Green Built Guide: October 2021

Green Built Alliance has finalized our fall schedule of continuing-education courses that will fulfill the six elective hours required annually by North Carolina Licensing Board for General Contractors, as well as being eligible for credit through American Institute of Architects and certain other trade organizations. 

For six weeks from now through mid-November, we'll host virtual classes via Zoom from 2 to 4 p.m. on Thursdays with discounts for members and free equitable access tickets for individuals who identify as BIPOC (Black, Indigenous, or a person of color).

All six available classes are approved hours for general contractors as well as architects, and also count toward our new Regenerative Professional Accreditation credential that acknowledges a deep, evolving competency in advanced green-building best practices.

Our fall schedule brings back three popular offerings from previous series, and also introduces three new classes.

• 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 14: Building Net-Zero Homes with Amy Musser and Matthew Vande of Vandemusser Design
• 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 21: Edible and Native Plants of WNC with Laura Ruby of YummyYards
• 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Oct. 28: Building with Trees with local urban forest advocates Ed Macie and Karen MacNeil
• 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 4: Marketing Green Homes with Mary Love of Love the Green Real Estate Consulting
• 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 11: Eco Site Preparation & Long-Term Resilience with Brandon Greenstein of Integrated Ecological Solutions (Registration opens soon)
• 2 to 4 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 18: Indoor airPLUS & Green Built Homes with Amy Musser of Vandemusser Design and Josh LittleJohn of Green Built Alliance

***** For the two-hour mandatory course required for GCs, we are referring to TrainingFolks, which has an asynchronous e-learning option for the class. You can receive a $10 discount off each course you purchase when you use Green Built Alliance’s coupon code — NCGC0109 — at checkout. Visit this website to register.

See full details on the fall continuing-education class schedule >>

Learn more about the Regenerative Professional Accreditation >>

ICYMI: Appalachian Offsets Celebrates Solar at Isaac Dickson Elementary School

We had a great turnout late last month for our ceremony to mark the completed installation of the new community-funded solar system at Isaac Dickson Elementary School.

The Asheville school benefited from a fundraising campaign led by Green Built Alliance's Appalachian Offsets program and local solar installer Sundance Power Systems, who was awarded the contract six years ago. Following completion of the successful fundraising campaign, the system was installed earlier this year.

The ceremony on Friday, Sept. 24 included remarks from members of the school community, local business and nonprofit leaders, as well as elected officials at the state, county and city level. The event concluded with a student performance of an original song written for the occasion by the school's music teacher, and the ceremonial flipping of the switch to turn on the system.

Appalachian Offsets funds renewable-energy projects and energy-efficiency upgrades in schools, nonprofits and low-income housing by pooling money contributed by local businesses and individuals through its voluntary carbon-offset program. 

Click to watch WLOS' recap of our solar celebration ceremony >>

Click to learn more or donate to offset your carbon footprint >>

Tour Green Built Homes Virtually and In Person In Final Weekend of Parade of Homes

Join Asheville Home Builders Association this Saturday and Sunday for the final weekend of its 2021 Parade of Homes with 36 new construction entries, most of which were built by Green Built Alliance members and many of which are registered or certified through our Green Built Homes program.

Those who miss the opportunity to explore the homes in person can enjoy the virtual tours available on the Parade website. We are proud of all of our builders, and invite you to take special note of the projects below certified by our Green Built Homes program.

• Beach Hensley Homes, 23 WT Weaver Boulevard
• Green Room Builders, 26 Swannanoa Avenue
• HomeSource Real Estate & Construction, 26 Towering Oaks
• JAG Construction, 34 Hibriten Drive
• WSM Craft, 149 Lady Slipper Trail
• Living Stone Design + Build, 53 Long Spur Lane
• Living Stone Design + Build, 74 Cottage Settings Lane

Click to learn more or view the virtual home tours >>

We are seeking someone to help us provide hands-on energy efficiency upgrade support on a part-time basis (20 to 30 hours per week) for low-income families in Buncombe County. The work involves changing light bulbs, water aerators, caulking, weather sealing, and basic construction practices.

click to learn more >>

Two local Asheville green builders were selected to receive the U.S. Department of Energy’s prestigious Housing Innovation Award this year to recognize high-performance, energy-efficient homebuilding. Our members at Deltec Homes were among the honorees, and Leigha Dickens on their staff shared more about the award on our blog.

click to learn more >>

The Asheville section of the American Institute of Architects continues its annual Where Building Science Meets Climate Science series early next month.

The symposium begins with an evening presentation on Nov. 4, and continues in a full-day program Nov. 5 with lunch. Continuing-education credit hours are anticipated.

click to register >>