maureen and I looked at this overgrown 4-acre property in the Oakley neighborhood in the city of Asheville, I held our 3-year-old daughter in my arms to protect her...

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Susanna Shetley: Duke Street Cottages

Duke Street Cottages: An Innovative Pocket Neighborhood in Granite Falls  By Susanna Shetley A new net-zero energy pocket neighborhood called Duke Street Cottages is under development in Granite Falls, NC.Photo courtesy of Howard Building Science The concept of pocket neighborhoods may be relatively new, but for Rob Howard of Howard...

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Melissa Nicholson: Conversation with Compromise

Conservation with Compromise: Building Green on a Budget with a Touch of Extravagance By Melissa Nicholson Having worked with his local design-build company for many years, my husband Will Nicholson developed a plan for building our house in the forest near Asheville.  Experience and knowledge from past projects allowed us...

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Leigha Dickens: Rebates for Green Home Building

Rebates for Green Home Building: Local government and utility rebates for new green homes have expanded notably in the past few years in our region, and some programs have changed over time from previous years and previous articles posted here.  Here is a quick overview of what financial incentives are...

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Steve Ambrose: Sustainable Stone

Sustainable Stone: Lowering the Environmental Impact of Your Hardscaping Project By Steve Ambrose   From a patio or walkway to a custom fireplace, designing your backyard’s features with natural stone has become more popular in recent years for its beauty and durability. To be an educated consumer and build your outdoor...

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Valerie J. Amor: Centering Equity in Green Buildings

Centering Equity in Green Buildings: Marginalized Benefits Are Not Sustainable Benefits By Valerie J. Amor    The word benefits, for most people, is usually defined by their personal association to the word, for example through Social Security benefits or medical benefits. By merely inserting the word benefits in any sentence,...

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Rick Bayless: Healthy From the Ground Up

Healthy From the Ground Up: Home Healthiness Starts in the Design-Build Process By Rick Bayless   In recent decades, our increased focus on sustainability has led to the creation of advanced house and commercial designs that are indeed very energy efficient, thanks in part to organizations such as Green Built...

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Jonathan Gach: Caring About Building Air Leakage

Caring About Building Air Leakage: The Intersection of Building Science and Cognitive Science By Jonathan Gach   You may have heard the concept that “buildings need to breathe” without really understanding what it means. Does this saying hold true to what we expect of modern buildings and what does it...

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Cari Barcas: Solar for Schools

Solar for Schools: Isaac Dickson System Installed After Community Fundraising Campaign By Cari Barcas   A moment six years in the making arrived in the spring of 2021 as the much-anticipated solar electric system was installed on the roof of Asheville’s Isaac Dickson Elementary School, thanks to a community fundraising...

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Steffi Rausch: Volunteering Empowers the Community

Volunteering Empowers the Community: Building Professionals Give Back on Workdays By Steffi Rausch   There are many benefits to volunteering: the social aspect of networking and meeting new people, the community aspect of helping others, the mental and physical aspect of learning new skills, and much more.  One aspect that...

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Annie McGehrin: The Green Evolution of Affordable Housing

The Green Evolution of Affordable Housing: Green-Certified Affordable Housing is a Win-Win By Annie McGehrin   The sustainable building sector is often seen as a luxury, but why not as a basic necessity?  Sustainable buildings, also known as green buildings, minimize the use of resources, reduce harmful effects on the...

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Maddy Alewine: This Divided Land

This Divided Land: The Way Our Neighborhoods Look Isn’t an Accident By Maddy Alewine   Asheville Area Habitat for Humanity was shocked by the deed to a parcel of land they were developing when they came upon the part that read: this property cannot be sold to “any person of...

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Sophie Mullinax: Bringing Solar to the People

Bringing Solar to the People: Solarize Campaign Installs Free Systems for Families in Need By Sophie Mullinax   In an effort to increase the region’s adoption of and access to affordable solar installations, a diverse coalition of Asheville and Buncombe County community members and mission-aligned organizations came together in 2021...

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Amy Smith: Tree Canopy Protection

Tree Canopy Protection: Asheville’s New Ordinance A Step Toward Smart Growth By Amy Smith   The benefits of urban forests are immense.  Not only are trees valued for aesthetic beauty and shade, but tree cover in cities also provides benefits to human health and social well-being. Urban forests and greenery...

