The Environmental and Conservation Organization’s fifth annual Green Home Tour showcased five Asheville and Hendersonville homes with energy-efficient features. Participants toured the homes to learn about both simple and high-tech green appointments, from geothermal heating systems to rain barrels. ECO press release follows photos. For more information visit eco-wnc.org.
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: ECO office, 828-692-0385
Tickets Now On Sale for ECO’s Green Home Tour
(HENDERSONVILLE, NC, July 20, 2012) – Tickets are now on sale for the ECO, Environmental and Conservation Organization’s Fifth Annual Green Home Tour that will be held on August 18th from 10 AM – 4 PM. This year’s tour features five homes that not only display an array of green technology, but also, sustainable living practices that work with nature. According to Juliana Green, Green Home Tour coordinator, “This year’s circuit has something for everyone; edible gardens, water conservation components, thermal insulation, geothermal heating/cooling and solar energy of all types and stripes.”
A primary goal for this year’s tour is to showcase affordable and feasible ways that homeowners can make their brown home green. One such Hendersonville home can demonstrate to tour goers just that. With a passive solar sunroom, solar tube lighting in the entrance way, an edible garden, and rain barrels, this home truly exemplifies changes that are attainable for the average homeowner. Yet, some green homes are ones that you don’t have to build at all. A retrofitted log cabin features a heat pump for efficient heating and cooling, foam insulation, and moisture control efforts. This home confirms that true sustainability is working with what you have instead of tearing down and rebuilding.
Green technology is definitely useful to learn about in this age of rising energy prices. Two houses this year feature alternative energy systems. Distinctive features such as solar hot water, a solar electrical system, and exhaust fans clearly show the power of the sun. If you want to learn more about photovoltaic systems and how much money it really can save you, this is the house to visit! Or maybe, geothermal heating and cooling is what you want to investigate. Even with high upfront costs, geothermal provides long-term savings on energy bills. The builders will be on hand to explain how it works and answer and questions.
Last but not least we are happy to include a Micro-Hydro Project at the Hickory Nut Forest Eco-Community. This is a bonus feature on the tour this year, as they are celebrating the completion of their micro-hydro energy system from 1-5 PM. Come out to Gerton for a tour of this sustainable technology.
ECO’s Green Home Tour is a great way to spend a day enjoying the countryside while viewing some beautiful green homes and picking up some great ideas on how to live sustainably. Tickets for the Green Home Tour which include five homes, a non-profit organization and a micro-hydro energy system, are available online at www.eco-wnc.org or available at the ECO office, at the Hendersonville and Asheville Visitor’s Centers and at Wild Birds Unlimited in Hendersonville. For any additional information please call the ECO office at (828) 692-0385 or online at www.eco-wnc.org .
The Green Home Tour is sponsored by Green By 3, Hendersonville Home Builders Association, Higher Ground Rainwater Systems, Home Trust Bank, HPC Printing, The Laurel of Asheville, and Wild Birds Unlimited-Hendersonville. ECO’s 25th Annual Sponsors: Biz611.com, Blue Ridge Community College, Garrison Family Dentistry, Green By 3, Green River Adventures, Green River Preserves, Hendersonville Community Co-op, Hendersonville Printing Company, Holly Spring Farm & Nursery, Ken Gaylord Architects/Blackhawk Construction, Mast General Store, Mathew G. Young, DDS, Chuck McGrady, Pardee Hospital, REI-Asheville, and Sundance Power Systems.
Sure are an awful lot of petroleum-based materials in these constructions, to say nothing of all the other materials obtained in ways that are anything but “green”, and the massively energy-inefficient layouts and design. I suppose all the other materials sourced from hundreds and thousands of miles away were shipped and trucked here on magic green carpets? But I guess if you tack on a couple rain barrels and solar panels (which themselves are not produced sustainably and require lots of petroleum and exploited labor to manufacture) you can call anything green. Excuse me while I go install *plastic* rain barrels at the Lake Julian coal plant to make it green also. Who knew it was this easy all along? I bet people will say it’s a step in the right direction, even though we’re going nowhere fast. This kind of greenwashing is getting mighty old and it’s sad that the Xpress promotes it as if it means anything.