Eco Friendly Real Estate Blog

Cracking the Green Building Codes. There's a trend in building these days. The trend is toward designing, constructing and operating healthy-built "green" buildings. Such buildings reduce the negative impact on natural surroundings and benefit those who work or live there by providing them with a healthier indoor environment.

More and more, developers are enrolling in NC HealthyBuilt® and/or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) programsthat set forth environmentally savvy choices. And here, the general public  can find the keys to cracking the Green Building Codes.

Both of these programs set forth, in written form, the benchmarks for the design, construction and operation of eco-friendly buildings.  My clients who invest in the buildings can find what they need in terms of  a measurable scale with which to look at sustainability when they review the guidelines and check certifications as Maggie Leslie of the Green Building Council right here in Asheville, NC recently pointed out in her article: Cracking the Green Building Codes.

A "whole-building approach to sustainability"  recognizes five key areas of human and environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.

Here is a graphic I created of one noteworthy example of such buildings in the Asheville, NC area: The Blue Ridge Parkway Destination Center

__~o
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(*)/'(*)    ..........      ............to keep on rolling into the sustainable  world you can create today and tomorrow!. .........................    .............with OBJECTIVE FIDUCIARY COUNSEL &. ECO STEWARDS' LEARNING TOURS. Serving Asheville's Eco-Friendly-Home, Relocation LAND Clients..

On the GO 4 Sustainability:  "GREEN" Real Estate and Relocation: The Eco-Steward Firm, ALL Eco-Certified® Real Estate Consultants!  Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved

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I had the pleasure of sitting down with John Myers and Jane Lawson the developers of the Hickory Nut Forest GREEN/conservation community near Asheville, NC not long ago. We talked about what it takes to create such a community- their philosophy and how they designed and developed the land. Here is a segment of our conversation.

HOW ONE COUPLE ENVISIONED AND REALIZED THEIR DREAM OF AN ECO-FRIENDLY  MOUNTAIN COMMUNITY

Q. How long has it taken to create the Hickory Nut Forest eco-community?

A. We have been involved in the process of creating community for nearly five years. It has been an amazing journey that has taken on a life of its own. We started out with a vision to conserve some beautiful land in the mountains of North Carolina.

We wanted to be stewards of this sacred place with its amazing forests, waterfalls, living plants and animals. As we have come to know the land intimately, we feel guided to keep expanding our vision.

Q How have you expanded on your vision to conserve this gorgeous land in the mountains of North Carolina?

We created homesites for up to 34 green-built homes, added an organic apple orchard and heirloom vineyard, placed a conservation easement on the mountain and built miles of hiking trails.

(photo shows John and Jane at one of the many waterfalls on the property the are developing near Chimney Rock just outside of Asheville, NC. )

 Q How do you see the growth of Hickory Nut Forest into the mature "Green Community" you envision, and will it be  a "Private Mountain Community"?

A. As new people have arrived, they have brought their enthusiasm and dreams to the community. [One of the first to arrive] Ryan was inspired to develop a community garden and with student interns created a veggie patch, an herb circle, mushroom logs, and added beehives and free-range chickens. 

Folks wanted to have a gathering place, so we started building a community center at the ruins of an old gristmill. This vision has grown into creating Laughing Waters, a retreat site for year-round classes, workshops and student internships that we hope to have open by spring. 

We are allowing the community to grow slowly and naturally through sharing this magical place with all who come to visit. Our free monthly events have included a bluegrass concert, apple fests, hikes, herb walks, bonfire/potlucks and kids' educational programs. People have initially come for a visit and then decided to live here.

Q. What is your guiding principle or intention? 

From the beginning our guiding intention has been simply to approach everything and everyone with love and respect: our neighbors, all the people working on various projects, our visitors, the land and the water, the plants and animals, and each other. We feel such a powerful healing energy from this land. Our role is simply to make it possible for people to come here and experience it for themselves. 

FURTHER READING on how to recognize an eco-friendly development

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__~o
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(*)/'(*)    ..........      ............to keep on rolling into the sustainable  world you can create today and tomorrow!. .........................    .............with OBJECTIVE FIDUCIARY COUNSEL &. ECO STEWARDS' LEARNING TOURS.Serving Asheville's Eco-Friendly-Home, Relocation LAND Clients..

On the GO 4 Sustainability:  "GREEN" Real Estate and Relocation: The Eco-Steward Firm, ALL Eco-Certified® Real Estate Consultants!  Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved
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Asheville, North Carolina, October, 2009  Eco-Friendly  News and Views from "GREEN-O-Lina"   

Some people relocate to the Asheville area just so that they can
hike in exciting places
like Craggy Gardens,  or Mt. Mitchell. 

But once they find a place on the land to call Home,
create, then build an eco-friendly environment
with a nod to Mother Nature,

a simple early morning stroll
can provide sights and sounds
that dazzle.

Come for such a stroll with me.
You will be amazed at what I found this morning
right in my own backyard. 

Turn up the volume for a SURPRISE at the close of this short video...
and let me know what you think that honking (hint-hint) sound is!