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Sam Ruark: Living in the Love House

Living in the Love House: My First Year as a Resident of Earthaven Ecovillage By Sam Ruark It's a warm spring day full of new and green growing life, and the sun is pumping clean energy into the off-grid house where I live at Earthaven Ecovillage.  Earthaven was founded in...

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Pat Snyder: Land and Legacy

Land and Legacy: A Team Approach to Finding Land That Meets Your Stewardship Goals By Pat Snyder Long a popular destination for people looking to reconnect with nature, the Western North Carolina region is attracting increasing numbers of hopeful landowners seeking an escape from crowded cities and a safe haven...

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Kat McReynolds: Blueprints for Going Green

Blueprints for Going Green: Green Built Homes Checklist Clarifies Steps to Better Building By Kat McReynolds [caption id="attachment_5892" align="aligncenter" width="435"] The author’s first duplex build as a general contractor was also her first certification experience with the Green Built Homes program. Photo courtesy of Sage Turner.[/caption] As I sat down...

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Mary Love: Growing Green (History of Green Built Alliance)

Growing Green: How Green Built Alliance Changed Our Region During the Past Two Decades By Mary Love Green Built Alliance has a special place in my heart. In fact, it was one of the main reasons I moved to Asheville. Green Built Alliance turns 20 this year. The milestone prompted...

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Robin Cape: Ranch Remodel

Ranch Remodel: Transforming a Typical 1970s Home into a High-Efficiency Homestead By Robin Cape [caption id="attachment_5819" align="aligncenter" width="428"] This version of the standard American home was transformed into a low-energy, high-performance homestead.[/caption] It has always appealed to me to live in a home that uses fewer resources than average.  My...

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Leigha Dickens: Built for the Cold

Built for the Cold: Passive Solar Home in North Carolina’s Coldest Climate Zone By Leigha Dickens [caption id="attachment_5785" align="aligncenter" width="471"] A passive solar home in the woods near Boone, NC. Photo courtesy of Ryan Theede.[/caption] There’s something special about the North Carolina High Country. Home to ski lodges, Christmas tree...

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Margaret Chandler: Greening the Forest

Greening the Forest: The First LEED home in Biltmore Forest By Margaret Chandler [caption id="attachment_5773" align="aligncenter" width="486"] The recently completed Cedarcliff residence is the first LEED project in Biltmore Forest.[/caption] The town of Biltmore Forest, with its stately homes and tree-lined streets, is one of the Asheville area’s most prestigious...

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Shetley: Residence Halls Go Green

Residence Halls Go Green: App State Invests in Sustainably Certified Homes for Students By Susanna Shetley   A new residence hall being completed at Appalachian State University this summer is the culmination of years of work and evidence of a commitment to sustainability that runs throughout the school’s culture. School...

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Hannah McLeod: The Green Lifestyle

The Green Lifestyle: Solar Installer Gets Green Home of His Own By Hannah McLeod   Cameron Donnell has built his career in the green-building industry, previously working as an energy auditor and currently serving as a solar-energy consultant at Sugar Hollow Solar.  Donnell and his wife, Whitney, began work with...

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Susanna Shetley: Built For the Future

Built for the Future: Passive Solar Net-Zero Home Made to Last By Susanna Shetley   Builder Gus Katsigiannis of Familia Enterprises partnered with recurring clients Mark McCraw and Beth Lassiter to build his first net-zero home in the Falconhurst neighborhood of Asheville.  The team first met while Familia was renovating...

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Mike Figura: Green Home Hunt

Green Home Hunt: Practical Tips for Finding Green Homes on the Market By Mike Figura If you want your next home to be certified by Green Built Homes or ENERGY STAR®, you can either buy an existing home or build a custom one.  When you build a custom home, you...

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Hannah McLeod: Living Their Value

Living Their Values: EPA Employees Build Dream Green Home in Asheville By Hannah McLeod After 60 years of combined federal service at the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Tony Wayne and Kimber Scavo’s decision to build green was a logical extension of their lifelong work to address climate change.  When determining...

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Jennifer Banks: No Need to Move Mountains

No Need to Move Mountains: Small Details Deliver Dynamite Score on Custom Home By Jennifer Banks   As builders, we occasionally have to explain the benefits of constructing a Green Built Home to our clients. But when Peter and Diane Burkard approached us about building their new house, they already...

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Mark Wulff and Josh Brown: Growing Family, Building Green

Growing Family, Building Green: Crafting a New Net-Zero Home to Last for Generations By Mark Wulff and Josh Brown   When Mark Wulff and Ariana DeToro-Forlenza met in 2004 as instructors at an outdoor school, there were nights when they slept in the open air with nothing but a sleeping...

