Green home development proposed for Emma Road: Net-zero energy required to build
ASHEVILLE - To build a home at a proposed West Asheville subdivision, there is only one rule — the home must power itself.
A new 17-lot green home subdivision has been proposed for 1 Greenius Way off Emma Road. The 4.3-acre development was proposed by Nicholson and Sun, an Asheville-based construction and development company that primarily focuses on developing green and net zero homes.
During an August neighborhood meeting about the development, Donald Nicholson — who started Nicholson and Sun with his father, Don Nicholson — said those who are interested in building a green home in the subdivision can buy a lot and determine their builder — just as long as the building has net-zero energy usage.
"That's our only rule. We don't have any other restrictions," Nicholson said during the meeting.
Nicholson and Sun build green homes, but do not require lot owners to use their services.
The development at Greenius Way is part of a larger project being developed by Nicholson and Sun called "Green Path Commons," which includes the development of roughly 40 green homes along Emma Road. Green Path Commons stretches from Bingham Road to the end of the Greenius Road lot.
The Greenius subdivision is 'Phase II' in the process of building Green Path Commons. Lots for Phase I homes are already sold out.
"A net-zero home a home that uses solar panels to generate energy for that house that is equal to how much energy that house uses," Nicholson said.
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When approved, construction for the development is expected to take place in 2025, according to the Nicholson and Sun website.
Designated as a "major subdivision," the project is subject to a Level II review, which requires it pass the city's staff-led Technical Review Committee and does not require Planning and Zoning Commission or City Council approval.
The new development will see the inclusion of sidewalks, along with improved infrastructure along Greenius Road — a road that is currently dirt.
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What are green homes?
Green homes have some serious roots in Asheville.
Green Built Alliance, an Asheville-based nonprofit, has focused on supporting sustainable design since the organization's founding in 2001.
Green homes provide both energy saving tax credits, while providing a "greater home resale value in the Asheville/WNC market," according to the Green Built website.
While net-zero homes have the goal of reducing fossil fuel emissions and producing as much energy as it consumes, other green home options are available for accreditation. Lower level certifications measure the insulation and heating of the building, along with gauging whether invasive species are in the vicinity of the household, among other things.
The "strongest certification" the nonprofit provides is regenerative certification, where homes produce more power than it consumes. Net-zero certification is the second highest.
Of the 2,912 homes the nonprofit has certified, only are 88 are net-zero homes.
If all homes in the Green Path Commons development are certified as net-zero homes, the development would make up around a third of Green Built's certified net-zero homes.
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Will Hofmann is the Growth and Development Reporter for the Asheville Citizen Times, part of the USA Today Network. Got a tip? Email him at WHofmann@citizentimes.com.
This article originally appeared on Asheville Citizen Times: Proposed Asheville subdivision to require net-zero energy homes
