Eco-Friendly Homes
Looking to find an ECO-friendly or GREEN built home in Asheville?
A recent visit to the website of WNCGBC indicated there were 542 certified Healthy Built homes in WNC and another 244 in progress. NC Healthy Built Homes has a voluntary statewide green building program that offers comfortable, healthy homes that are designed to reduce energy and water usage and protect the environment. Builders can choose one of three levels of participation by meeting a strict level of criteria.
Finding a Green Home in Asheville
Several years ago the National Association of Realtors recognized the public’s growing interest in ECO- friendly and GREEN building and developed the Green Resource Council, which awards GREEN designations to Realtors who have completed the training and are dedicated to helping their clients and their community become more Green. Many Green built or ECO-friendly homes are more expensive than the typical home, since many of their construction materials are more expensive as they have not become mainstream.
However, an option that is much more readily available is Energy Star properties. Once Energy Star ratings were relegated to appliances- now they are available for rating the energy efficiency of a home, and that’s probably the easiest way for consumers to see the benefits of becoming more sensitive to the environment. It readily saves them money. From there, a natural progression may be to include native landscaping, include low or no VOC products when remodeling an existing home, and reusing and recycling whenever possible.
Green living and being aware of our environment really is about lifestyle choices and choosing to reduce your carbon footprint. You’ll find plenty of options in Asheville and the surrounding area when choosing just how “green” or ECO friendly you want to be!
