Modern Architecture Raises Property Values | Check out this nice article by one of our business partners, Real Estate Scorecard, on the value of modern design in real estate. See the full article by our friend Marge Casey here. Cheers!

"Mountain modern architecture is considered one of the most sought-after design trends in Asheville neighborhoods for a multitude of reasons. When folks think of the traditional mountain rustic home they envision a space that radiates shelter, warmth and protection from the harsh elements of high country living.  This classic notion of mountain living has evolved with advances of technology that enable homes to be built more energy-efficient and yet still cozy with new artistic designs that are more appealing to home shoppers today, especially in the austere city of Asheville."

As you all know there is a ton of discussion on climate change. Regardless of your beliefs your choices affect your personal health and your wallet to start before rippling out to your communities both locally and globally. It is worth a minute to explore how we can take personal responsibility in our own lives and with our homes. This chart shows us a few considerations for the home, but goes beyond into our food and transportation choices.

For a more direct and deeper look at your house go to this article for tips on reducing your climate impact. We appreciate you!

ReGen Village | A new neighborhood that will grow its own food, power itself, and handle its own waste. As always, our friends in this part of Europe set the tone for the future in terms of design and lifestyle. This neighborhood will be the first ReGen Village, a new type of community designed to be fully self-sufficient, growing its own food, making its own energy, and handling its own waste in a closed loop.

Read the full article here. Anyone think it would be great in Asheville? Cheers!

Kelly and I brought our Seller/Builder together with one of our Buyer's on this modern, shed style home yesterday prior to breaking ground. Greg McGuffey of Earthtone Builders approached us to market his first spec home. Given the home fit our buyer's needs we were able to bring both parties together early in the process.The 1480 sqft, 3 bedroom and 2 bath home will be a rare one-level, new build home for West Asheville which is what most of our clients are looking for as they age in place over time.

The quality, green home Greg thoughtfully designed is earth friendly, light, airy and low maintenance which will keep it low-cost and sustainable. When completed the home will be Near Net Zero and come with a NC Green Built Gold Certificate.

In detail, it will feature concrete floors with radiant heat, concrete counters, vaulted ceilings, bonus loft, stainless appliances and fixtures and topped off with a galvanized metal roof and 5Kw grid-tied solar system. It should be a home our client can live easily and lightly in for decades to come.

Follow us along this year as we check in on the building progress with Greg. Cheers!

— Kelly and Troy

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Yesterday, I was invited to tour Biz611 in Hendersonville with Architect Ken Gaylord, a fellow AIA member. It is a newly opened office building in downtown Hendersonville that was designed to house selected, start up technical companies. The owner/developer of this small office building was very focused on green design and that it be evident throughout the building. Ken and his team were brought in to make his vision reality in this industrialized modern construction.The facade was veneered with bricks retained from buildings torn down from the site. Also, it incorporates living walls with plants as shown above. The South wall incorporates a shade structure that simultaneously harnesses solar energy. The interior consisted of recycled walls from a bank in Charleston along with reclaimed glass, wood and even railings used to cover water retention areas externally. For an expanded photographic tour of this building click here.

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Asheville Ranks #5 for Greenest in the Country Thanks to modern gal Kelly Erin-Spinney for sharing the word about Asheville's newest ranking of many. As we all know, green and sustainability are intrinsic to the modern lifestyle of Asheville and part of why we all live here. For more details on this honor  click here.

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Healthy Paints and Finishes of the Earth and for your Home Recently, I was browsing Yolo:Colorhouse's website from our sister city and my old stomping grounds, Portland, Oregon. Yolo is a cool company started by artists producing healthy paints. I especially enjoy their marketing style. It occurred to me that we should have a healthy paint company here in Asheville. Doing a quick search I discovered Earth Paints. Rather than trying to pretend I know much about them I have borrowed some of their thoughts from the website. Also, while browsing I found this great video from Healthy Child Healthy World. The message and marketing style work well together. Finally! Beautiful Paint & Wood Finish without the Poisons!! Earthpaint produces only Healthy Sustainable Finish!  Earthpaint was founded by Tom Rioux, a professional painter for 25 years. Tom was poisoned by the paints and wood finish he was told were safe. He narrowly survived. This is the basis for Earthpaint’s deep, life affirming commitment to make strong, safe paint and wood finish. Earthpaint now offers beautiful floor finish, deck stain, wood finish and non-toxic paint products that are as good or better than conventional paint and wood finish. Earthpaint was the first, and may still be the only, USA based Healthy Sustainable Finish manufacturer. Earthpaint is proving that there are better, kinder alternatives. We do not use toxic petrochemical solvents in deck stain. We do not use mineral spirits in our oil wood finish. No naphtha, toluene, xylene, vinyl or benzene in our wood finish. No Poison! We are confident that Earthpaint is providing the safest alternative on the planet!Our biodegradable paint and wood finish contain non-toxic and natural ingredients derived from plants, vegetables, trees, minerals and elements. Nearly all of these finishing components are gathered locally (within a day’s drive of Asheville, NC) and are domestically produced and harvested. We avoid using anything in our paint and wood finish that gets shipped in from overseas.  Embodied energy and the entire ecological footprint is examined throughout the paint and wood finish formulation process. It is then reexamined on a yearly basis because things change and we need to be responsive to that.For more information on Earth Paints click here.Watch this great video from our friends at Healthy Child Healthy World.[vimeo http://www.vimeo.com/9071036 w=413&h=232]

