Green Options » Green Builder

Possibly the Easiest Way to Open Your Own Green Store

Paul Smith — Thu, 05 Mar 2009 13:00:18 +0000

So you have an interest in sustainability, particularly when it comes to your home environment. You know enough that your friends seem to flock to you for advice. They say, “You should open your own store!” You think hmm, they might be on to something. But you’ve never opened up a store, and it’s a tough economy these days for doing so.

g Green Design Center may be just the ticket.

Begun in Massachusetts, they’ve now created a franchise program for the budding ecopreneurist, where someone with the passion can put the backing of someone already doing it, together with what will increasingly become a known name for such stores.

The flagship g store has a host of green building/design services from interior and architectural design to eco events.

Green Builders, Inc. Bringing Green Homes to the Masses

Joel Bittle — Thu, 12 Jun 2008 14:33:33 +0000

Austin, Texas builder Clark Wilson has been in the homebuilding industry for over twenty five years, serving as president of Doyle Wilson Homebuilder, Inc. and then as CEO of Clark Wilson Homes, Inc. before retiring in 2002. Eager to get back into home building and aware of the growing demand for green homes, Mr. Wilson took over a small company named Green Builders, Inc. in 2007 with the goal of turning it into the largest builder and developer of green homes and communities in the United States. Only a year old, Green Builders, Inc. has already won the award for 2008 Single Family Affordable Home of the Year by the National Association of Home Builders.

When considering his return to home building in 2007, Mr. Wilson decided that the world did not need another behemoth home builder. “Austin is a hotbed of green,” said Mr. Wilson. “We’ve had green building programs since the 80s. With Green Builders, Inc., we wanted to bring green building to the masses.” By shifting building priorities toward saving money through energy and water savings, and by seeking out environmentally friendly products that don’t drive up the price of the home, green building has made traditional non-green building, in Mr. Wilson’s estimation, obsolete. “We’re priced competitively to non-green builders. They’re going to have to catch up. Green building needs to be widespread. We want to position ourselves as the Whole Foods of homes.”

VISION House 3 Aims for Glamor, Storm Resistance

Shirley Siluk Gregory — Tue, 05 Feb 2008 22:42:51 +0000

The third project in the Green Builder VISION House series is taking on some special challenges. Unlike the previous two VISION projects in Albuquerque, New Mexico, and St. Louis, Missouri, this year’s house is being built in a steamy, hurricane-prone environment: Orlando, Florida.

Members of the public will have a chance to check out this latest VISION home toward the end of the International Builders’ Show and nextBUILD, set to be held Feb. 13 through 16 at the Orange County Convention Center in Orlando. The home will be open to National Association of Home Builders members throughout the show, then will welcome the public on Feb. 16 and 17.

Designers of the VISION House ‘08 Orlando say the structure is a unique, high-end custom home that shows “green can be not only glamorous, but also sustainable by considering durability and life safety in an active hurricane zone.”

What makes the Orlando VISION house especially suited to a Florida environment? Features of the structure include:

A focus on water conservation, with cisterns for collecting stormwater runoff, “super-efficient” indoor fixtures and native, drought-resistant landscaping;

Spray Foam insulation, high-performance doors and windows and an energy-efficient heat and air-conditioning system for reduced cooling costs;

Zero-VOC (volatile organic compounds), natural plaster from American Clay both inside and — as a test application of a new exterior stucco product — outside the home. In addition to helping moderate temperatures and control humidity, according to the company, the natural plaster also inhibits mold, a regular concern in Florida’s hot, sticky climate;

Indoor furnishings, materials and finishes designed to minimize offgassing of VOCs.