Healthy Built Homes In The North Carolina Mountains

Healthy built homes with silver certification, Energy Star certified homes, NC passive home certification, green home builders, NCHBH testing. What does it all mean and how can I get it for my new North Carolina mountain home?

With the rising cost of energy, daily warnings of air quality, increase of childhood asthma, increasing complications with allergies and lung cancer, this is a questions many potential home buyers are asking.

I have found several builders in the North Carolina Mountains that are committed to designing a high performance home that will answer all your questions about a healthy built home. They begin with foresighted architectural planning to design your house as a “whole system”; where everything works together in unison for a healthier, sustainable, energy efficient and environmentally friendlier home. As a result, many potential homeowners are choosing a home with lower utility bills, healthier indoor air quality, ample day lighting, and the warmth of a passive solar heating environment.

One of the first things to consider when building an energy efficient and environmentally sound home in the North Carolina Mountains is proper site orientation. The builder of a high performance home will be able to correctly place your home for optimum solar alignment. The correct orientation will allow passive solar heating in the cold weather and passive cooling of your home in the summer as well as enabling day lighting to naturally light the interior. This is also accomplished with carefully designed and calculated overhangs that will minimize your summer afternoon solar gain and allow for calculated solar winter gain. Individual window sizing and glass type depending on the location and orientation of your home should also be considered.

Once the site has been chosen and the design of the home complete, envelope construction technology should be utilized. This includes extensive sealing of the crawlspace to improve efficiency and resist mold. Cellulose insulation is reccommended; R-30 in the ceiling and R-13 for the walls. The floor system should be built using using a passive heating and cooling BPEX tubing system such as Therma floor. This system can be used on tile, hardwoods and even carpet! The passive system produces warm consistant heat from the floors and minimizes the need for forced hot air systems that spread pollen and other harmful particles throught the air of your home.

Interior humidity and ventilation strategies should be used such as ERV (Enthalpy Recovery Ventilation) to provide fresh air into the house and improve air quality. Paints and finishes that have a low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) will also help to maintain healthy air quality. HVAC units should have a minimum MERV9 rating for better filtering as well as being placed in ” Conditioned” spaces for better efficiency.

The use of solar panels for energy is also a must with a high performance home. There are many local solar companies with updated solar technologies to choose from. Utility bills can be greatly decreased using solar. The government is providing tax credits to increase the use of this technology. Many companies in the North Carolina mountains are combining the solar technology with wind power to create a unique energy system for homes.

As a owner of property in Pinnacle Falls, Hendersonville, North Carolina, I plan to build my own healthy home in the near future. I would be happy to give you more information on this topic. Please contact me or you can visit my website for more information.