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Game-Changing Green Advancements You Should Know About I just read an article from the Huffington Post and had to share a portion of it. They showcased 7 items in the works for Green Advancement worldwide. Here are four that particularly caught my attention. I am especially excited about the green concrete.Concrete might not seem un-green at first, but it's actually the third largest source of man-made carbon dioxide! However, several companies are working on changing that. Enter "green concrete," which not only makes concrete carbon-neutral but even turns it carbon-negative. CO2 absorbing concrete is nothing short of a game-changer.This isn't a ferris wheel, it's the LO2P: Delhi Recycling Center, a concept by firm Atelier CMJN. Built from parts of recycled cars from local junk piles, this novel greenhouse has wind turbines that serve as bio-lungs. While it's still just a concept, it won first place in this year's eVolo Skyscraper competition, which means that the greenest buildings of the future will be of an entirely different ilk than we're used to.When it comes to green, bigger is almost never better. In that spirit, a new generation of homeowners and homebuilders are focusing on living in tiny eco-friendly homes. Gone are expansive kitchens and bedrooms; instead the focus is on integrating your life as much as possible with the outdoors, and winnowing down your lifestyle in size but not in style. Indeed, many of these tiny homes are very design-focused.Forget green building--consider entirely green cities. Tianjin Eco-City in China, slated for completion in 2020, will span 30 square kilometers and will include "an advanced light rail transit system and varied eco-landscapes ranging from a sun-powered solarscape to a greenery-clad earthscape for its estimated 350,000 residents to enjoy."

Samsel Architects win Gold Award with Celo House EcoHouse Magazine singled out five homes nationally including one right here in Asheville. The contest judges especially liked the pairing of energy technology with the use of natural materials inside and outside a 1,538-square-foot home in Celo, N.C.The house won praise for tree preservation; rainwater storage for irrigation; pervious walkways, patio and driveway to control water runoff; and the use of drought-resistant plants. The home also features sustainability-certified wood shingles and locally harvested stone.The home's walls are filled with spray-foam insulation and the windows and doors use low-e (low thermal emissivity), argon-filled glass.It was designed by Samsel Architects, Asheville, N.C.; it was built by Sunspace Homes, Burnsville, N.C.Article portion courtesy of Inman News' Mary Umberger; Photo courtesy of David Dietrich Photography

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Leicester House by SPG ArchitectsThis hilltop residence, located at the edge of a wooded knoll in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Moutains, has expansive southern and western views.  Approaching through the woods, one arrives at a one-story facade of corten steel framed by wood.  A hint of the views is provided through the glass door, but it is not unitl the entry that the full impact of the hilltop views can be experienced.  The south and west glass walls open to rolling farmland velow and the mountains beyond.  The entry level serves as the primary living area, with a guest wing carved into the hilltop below.  The house is functional, energy efficient and visually inspiring.  The greening of the house complements its visual warmth, grounding the modern structure in its rural landscape.For more information and environmental details on this modern addition to the Asheville landscape please Click Here!Asheville Design Center Wednesday, Oct 13 at 6pm - "Eric Gartner of SPG Architects will discuss the firm's local work in green building.  Set in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mountains, with sweeping views across majestic landscape, SPG Architects' Leicester House serves both as a solitary retreat and a generous space for entertaining. SPG's work clearly presents a visual consistency based on human proportions, the exploration of light, and the judicious use of materials that provide singular tactile, visual, spatial and temporal experiences. Two external crises that unfolded during design and construction encouraged the client to turn Leicester House into a model of energy efficiency. In response to a severe drought, rainwater collection was incorporated along with geothermal energy use, energy efficient lighting, automatic sun shading and reclaimed furniture. When the economic crisis squeezed budgets and ruled out an infinity pool, plans were adapted to create a green 'infinity' roof instead."Text and Photos by SPG Architects