The EarthCraft House program came about during the fall of 1999 when the phrase “green building” was unfamiliar to most mainstream home builders.

Southface and the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association developed the EarthCraft House program as a blueprint for healthy, comfortable homes that reduce energy and water bills, conserve natural resources and help save the environment. The program was designed to focus on issues that are specific to homes constructed in mixed-humid and hot-humid climates.

EarthCraft House has certified more than 2,500 homes in the Southeastern United States. This achievement is even more impressive when one considers that there are no financial incentives for energy efficiency or green building in these markets. EarthCraft House has branched out to Virginia, Alabama, South Carolina and Tennessee. Several subdivisions in the Atlanta area are now all filled with EarthCraft homes. There are also several building companies, including Vaughn Homes, Pine Mountain Builders, Monte Hewett Homes, McConnell Homes, LeLand Homes & Neighborhoods, Hedgewood Properties, Haven Properties, Fortress Construction, Ellington Cochran, Culver & Grimshaw, and Capstone Partners, that require all of their homes to be EarthCraft certified. These builders represent all styles, locations and price points, and they are joined by Habitat for Humanity—Atlanta which each year builds all of its 50 homes to EarthCraft standards.

Now, with the creation of the U.S. Green Building Council Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Homes® program, there is an additional standard for environmentally sustainable homes. The goal for LEED is to influence the top 25% of the nation’s home builders. LEED for Homes complements EarthCraft and many other local green building programs. According to Dianne Butler, Director of Development for EarthCraft House, “our builders are committed to continual improvement. Many already exceed the EarthCraft House minimum performance criteria. We are developing a performance-based tiered rating for EarthCraft. The LEED Homes criteria will blend perfectly with our upper tiers.”

Recently, the LEED for Homes project chose Southface as one of its 12 providers for a national pilot program.

The first LEED for Homes project in Georgia is the Seydel residence. Located in the Buckhead community, the home will contain top of the line innovative design techniques and products. The residence boasts a grey water reuse system along with rainwater harvesting, and low flow fixtures such as toilets, showers and faucets. Water permeable paving materials will be used on site along with other innovative erosion control measures. The project also features airtight construction, spray foam insulation, Energy Star windows, a geothermal heat pump, solar photovoltaic panels, and a green roof. These features will no doubt make the Seydel residence one of the leading examples of energy and water efficiency in Georgia.

The partnership between the LEED for Homes and EarthCraft House programs, will introduce LEED to residential builders across the Southeast, and offer EarthCraft builders an opportunity to enhance the performance of their homes and increase their market differentiation as quality home builders. Currently, the LEED for Homes project is in its pilot phase and will be for the next year. Following the year of pilot projects, there will be a public review, which will be posted in the summer of 2006. The fully chartered program is set to be posted early 2007. For information on EarthCraft House, contact Dianne Butler, EarthCraft House Director of Development, (Dianne [at] southface.org), and for the LEED for Homes program, please call the USGBC at 202-828-7422 or e-mail leedinfo [at] usgbc.org.