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 EarthCraft
House:
A regional role model
Mark Newey, Director of Residential
Technical Services
Builders and
homebuyers throughout the Southeast have been demanding
the EarthCraft House program ever
since it was created. However, until 2004, the program
was only available in the metro Atlanta area. Now,
with
support from state agencies and home builders associations
in several Southeastern states, the EarthCraft House
program has extended to other cities in Georgia, South
Carolina, Alabama and Virginia.
EarthCraft House in Savannah,
Georgia
The Georgia Environmental Facilities Authority (GEFA)
and Pollution Prevention Assistance Division (P2AD) partnered
with the Savannah Home Builders Association to bring EarthCraft
House to Savannah. Southface brought the program to Georgia’s
coast by supporting training workshops and promoting the
program to area builders. The first builder in the Savannah
area to embrace EarthCraft House was Coastal Living Homes,
led by Wilson Pickett. Coastal Living Homes builds about
100 houses each year, and all of them are designed to
meet the standards of the EarthCraft House program. These
houses have a variety of green features, including open-cell
spray foam insulation, well-designed, air tight duct systems,
low-e windows and comprehensive moisture management features
to improve durability.
“We’ve always been interested
in building better homes, but EarthCraft House has given
us a plan for how to do it. We’ve been able to
sell more homes and have more satisfied customers since
adopting the EarthCraft House standards,” says
Pickett.
EarthCraft House
in Charleston, South Carolina
Just up the coast, the South Carolina Energy Office
and the Charleston Trident Home Builders Association
are also working to grow the EarthCraft House program.
In addition to hosting several workshops and promoting
the program, these rganizations have helped forge a
partnership with the Noisette Company, which is redeveloping
a former naval base in North Charleston. Over 4,000
energy efficient and environmentally conscious housing
units are planned for the area, and the homes are expected
to meet or surpass EarthCraft House standards. Construction
will begin within a year and is expected to continue
for 15 to 20 years.
One of the home builders in the Charleston
area that is selling EarthCraft Houses right now is
Simonini Builders, who builds custom homes in the rapidly
developing areas near Charleston. Rick Mullin, Simonini
Builders’ Vice President, attended an EarthCraft
House training in 2004 and then spent the next six months
incorporating the EarthCraft House standards into his
company’s construction specifications. “EarthCraft
House inspections help us ensure all the details of
energy efficient and healthy construction are happening
in the field. The quality of our homes has improved,”
said Mullin.
EarthCraft House
in Greenville, South Carolina
A unique partnership between the South Carolina Energy
Office, the Home Builders Association of Greenville,
and a quality growth coalition called Upstate Forever,
is bringing the program into the spotlight as a solution
to environmental issues in the upstate region of South
Carolina. Several EarthCraft Houses in the Greenville
area are being built by Addison Homes, led by Todd Usher.
Addison Homes uses a variety of advanced technologies
to meet the energy efficiency and environmental requirements
of the EarthCraft House program.
“At Addison Homes, we seek advanced
yet proven methods and materials in all aspects of our
construction process,” Usher said. “By utilizing
efficient construction technology, we are able to decrease
the amount of waste generated by the home building process
while helping to save on future energy costs through
our careful attention to detail. This is evidenced by
our participation in the ENERGY STAR® and the EarthCraft
House certification programs.”
EarthCraft House
in Anniston, Alabama
Participation in Alabama has been spearheaded by builders
and affordable housing groups in Anniston. One of these
groups is the Brownfield Institute, a non-profit community-based
organization that acquires abandoned, dilapidated houses
and then remodels or rebuilds them to provide affordable
homes in the city of Anniston. The group has focused
on remodeling homes in the past, but this year they
plan to start building a number of new homes as well.
William Teasley, programs director at the Brownfield
Institute, said, “If we’re going to build
new houses, let’s start with the EarthCraft House
standard, that way the homes we are building are not
just affordable to build, but affordable to live in.”
EarthCraft House
in Charlottesville, Virginia
In Virginia, EarthCraft House has partnered with the
Virginia Sustainable Building Network (VSBN) and the
Blue Ridge Home Builders Association to pilot the program
in Charlottesville. The pilot project includes five
demonstration green houses.
Annette Osso, executive director of the
VSBN, said, “While the mid-Atlantic area has benefited
from years of low energy prices and plentiful sources
of drinking water, we are beginning to see a lot more
attention given to green building. We have been working
for four years to partner with builders and code officials
in Virginia to make sure the EarthCraft House program
would fit their needs. After this summer’s pilot
project, we plan to take the program statewide.”
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Simonini Builders, in Charleston,
South Carolina, said EarthCraft House training helped
improve the quality of their homes.Costal Living
Homes, in Savannah, Georgia, builds 100 percent
of its homes to EarthCraft House standards.
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