Eco Friendly Real Estate Blog: North Carolina: Asheville: The Villages At Crest Mountain

Urban communities.  Emerald Green Asheville Style

IMAGINE!

• stepped pathways
• public plazas
• terraces and courtyards
• a bakery and barber shop
• a children's library of art and architecture
• an artists' cooperative
• restaurants and small local shops ***

****

If you are a person who values sustainability, the New Urbanism, and in establishing and engaging in green communities your imagination can take you to places of delight and comfort.

If you are a person who wants a say in how this all comes together…  on a “human scale” and on a workforce budget …

AND if all this makes you thirsty for more… and you are curious about green building, remodeling and communities…follow this blog.

Photo-slideshow here depicts  a LEED Neighborhood in Asheville, NC..you may just  come to love...contact me ASAP for information.

Here in Asheville NC people have come to expect leading edge innovation in sustainable development.

In the post below, CLINT LASHER who is himself involved in raising green awareness as the Project Manager at The Villages at Crest Mountain, talks about making dreams of an affordable "Green' home come true  (see 12 second video, below) --The Dream:A LEED for Neighborhood^TMregistered project at The Villages at Crest Mountain, Asheville, NC.

What excatly is a A LEED for Neighborhood^TM registered project ?  When you visit him at the Villages (just 5 minutes from downtown Asheville) as I did recently, he will be happy to explain...

-- A neighborhood that complies with the Nation's first rating system for Green Neighborhoods. In partnership with the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) the Natural Resource Defense Council (NRDC) has created a powerful environmental strategy: sustainability at the scale of neighborhoods and communities.

WHEN you visit...tell him "Murphy sent me"...

Asheville Greenolina's Neighborhood Video Tours::  The Eco Villages at Crest Mountain

We were over at the Villages at Crest Mountain   "Asheville's Premier Sustainable Community"again today. It is exciting to see the evolution of this eco-community, so we try to stop by to see the progress on a weekly basis.  We are interested in many of the aspects of green the developers are incorporating. In other posts, we have looked at the construction of stylish, green-built homes coming to life where community gardens, a greenhouse, orchards and vineyards will come to life.  

Today, we took a stroll on the perimeter of the eco village where we caught up with Clint Lasher, Project Manager for the Villages, and got a glimpse of what is going on at the Villages in terms of rain water harvesting, in  particular, a rivulet flowing on the property. (see eco neighborhood video)

__~o
 -\_<,                                       
(*)/'(*)    ..........      ............" We are on the roll  for  sustainable  innovation."  Unauthorized reproduction of any information on this site is a violation of existing copyright laws. All rights reserved.- Eco-Friendly Mountain Homes and Land Legacies-Asheville NC Real Estate  Asheville Greenolina's Neighborhood Video Tours::  RAIN HARVESTING at The Eco Villages at Crest Mountain© 2010.   

Asheville, NC, as you may know if you read my blog, is the hub of sustainable innovation when it comes to real estate. It is exciting. And promising.

A couple of LEED®  Builders took a tour with me of The Villages at Crest Mountain  to see what I am so excited about.

Here we found HealthyBuilt® Homes under construction. We talked with the developer about how the Villages at Crest Mountain would evolve. He was excited about the plans for

• Community-wide rainwater catchment and solar energy systems

• Covered gathering areas

• Two acres of central green space

• Community gardens, greenhouse, orchards, vineyards and berry patches

• Community center with tavern and co-op serving local organic beers, artisan crafts, and organic fruits and vegetables. (see artist's rendition below)

We asked about construction costs.

"Sustainable construction need not add cost, and its long-term return on investment is real." the developer told us. "It increases the value of the building and reduces operating costs every year. And the benefits to the environment and to the health of residents is priceless."

Good point. In terms of new construction, you can enjoy a pure dollars and cents advantage. Real property investors who can earn tax breaks and rebates, benefit from the lower construction costs, reduce or eliminate the need for heating and air-conditioning equipment and the associated costs of purchase, maintenance and electricity, cut energy and water bills by as much as half and even protect operating budgets from increases in energy prices.

As CPA friend of ours reminded us:  Tax benefits, rebates, and the lower utility costs of being environmentally friendly add up to a real bottom-line reward!

______________________________________________________________________________________

__~o
 -\_<,                                       
(*)/'(*)    ..........      ............" We are on the roll  for sustainable  innovation."  Unauthorized reproduction of any information on this site is a violation of existing copyright laws. All rights reserved. Getting to the Hub of Sustainable Innovation- Eco-Friendly Mountain Homes and Land Legacies-Asheville NC Real Estate  © 2010.   _________________________________________________________________