How to Have Your Home and GREEN It Too

House Plans

Greensboro, N.C.—Nelson Design Group (NDG) is partnering with one ambitious family in Greensboro, NC by providing plans for the first ever in Greenspiration(TM) home, a working example of how middle-class homeowners really can have the home they desire and “green” it too.

Unlike other “green” showcase homes that are popping up all over the country, there are no universities or associations driving or financing the building of this home. Rather, it is the homeowners themselves, husband and wife, Mark Raines and Trish Holder, who conceived of Greenspiration as a way to prove that even a traditional, off-the-shelf home plan can be built green.

Traditional, Yet Green
Like most middle-class homeowners, the Holder-Raines’ went straight to the internet to find a green plan to suit their needs but had difficulty finding a design that would assimilate into the traditional suburban neighborhood where they planned to build.

“Most of the ‘green home plans’ we saw were too small, or looked, well–weird,” said Ms. Holder, a working mother of two school-age children. With a typical, yet intensely demanding lifestyle, she and her husband wanted to build an environmentally responsible home that still had all the modern conveniences and aesthetics.

Disappointed with existing “green” home plans, the couple eventually settled on NDG’s plan #983-B Ambrose Boulevard, a craftsman style home from design group’s Heritage Collection that would fit in seamlessly to the Pleasant Oaks neighborhood where they were building.

Subtly Solar
The next step was to modify the plan to take advantage of the world’s most accessible renewable energy source: the sun. Moderate changes included adding more south facing windows for natural day lighting, incorporating appropriate structural shade and reducing windows on the eastand west-facing windows to minimize unwanted heat gain.

“This sun-tempered approach can provide as much as 30% energy savings, assuming you’ve got proper orientation and window glazing,” said Mike Nelson, President of Nelson Design Group. “Best of all, a sun-tempered home can look completely traditional.”

Many existing plans can be easily modified depending on the orientation of the homeowner’s lot, said Nelson. It is a smart, yet simple way to save year-round on lighting, heating, and cooling cost.

In addition to sun-tempering, Greenspiration Home will incorporate as many “painless” green measures as possible, including a sealed crawl space, 2×6 framing allowing for more insulation, tankless water heating, low-flow fixtures, and numerous other carefully selected materials. Once complete, the homeowners hope to achieve an Energy Star rating and certification from NC
HealthyBuilt Homes.

“There is so much available to the homeowner today in terms of green building materials and informational websites. It’s really just a matter of committing to the research,” said Ms. Holder, a professional writer and marketing consultant for the HVAC industry. “By sharing everything we
learn in the building of our own green home, we hope to make this process easier for the next ‘Average Joe’ homeowner and builder.”

Ms. Holder plans to launch a national public relations campaign around her Greenspiration cause, including a website: www.greenspirationhome.com, currently under construction.

“When we learned what this homeowner was out to prove, we knew we wanted to be involved. We share the same philosophies about home design and energy efficiency,” said Stephanie Nelson, NDG Co-founder and Director of Sales & Marketing. “The resources for more efficient
homes are there. It’s now a matter of educating homeowners and builders.”

Nelson Design Group, LLC in Jonesboro AR is a nationally known residential design firm with plans published by Architectural Designs, Harris Publications, HomeStyles Publishing, Home Design Alternatives, Builder Magazine, Home Planners, Garlinghouse, Old House Journal, House
Beautiful, Good Housekeeping, Better Homes & Gardens and other national publications. www.nelsondesigngroup.com