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Carrie Vogler: A House of the Hill

A House Of The Hill: The Value of Site Integration in Sustainable Residential Development By Carrie Vogler   It was May 2014 when we first received an inquiry about forestry mulching a building lot in Weaverville to clear unwanted brush and invasive vegetation.  Forestry mulching is a unique technology for...

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Don Nicholson: Climate-Conscious Building

Climate-Conscious Building: Creating a Net-Zero Home with Low Embodied Energy By Don Nicholson   Becky and Noell Tin split their time between Asheville and Charlotte with work projects in both cities, and 16 North Belgium Lane in West Asheville was planned as their second home.  After struggling to find a...

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Garret K. Woodward: The Path to the Future

The Path to the Future: An Update on the French Broad River Greenway By Garret K. Woodward In an effort to provide connectivity within Asheville, the French Broad River Greenway has become a welcome sight along the riverbanks in front of New Belgium Brewing, an ever-growing social hub in the...

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Garret K. Woodward: Staying Hydrated

Staying Hydrated: The Case for Drought-Resistant Landscaping in WNC By Garret K. Woodward After the wildfires that raged through Western North Carolina and greater Southern Appalachia last fall, the region is still not out of the woods when it comes to overcoming the drought conditions that have a become more...

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Ned Ryan Doyle: Going Off-Grid

Going Off-Grid: The Dollars and Sense of Living Off the Grid By Ned Ryan Doyle The idea of off-grid living means different things to different people. Most presume, accurately, that it means not being connected to the power grid or a utility. Some imagine it’s about living a primitive lifestyle...

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Ned Ryan Doyle: Benefits of Batteries

Benefits of Batteries: The Emergence of Energy Storage by Ned Ryan Doyle Batteries are ubiquitous in our modern lives, in cell phones, computers, cars, clocks, toys, tools and many more applications. Yet the idea of a battery-powered home or business is likely to generate a quick laugh or a skeptical...

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Amy Musser: I Lost 5,000 Pounds in 8 Weeks

I Lost 5,000 Pounds in 8 Weeks: Digging into the Low Carbon Diet Program By Amy Musser I lost 5,000 pounds in eight weeks. Actually, I shaved more than that off my carbon footprint. I was surprised by how easy it was, because my husband and I have lived in...

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Don M. Nicholson and Donald P. Nicholson: What are the Odds?

What are the Odds? A Theoretical Physicist and Professional Poker Player Team Up to Build Green By Don M. Nicholson and Donald P. Nicholson In 1998’s “Armageddon” film, an asteroid was hurtling toward Earth at 22,000 mph and NASA sent Harry Stamper (aka Bruce Willis) to blow it apart with...

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Joe Archibald: Is There Soy in Your Cabinet?

Is There Soy in Your Cabinet? Questions to Ask When Seeking Sustainable Casework and Millwork By Joe Archibald When it comes to choosing casework and millwork for a project, often the choice comes down solely to cost. This can lead to casework with a limited lifespan, made of poor quality...

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Doug Bruggeman: Climate Adaptation Real Estate

Climate Adaptation Real Estate: What to Watch for in Western North Carolina By Doug Bruggeman Climate adaptation is the practice of lowering risks from the consequences of climate change. For Western North Carolina, these risks include more frequent wildfires caused by drought as well as increased flooding and erosion due...

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Cari Barcas: Disc Golf Tournament Fundraiser

Nonprofit Introduces New Annual Disc Golf Tournament Fundraiser By Cari Barcas Local disc golf enthusiasts celebrated the grand opening of a new 18-hole course while raising money for Green Built Alliance at the nonprofit’s first annual spring Disc Golf Fundraiser earlier this year. Asheville has a strong and vibrant network...

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Jacob Goodman: Water Heater Work Horses

Water Heater Work Horses: Homage to a Couple of High-Efficiency Products by Jacob Goodman As a plumber, I come across a wide variety of products and plumbing systems. I am definitely curious and interested in the new technology created by my industry, but very rarely am I impressed with a...

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Aaron Carey and Joel Klopp: Building Health From the Ground Up

Building Health From the Ground Up: Minimizing the Risk of Mold In Construction Projects By Aaron Carey and Joel Klopp The opportunities for moisture and water intrusion during the construction process are endless. In the past, this posed fewer problems due to less “air-tight” construction. Today however, high levels of...

