EarthCraft House, Zero Energy Homes and Million Solar Roofs at the Atlanta Home Show Programs give consumers hands-on resources this autumn By Ben Kerl, Southface intern

	EarthCraft House, a partnership between Southface and the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association, once again played a major role in the Fall Atlanta Home Show. This year's show was at the Cobb Galleria, Thursday, September 30 through Sunday, October 3. The home show was an excellent opportunity for EarthCraft House to educate homeowners about home issues related to Water, Waste and Wattage. As part of our efforts to raise awareness of steps consumers can take to live a more environmentally responsible lifestyle, a prize giveaway was created called the Ultimate EarthCraft Upgrade. Anyone attending the home show could enter the drawing to win a package of high performance products that together act to conserve natural resources as well as ensure a healthier and more comfortable home. The following donated products were a part of this year's EarthCraft House Ultimate Upgrade Grand Prize, valued at over $10,000: • 1 unit from Amana Heating and Air including installation from Premiere Indoor Comfort • DuraMate and Sillseal from Dow Styrofoam • 2 units of the new Vision Pro touch-screen thermostat by Honeywell • Insulation from Icynene • An Integrity Patio Door from Marvin Windows • Duet Washer and Dryer from Whirlpool • Construction Waste Grinding from Packer Industries
Southface Senior Research Engineer Jeff Ross-Bainanswers questions of a consumer at the Fall Atlanta Home Show.
A big draw to the Home Show crowd, the Southfacebooth featured the "Ultimate EarthCraft House Upgrade," agiveaway of $10,000 in energy efficient products and services.Seen here a woman and her son place their entry form intothe raffle.

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As a Million Solar Roofs Initiative partner, Southface offered a full day of solar learning opportunities in association with the American Solar Energy Society (ASES) National Solar Tour on Saturday, October 2. The National Solar Tour encourages local chapters of ASES to provide their communities the opportunity to visit solar installations in their respective region. In addition to solar displays in the Southface booth at the Fall Homeshow, our Southface Energy and Environmental Resource Center demonstration home offered solar tours and access to all Southface resources, including knowledgeable staff. Southface displays working installations of solar thermal water heating systems, as well as options in building-integrated photovoltaics. Also joining the solar tour this year was the unveiling and open house of the Westbrook Solar EarthCraft House model home.

The Westbrook Solar EarthCraft House, built by Hedgewood Properties with technical assistance from Southface and Integrated Building and Construction Solutions (IBACOS), is a three-story, fourbedroom single family home with a beautiful double front porch. The home serves as both a sales and energy-saving model encouraging potential homebuyers to include solar technologies into their own homes. The home is 45 percent more energy efficient and will cost $842 less to run each year than a typical new home of the same size. The Westbrook home features a 2-kW PV System, tankless water heaters, energy star appliances, high performance building techniques, low-E windows, low VOC paints, whole house monitoring system, whole house dehumidifier, zoned system and electronic air filter. Link to large poster