NC Healthy Built Homes

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Everyone benefits economically when a home is designed and built for the local climate and with the understanding that energy, air, water and material systems are interdependent. That’s the premise for our next winner, The NC HealthyBuilt Homes Program, a statewide green builder program developed to help the transformation of the home building market in NC.

The NC HealthyBuilt Homes program offers residential builders the tools to design, construct and market homes that are sustainable, healthy, affordable, reduce energy and water usage — and help protect the environment. HealthyBuilt homes use at least 30% less energy than a typical home of the same size just built to code.
Homeowners get the benefit of decreased utility costs and the increased buying power of their mortgage when using incentives and financing options.

The NC Solar Center in Raleigh, as the project’s non-profit partner, provides statewide administration including technical assistance, design reviews, workshops, training sessions and a market development program. Currently, 10 builder/developer organizations are enrolled in the program, ranging from the coast to the mountains. And in the last two months, 21 builders and developers expressed interest that would encompass 5200 homes.

The NC HealthyBuilt Homes program is not about just building houses, but transforming the building industry as a whole. This means raising awareness about the energy and materials that buildings use and creating demand for environmentally sustainable products.

Accepting on behalf of the NC Solar Center is Dona Stankus, director of the NC HealthyBuilt Homes Program for the NC Solar Center, and Larry Shirley, Director of the State Energy Office.