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__~o
 -\_<,                                       
(*)/'(*)    ..........      ............to keep on rolling into the sustainable  world you can create today and tomorrow!. .........................    .............with OBJECTIVE FIDUCIARY COUNSEL &. ECO STEWARDS' LEARNING TOURS. Serving Asheville's Eco-Friendly-Home, Relocation LAND Clients.. On the GO 4 Sustainability:  "GREEN" Real Estate and Relocation: The Eco-Steward Firm, ALL Eco-Certified® Real Estate Consultants!  Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved

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Asheville, North Carolina, October, 2009 Real Estate News and Views from "GREEN-O-Lina"   
30+ Eco-Friendly Urban and  Mountain Communities in the Asheville Area

There are about as many shades of green in eco-friendly design, development and building as you see in the early light on an Appalachian mountainside. (see photo) Levels of attraction, commitment, and motivation to embrace eco conepts and planning are unique to each of us.

 Poll homebuyers and investors and you are sure to find certain green features have more appeal than others. For example , on the subject of green-built homes,  indoor air quality(IAQ) may be one person's primary focus, while whole house ventilation or NO-VOC paint may be another's concern.

And many people looking to leave a land legacy will devote their attention to eco-savvy development that takes into account site planning, solar orientation and energy use.

But people do seem to share this in common:They are deeply attracted to the notion that their grand kids will be and/or are in a healthy, non-toxic environment.

With this in mind, I have compiled a list of 30+ urban and mountain eco-friendly developments in the Greater Asheville area. If you would like to know the "greenest' I will be posting a comparison chart you can use to determine for yourself...And/or check back to see the following list highlighted with links to my video series as I visit each of these communities. 

30+ Eco-Friendly Urban* and  Mountain Communities in the Asheville Area

Altura   (Urban)
Balsam Mountain Preserve
Ciel (Urban)
Cliffs of High Carolina (Tiger Woods)
Cold Mountain
Cove at Celo Mountain
Crest Mountain Community (Urban)

CRESTON

DROVERS ROAD PRESERVE

Fitgerald Condominiums (Urban)
French Broad Crossing
GAIA (Urban)
Grand Highlands of Bearwallow Mountain
Grand Highlands of Waterford Lakes

GREENWOOD 

HICKORY NUT FOREST ECO COMMUNITY

Homestead at Mills River

MOUNTAIN AIR
Mountain Meadows

NORTH KNOB

Pisgah Preserve at Lake James

PRESERVE AT LITTLE PINE

PRESERVE AT WOLF LAUREL

Ramble Biltmore Forest (Urban)
Red Wolf Run
Residences at 151 (Urban)
River Highlands at Madison Crossing
River Rock
Settings of Black Mountain (Urban)
Stillhouse Creek

THREE CREEKS PRESERVE at Lake Lure
Thoms Estate (Urban)

WALNUT CREEK PRESERVE Equestrian Community (seen in photo)
Whisper Mountain

•·        I am defining "urban" as within a 10 minute drive of downtown Asheville

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__~o
 -\_<,                                       
(*)/'(*)    ..........      ............to keep on rolling into the sustainable  world you can create today and tomorrow!. .........................    .............with OBJECTIVE FIDUCIARY COUNSEL &. ECO STEWARDS' LEARNING TOURS. Serving Asheville's Eco-Friendly-Home, Relocation LAND Clients..

On the GO 4 Sustainability:  "GREEN" Real Estate and Relocation: The Eco-Steward Firm, ALL Eco-Certified® Real Estate Consultants!  Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved
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Dateline Asheville, North Carolina, October, 2009
News and Views from "GREEN-O-Lina"   

The Eco-Community & Conservation Land

THIS WEEK I had the good fortune to hike the sunny trails leading from an amazing eco-friendly community just minutes from downtown Asheville. This model for sustainable innovation, Hickory Nut Forest is one of the first ECO developments in the USA to combine wide-ranging land conservation with an eco-friendly community of green-built  homes, to be powered by renewable energy -(wind power, hydropower , geothermal) - to create  a  "net-zero-energy community". Living in this conservation neighborhood means enjoying the forever-wild mountain forests, soaring cliffs and pristine, cascading streams, out your back door. You can walk for miles in the serenity of nature.  
 
Hiking trails lead conveniently from the building sites into 800+ acres of nature preserve lands  with waterfalls, streams, cliffs and mountaintop vistas. And, here a learning/teaching and community center is taking shape. Based on the model of the grist mill that once stood here, the building is being "built green" and features wood harvested with TLC from the site. (see video)

__~o
 -\_<,                                       
(*)/'(*)    ..........      ............to keep on rolling into the sustainable  world you can create today and tomorrow!. .........................    .............with OBJECTIVE FIDUCIARY COUNSEL and ECO STEWARDS' LEARNING TOURS. Serving Asheville's Relocationand  LAND Clients..

On the GO 4 Sustainability:  "GREEN" Real Estate and Relocation: The Eco-Steward Firm, ALL Eco-Certified® Real Estate Consultants!  Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved

Hickory Nut Forest An Outstanding Asheville Area Eco Community

One of my favorite eco communities in the Asheville area (and please note, Asheville is the  "hub' of green and sustainable development) is Hickory Nut Forest.Numerous eco-communities are popping up in and around Asheville, but Hickory Nut Forest is demonstrating how to go about creating an eco--community. This video shows how folks got together to build a community center. (see video).

