Green Communities and Builders
in Chapel Hill, Durham, Pittsboro NC
More Green Building Information FAQ Why Use A Buyer's Agent with New Construction
Green Built Communities
and Homes
Briar Chapel Community by Newland
Communities in Chapel Hill/Pittsboro
Cimarron Homes has six communities in Durham and Mebane to choose from
- Glennstone in Durham
- Stagville at Treyburn in Durham
- The Villages at Horton Hills in Durham
- Panther Creek in Durham
- The Villages at Copper Stone in Mebane
- Ashbury in Mebane
Winmore in Chapel Hill
Greenbridge in town living in Chapel Hill
Chatham County Homes in Heartland Grove, The Parks and Strowd Mountain by CCD builders
Bingham Ridge in Chatham County
Arcadia in Carrboro
Green builders in our area
Click For a Full List of NC Energy Star Builders
Carolina Country Builders -919-542-5361
Cimarron Builders 888-303-2240
Chandler Design/Build (919) 304 - 5397
Earth Renewal Shelter (919) 837-5805
Landmark Renovation and Building Co. (919) 942-9214
M Squared Builders & Designers, Inc (919) 620-8535
Zinn Design Builders (919) 493-0099
Remodeling Green
Greenstep - 'green' remodeling consultant
FAQ About Green Built Communities and Homes
I'm confused by all the 'certifications' and descriptions of a green built home. What is the difference, if any, between a LEED home, Energy Star home, GBC certification or Healthy Home?
GBC - Green Building Council -is a
Healthy Built Homes - is a NC program that provides visibility and third party certification of homes for residential builders who build sustainable, high performance homes.
Energy Star Home - is a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy designed to save the homeowner money and protect the environment through energy efficient products and practices. The government calculates an Energy Star home can save a homeowner up 20% or more in energy costs. Please Note: An Energy Star home exceeds standard building codes (the minimum) by only 15%. All other certifications are Energy Star homes and much, much more.
LEED - The LEED Green Building Rating System is the national benchmark for high performance green buildings. LEED has been used primarily by architects and builders of commercial buildings.
LEED for Homes
The U.S. Green Building Council offers a checklist for residential
structures less than four stories tall (LEED-H). A certification program is
in the pilot stage.
Download the guidelines
Exactly what is a green built home?
A home built with a whole-building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection, and indoor environmental quality.
Isn't building 'green' a lot more expensive?
Usually, but often not by much.. There are green built homes in our market for $160,000 and up. A site plan to take advantage of solar energy, shade from deciduous trees or avoiding erosion are generally no or low cost green techniques.
In addition to saving money on water, power bills and creating better indoor air quality for your family, you will be building additional equity in your home. Any home built today that is not built to a certified green standard is an 'end of the technology' building and will be more difficult to re-sell.
According to the U.S. Department of Energy's Building America Program, an integrated, systems-engineering approach can reduce as much as 50% of the energy consumption of a new home - with little on the cost of construction. Talk with your builder about the upfront costs and the lifecycle cost (savings over the lifetime of the building).
Can you search for green built homes in the MLS?
Not right now, but you will be able to by the end of the this year, 2007.
What is 'smart framing?
Optimum value engineering (OVE) or smart framing is a combination of design and building techniques that use less lumber used to build a house. This saves money for the builder, the homeowner and leaves a smaller carbon footprint.