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Brenton Faircloth: How to be a Good Customer

How to be a Good Customer: Tips for Not Going Crazy While Building Your Home By Brenton Faircloth Building your dream home is a unique experience. It requires you to be honest with yourself about your family’s current and future needs, and gives you to the chance to personalize everything...

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Leigha Dickens: Feel the Warmth

Feel the Warmth: Mini-Split Heat Pumps for High-Performance Homes By Leigha Dickens In many new green homes, you might notice a little white box on the living-room wall. That box delivers heated or cooled air, and it’s called a mini-split. Once, mini-split heat pump and/or AC systems were rarely seen...

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Lee Warren: Get Growing

Get Growing: How Home-Growers Play a Significant Role in Western North Carolina’s Thriving Food Community By Lee Warren Western North Carolina is a mecca for those interested in sustainability and organic food production, yet we are a long way from where we want to be. In our vision of a...

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Rick Bayless: Approaching 2025

Approaching 2025: An Operator’s Manual for Green, Sustainable and Healthy Home Development By Rick Bayless If green and sustainable professionals hope to best serve the industry, now is the time to understand the home healthiness issues that need attention in the decades ahead. Fast forward. The year is 2025, and...

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Sean D. Sullivan: This House Smells

This House Smells: The Dangers and Opportunities IAQ Presents in Homebuilding By Sean D. Sullivan “This house smells … different than the rest. Actually, it doesn’t really have a smell?!” Mrs. Lee said as she walked into the Parade of Homes entry I was manning last year. Mrs. Lee, like...

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Maggie Leslie: Why Certify

Why Certify? The Many Motivations for Building and Certifying Green By Maggie Leslie When building or buying a home, what is the value of third-party green-building certification programs? Should you bother? It's a good question, with a variety of answers. Why to do it Green buildings use less energy, water,...

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Cari Barcas: Energy Surges for Solar Project

Momentum Builds on Appalachian Offsets Fundraising for Isaac Dickson School Solar System By Cari Barcas Green Built Alliance’s Appalachian Offsets local carbon-offsetting program has begun work on its first community improvement projects since its relaunch last fall, including fundraising for a solar system for the new Isaac Dickson Elementary School...

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Sam Ruark-Eastes: Energy Innovation Task Force

Empowering a Clean-Energy Future with the Energy Innovation Task Force By Sam Ruark-Eastes In the year since our last directory reported on the formation and goals of the Energy Innovation Task Force (EITF), this energized group of local leaders has been making progress in developing an understanding of our region’s...

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Margaret Chandler: Walk the Environmental Talk

Walk the Environmental Talk: Creating A Sustainable Action Plan For Your Office By Margaret Chandler As design professionals, our focus is on providing clients the highest level of sustainable design and construction. The true test of practicing what we preach, however, comes from the internal operations of our businesses. Do...

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Garret K. Woodward: Finding a Balance

Finding a Balance: Mountain Sun’s Shelburne Woods By Garret K. Woodward Just a few blocks from the bustling Haywood Road in West Asheville, the folks at Mountain Sun Building and Design are hard at work putting the finishing touches on the first home of their Shelburne Woods development. “It’s definitely...

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Mary Love: Green the MLS

Greening the MLS: Evolving Real Estate Systems to Meet Client Needs By Mary Love   How do we showcase the green features of a home? With an increased understanding of how our actions impact our health and environment and a demand for greener products and services, the Multiple Listing Services...

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Marcus Renner: The Green Gauge

The Green Gauge: Engage in your Homes Potential By Marcus Renner   Savvy homeowners and buyers realize that a green, energy efficient home adds value while saving money and resources.  What is the best way to find out if a home is efficient and sustainable? The Western North Carolina Green...

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Tim Ormond: Green Infrastructure

Green Infrastructure: The Great Shift in Stormwater Management By Tim Ormond   There was a time when stormwater was primarily considered a problem to be tackled.  Get it off site as quickly as possible through constructed systems of gutters, pipes, ditches and concrete-lined channels.  Out of sight and out of...

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Tika Vales Caldwell: Balancing Nature and Technology

Balancing Nature and Technology: Harmonizing Electro and Geopathic Stress Tika Vales Caldwell   The United States Green Building Council's Vision as stated on their website is very inspiring, “buildings and communities will regenerate and sustain the health and vitality of all life within a generation.”  In the Council’s Strategic Plan...

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