This Green House
These Green Houses:
Green Building 101
By Jeff Deal Green building might just be the world’s oldest construction style. Caves, lean-tos, waddle and daub, mud brick, stone pyramids and temples, wooden post and beam, Devonshire Cob; all are green building styles, some dating back more than 5,000 years. While there’s not much new under the sun, the resurgent appreciation of these…
Read MoreEco-friendly Living in Outdoor Spaces
By David Pferdekamper and Brian Sewell Considering the changing colors and the crisp air, autumn is as good a time as any to spend outdoors. If you don’t have an “outdoor living space” yet, it may be time to create that welcoming, comfortable and eco-friendly addition to your home. Humans have long incorporated garden spaces,…
Read MoreA Rush of Clean Energy at Pine Root Creek
By Jesse Wood Just as kayakers and farmers love rain during a drought, so does Richard Cobb. “I just constantly hope for rain,” Cobb said. Cobb installed a 5-kilowatt microhydro system on his Mitchell County property in Buladean, N.C. in the late 1990s. Though he is environmentally conscious—green construction is his day job—Cobb’s primary motivation…
Read MoreThe Crash Pad
Bunkbeds Never Looked So Good By Julie Johnson Hosteleers, your green dream is about to arrive. This June, The Crash Pad, the country’s first LEED certified hostel, will open in Chattanooga, Tenn. Forget the usual rickety bunk beds with questionable linens, crammed five or six to a room. The Crash Pad is a green-minded traveler’s…
Read MoreAcme McCrary: Shaping legs and sustainability in the textile industry
“A successful merchandise lineup hangs on the right products…and the right partner. Coincidentally, we offer both.” – Acme McCrary —Story by Kyle Wolff Textile plant Acme McCrary is out to prove that big industries can make a big impact. The company’s Pritchard Street facility in Asheboro, N.C., is home to one of the country’s largest…
Read MoreTwo Women Working on Sustaina-Builda-bility
Chris McCurry of Highland Craftsmen, Inc. By Alli Marshall It was the old chestnut-bark siding that provided the inspiration. Though the chestnut blight has destroyed mature American chestnut trees, Chris McCurry wondered why the once-popular shingles couldn’t be duplicated in poplar. “We wanted to reintroduce something indigenous and match the culture; we wanted the buildings…
Read MoreA “Reduce/Reuse” Remodeled House
Local Lumber, Seconds and Hand-Me-Downs Highlight Home’s Expansion Story by Jillian Randel You don’t have to start from scratch to build green. Nestled in the mountains of Ashe County, N.C., adjacent to fields grazed by donkeys, cows and sheep, you will find a beautiful poplar and hemlock-sided home with a wrap-around deck and staircase leading…
Read MoreGet Clean and Green Around the House
Home Remedies Both Old & New Story by Jillian Randel Walk through the cleaning aisle in the grocery store and you will find shelves upon shelves stocked with cleaning products. Gels meant to clean the toilet bowl, window spray for the mirror, a leave-on concoction for the shower and a separate solution for the sink.…
Read MoreNauHaus—A Sustainable Home For Today
By Maureen Halsema Combining ancient building methods with modern science, a group of engineers and scientists are striving to change the world through structural design. The goal: to create a carbon neutral home and increase the structure’s efficiency by 90 percent. Welcome to the Nauhaus—a prototype home in Asheville, N.C., designed by the Nauhaus Institute,…
Read MoreLearning to “Live Lightly” on The Farm in Summertown
Story by Julie Johnson Home building can be one of the most challenging aspects of a carbon-neutral lifestyle. At the The Farm Ecovillage Training Center in Summertown, Tenn., participants learn how to build and maintain their dwellings in an environmentally friendly way. Traditional stick-frame construction is a cheap and fast way to build, but it…
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