THIS evolving "green" community and conservation neighborhood is surrounded on three sides by over 800 acres of conservation land , so from the community center, visitors and residents can hike out on one of the well-tended trails leading to those 800 + acres and to the adjoining 250 acres. Hickory Nut Forest's community/retreat/teaching/learning center represents a "shade of green" having to do with sustainability from the "social dimension" perspective: Peace, security, social justice --Human settlements and Human relationship to nature.

EXAMPLE: I was so excited to be able to WATCH how the construction of the new community building happens! ( see video) If you are interested in the "social dimension" of eco-friendly development, be sure to check out the video. There also are aspects of green building that will be a part of this work: using the giant poplar from our land to hold up the house, solar and microhydro for heating and electric, sprayed insulation, south facing orientation, metal roofing, energystar appliances, protection of the surrounding trees, interior air quality, re-using their own wood for interior walls...for example

New Hampshire Sustainable Energy Association is holding its annual Green Building Open House Tour. This Saturday, October 3, 2009, is your chance to tour over 75 "Green" homes and businesses in New Hampshire. You can check out anything from straw bale construction in walls, insulated concrete forms, passive solar and active solar installations, geothermal installation and cellulose roofing.

To see a full listing of New Hampshire properties available to tour, click here. To find out more about New Hampshire Sustainable Energy Association, click here.

Feel free to comment here about any of the homes you visited.

Frances Sanderson, Franklin, NH REALTOR®, Certified EcoBroker^® 

Dateline Asheville, North Carolina, September, 2009
Real Estate News and Views from "GREEN-O-Lina" ..LOOKING FOR THE "RIGHT" PLACE TO CALL HOME??

I asked these guys (see photo) to give me their List of 20 Eco-friendly features that are important to them. You'll see the result below.

How many of the following would you be attracted to when looking for homes, neighborhoods and/or land?

Tally your score.  If it is over 10, and you email me or comment here, I happily will tell you where to look... (Hint follows list,)

1. Proximity of Living Quarters to Work

2. Reduced Automobile Dependence

3. Bicycle Routes

4. School Proximity

5.Proximity to Nature and Conservation-Oriented Habitats

6. Organic Produce, Farmland Conservation, Local Food Productions

7. Walkable

8. Good Transit Facilities

9. Good Access to Public Spaces

10. Community Outreach and Involvement

11. Thoughtful Site Design

12. Certified Green Buildings

13. Energy Efficiency in Buildings

14 Rainwater Harvesting, Reduced Water Use, Stormwater Management

15. Stewardship of Historic Buildings

16.Solar Orientation

17. Zoned Heating & Cooling

18. Energy Efficiency

19. Light Pollution Reduction

20. Innovation in Design 

HINT: "Eco-friendly"

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__~o
 -\_<,                                       
(*)/'(*)    ..........      ............to keep on rolling into the sustainable  world you can create today and tomorrow!. .........................    .............with OBJECTIVE FIDUCIARY COUNSEL. ECO STEWARDS' LEARNING TOURS.Serving Asheville's Eco-Friendly-Home, Relocation LAND Clients..

On the GO 4 Sustainability:  "GREEN" Real Estate and Relocation: The Eco-Steward Firm, ALL Eco-Certified® Real Estate Consultants!  Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved

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Dateline Asheville, North Carolina, September, 2009
News and Views from Asheville's "GREEN-O-Lina"

For anyone looking at loan modification and/or mitigation, whether you live in Asheville, NC or Anytown, USA,  a gigantic hurry-up-and-wait process is certain.  You rush to get all the required paperwork together, and then to send it off "post haste"... You dash to meet advisors with pertinent information, and  then slowly, slowly  try to make sense of that information.

Somewhere along the way you discover that there are tens of thousands (and more) people trying to do just what you are doing. The loan people don't have the software they need to expedite the stacks of files accumulating on their desks. You don't have what you need to help out.

S T R E S S appears in every corner of the experience. As a result, I have been thinking about de-stressing...seeking simple and effective remedies to counteract frenetic goings-on. As luck would have it, just last week, while doing one of my  HOME-spun Videos©  at Creston Eco-Community in Black Mountain, NC, , I found an unexpected and immmediate remedy for stress.  Watching the antics of this Mountain Cat  I caught in this 30 second video may work for you, too. Let me know what you think...

__~o
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(*)/'(*)    ..........      ............to keep on rolling into the sustainable  world you can create today and tomorrow!. .........................    .............with OBJECTIVE FIDUCIARY COUNSEL & Asheville Short Sale Consults. ECO STEWARDS' LEARNING TOURS. Serving Asheville's Stay-in-Your-Home, Relocation LAND Clients..

On the GO 4 Sustainability:  "GREEN" Real Estate and Relocation: The Eco-Steward Firm, ALL Eco-Certified® Real Estate Consultants!  Copyright © 2009 All Rights Reserved