Builders see building green homes as a movement.
The Blakelys weren’t looking primarily for a green home when they asked green builder Chad Ray of Olde Heritage Builders to find a lot for their retirement home. But Ray pointed out the couple could receive a tax credit the first year for some of the four-bedroom home’s sustainable features like Energy Star windows and appliances, a sealed crawl space and a solar water heater that enables 85 percent of the water to be heated by the sun. The tax credit would offset some of the home’s cost – about $165 per square foot.
The Blakelys were satisfied. “We want to be good stewards of the land and do the right thing if it isn’t going to cost us much more,” said Taylor Blakely, a landscape architect.
On a recent walk-through of the couple’s unfinished home – one of 40 entries in last weekend’s Home Builder’s Association Green Home Tour – Ray pointed to another sustainable feature. “Brick is a natural low-maintenance product,” he explained, also noting the shipment came from nearby Sanford, which saved fuel and money.
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