HVAC Writer Talks about Residential Green Building to Environmental Law Students at Vermont Law School Conference

South Royalton, VT - Trish Holder, a North Carolina writer and marketing consultant for the HVAC industry, drew accolades from a packed house at the 2008 National Association of Environmental Law Societies (NAELS) Conference, where she presented "Greenspiration: How to Have Your Home and Green It Too."

Speaking from the perspective of a typical middleclass homeowner who is in the process of building her own “green” home, Ms. Holder was invited to speak at the NAELS conference, hosted by the Vermont Law School (VLS) March 20-22.

Ms. Holder related her experiences and decision making process as she attempts to build a traditional yet high performance and environmentally friendly home in an existing suburban neighborhood in Greensboro, NC.  Her discussion included how she continues to navigate through a myriad of “green” building options while still trying to stay on budget. 

“Every green decision has some sort of compromise,” Ms. Holder told NAELS attendees.  “For instance, I can find an energy efficient roof that incorporates recycled materials--but it must be shipped from far away and costs three times as much as locally made asphalt.  I have to decide what my priorities are and move forward from there.”

Some of those priorities have included investing in a high efficiency geothermal heat pump and making extra effort to source building materials made from locally grown wood.

Ms. Holder’s presentation was part of the second day of the NAELS/VLS conference which concentrated on environmental solutions.  The first day of the conference, which was held at the University of Vermont in Burlington, focused on environmental challenges, such as global warming and climate change.  The conference concluded with a keynote speech by Senator Bernie Sanders of Vermont.

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Greensboro “Soccer Mom” Attempts to Have Her Home and GREEN It Too

Greensboro, NC – Can you build a high performance, environmentally friendly home that visually fits into an existing suburban middle-class neighborhood?  More importantly, can a “soccer mom” successfully navigate through a competitive field of green building options to achieve her goal of a green home? Trish Holder and husband Mark Raines are about to find out.  The couple will soon break ground on a new home in the Pleasant Oaks subdivision in northwest Guilford County. 

Ms. Holder, a writer and marketing consultant for the HVAC industry, is sharing her green building experiences via the home’s website at www.greenspirationhome.com.  She will also be writing several articles about the home for consumer and trade publications and will host several on-site open houses and training events aimed at educating builders, contractors, real estate agents, and homeowners on modern green building practices.

Local Builder Gets “Greenspired”
Don and Megan Cohan of Signature Homes are building the home for the Holder-Raines family.  Well known for building quality, custom homes in the Greensboro area, the Cohan’s were not experienced green builders when the couple chose them to build their new home.  However, since becoming involved in the project, they have both attended seminars on green building and are active in the Greensboro Homebuilders Association’s current green building initiatives.  More importantly, they have been willing to move beyond their comfort zone in order to support the green desires of their clients.

“We chose Signature Homes because we were impressed with their Parade Home entries and because we liked and trusted them—which I think is the most important criteria for selecting a builder,” said Ms. Holder, who has been working closely with the Cohans since summer 2007.     

Decisions, Decisions
Statistics show that women typically make 80% of the decisions when it comes to building or remodeling a home.  With a passion for green building and a background in HVAC, Ms. Holder has opted to become even more involved by taking an active role in selecting building materials, HVAC, insulation, plumbing, etc.  Basically, if there is a “greener” option to be found that doesn’t interfere with the home’s overall mission, which is to “assimilate” in terms of comfort and style, Ms. Holder is the one to sleuth it out.

“We have several goals—not the least of which is keeping it ‘real world.’  So windmills in the backyard are out--but a geothermal heat pump is in,” she says. 

Other items that have made the “cut” include sprayed polyurethane foam insulation, dual flush toilets, low flow fixtures, and solar tube lighting just to name a few.  Ms. Holder and her husband say they are willing to build a home that costs 5 to 10% more for the sake of minimizing energy usage and overall environmental impact. 

“Staying on budget is certainly a priority because we don’t want to “green” the house out of its resale value.  But the biggest challenge is evaluating products in terms of overall greenness,” says Ms. Holder.  “For instance, the most energy efficient products are sometimes shipped across the country or ocean—so you burn fuel to get them here.  I struggle with that one all the time. ”

Utilizing NC Wood
One choice that was not so difficult was the decision to use as much NC grown wood as possible for the Greenspiration home.  Hardwoods, natural and sustainable, are also locally plentiful.  Plus, the Holder - Raines family liked the idea of helping an important local industry – one that has suffered greatly as a result of overseas imports.  They will be sourcing NC grown hickory for flooring, NC grown poplar for mouldings, and other NC grown wood for cabinetry and casework.  They’ll even use local labor to build the cabinets.

“Our families’ genealogical roots grow deep in North Carolina so I like the idea of surrounding ourselves with North Carolina grown wood,” says Ms. Holder.  “If this home helps an ailing industry and encourages more people to buy locally grown materials, then that really makes me happy.”

For more information about the Holder-Raines green home, go to www.greenspirationhome.com.

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