waste not, want NOT

The home of david smith

When an engineer set out to help save an old mica plant, he didn’t know he’d be building his own urban loft

avid Smith’s living space may be almost 100 years old, but it’s a far cry from the Victorian homes commonly found in Asheville. Where those historic dwellings have clapboard siding and intricate wood-carved exterior details, Smith’s is clad with brick walls and corrugated sheet metal. His sleek, open-floor-plan loft is one of 10 in the former Asheville Mica Company plant adjacent to Biltmore Village. For decades, the factory shipped its products out to the world via the nearby railroad tracks, until the owners moved the operation to Newport News, Virginia. By the mid-90s, the vacant building’s grounds had become a dumping spot for old tires, bottles, and literally tons of rubbish. Today, this stark, utilitarian building stands as a touchstone to Asheville’s industrial era and proof of the possibilities of green-built domiciles.

An engineer with his own consulting business, Smith was well aware of the multitude of lofts under construction downtown, but this project was unique. More than an old building being carved into luxury condos, the plant was experiencing a reincarnation.

Early in the project, contractor Regina Trantham called in Smith to evaluate the structure. He found that the building not only had great bones but twice the strength required for new residential developments. With his skill and Trantham’s passion, the two convinced city officials the building deserved redemption.

Trantham set out to revive the property with a mantra of reuse, recycle, and rebirth; more than 60 percent of the materials used in the finished lofts are reclaimed. The evidence is in almost every detail: concrete slabs were smashed apart and used as edging in the landscaping, steel window frames were repurposed as casings for colossal vanity mirrors, and old plumbing and sprinkler pipes now run alongside stairs as sturdy railings.

Call it a neighborhood beautification project, since Trantham grew up in nearby Oakley, but there was little to hint at the building’s potential when she and business partner Jon Sheintal bought it in 1996. From the Thompson Street entrance, the property looked disheveled and despondent. “No one with any sense or money would touch it,” she says. But where others saw a building destined for destruction, Trantham saw a prime location and a stockpile of building supplies. Her green goals included repurposing as many materials as possible, and creating a community where residents could live, work, and play. By recycling, she was offsetting the carbon footprint from the construction process and reducing the amount of waste clogging landfills. The urban village concept allowed the condo owners to walk to shops and restaurants and minimize their commute to downtown jobs.

With a reliance on the trove of materials harvested from the circa-1914 building, the lofts at Mica Village could have ended up looking like an enormous recycling bin. Instead, second-life resources such as old windowpanes and sheets of steel have been seamlessly put to creative uses in the 1,000-square-foot living spaces. The squares of glass now serve as tiles that form a polished kitchen backsplash above grey concrete countertops. Enormous sheets of metal that once protected beautiful hardwood floors from machinery are refashioned as decorative sculptures of leaves on the building’s façade. “Everything that could be recycled in this building has been,” says Smith.

Today, he is living the lifestyle Trantham envisioned for the residents. He has cut his daily commute from 75 miles to less than one after relocating his offices next door in the Piedmont Paper building. He can socialize with his neighbors on the shared greenspace which will include a patio for lounging and a grill house. And Smith has his eye on office space even a few yards closer to his front door in Phase II of the village, which will also include more condos.

There were moments when Trantham questioned whether the public would understand her vision, but the WNC Solar and Green Home Tour put the doubt to rest. “I thought we would get four people in a Prius,” she says. Instead, visitors came in droves. These days, she gives four to 10 tours per week, to home shoppers, carpentry students, and the curious. And she’s passing on her knowledge by educating city housing inspectors in alternative building methods at the site.

Today, Smith marvels at the original plan to condemn the structure. “Regardless of what you think about global warming or environmentalism, why would you tear down a perfectly good building?”

raise the roof

The home of jacob & alicia sessoms

Instead of forsaking their tiny Montford bungalow for a larger home, one couple capped it with a second-floor additionWhen an engineer set out to help save an old mica plant, he didn’t know he’d be building his own urban loft

acob Sessoms jokes that his family’s green home remodel was “purely altruistic.” Truthfully, comfort was a big part of the decision when he and his wife, Alicia, retailored their one-story Montford bungalow into a two-story home, adding about 600 square feet to the original 1,300-square-foot layout.

When the couple bought the house, they had just moved back to Asheville after an 800-square-foot lifestyle in New York with a smaller-is-better mentality, but as their two sons, Dallas, 10, and Atticus, 8, got older, they realized the two bedroom, one bath cottage was closing in on them. Built in 1996 as an affordable housing unit, the home had other drawbacks. An outdated water-heating system made for teeth-chattering showers; while poor insulation left a chill in every room during winter. The couple knew buying another home in the coveted Montford Historic District would be “totally cost prohibitive.” With a restrictive plot and no inclination to sprawl out, the couple had to look skyward for a solution.

Already a conscientious, one-car family living within walking distance of their restaurant, Table, in downtown Asheville, there was never a question about whether they would incorporate renewable materials and eco-friendly concepts. The beauty of their final blueprint was the opportunity to create a new space with minimal impact on the environment and reap the benefits in terms of livability. “We can do our little part and stay in our comfort zone,” says Jacob, a graduate of Warren Wilson College.

They had already done all they could to make the home more functional within its footprint with renovations that took down walls and opened the kitchen to a dining area and living room. But the ambitious second-story overhaul allowed architect Stephen Beili to add elements designed purely to match the couple’s modern aesthetic, including exposed steel beams that support the second-floor master bedroom suite and give the space an urban vibe. The exterior retains craftsman lines and details—cedar shingles, a low-slung front porch, and wood siding—in keeping with the guidelines of the city’s Historic Resources Commission.

Today, the house is impressive, inside and out. Viewed from Chestnut Street, the upper level is a natural extension of the clapboard-clad ground floor. The boys each have their own rooms and large living space where they can spread out with games or wrestle with the family dog, an Australian ridgeback named Lola. Mom and dad have a master retreat complete with a private two-seater porch tucked into the roofline where they can read and enjoy a cup of coffee.

The metamorphosis, completed in six months, has awed passers-by. “We get more calls about that project than any other house,” says Rob Moody owner of The EcoBuilders, Inc., the Asheville-based company that put hammer to nail on the project. “If a house looks good aesthetically and functions well, it will last a lot longer.”

Working with an existing home adheres to the green ideals by reusing resources. “The embodied energy was already there. It’s recycling on a grand scale,” says Moody, the first builder in the state to complete a home that met the requirements for HealthyBuilt certification.

There are higher costs associated with green building because of the quality of the construction materials. Moody estimates EcoBuilders’ homes come in about five percent more expensive than traditional builds. But he is quick to point out that many features such as blown-in Icynene insulation and on-demand hot water systems save money in energy bills.

“It’s hard when you look at the price difference when it comes to paint and finishes. You won’t get that money back,” says Jacob about the pricier, nontoxic choices. But Alicia points out they will see the reward in the health of their children. “It will cost a few more dollars but in the end it is worth it,” says Jacob, “because of the peace of mind.”

Form & Function

The home of lori & gary tapp

For one couple, building a modular house fulfilled their dream of a healthy and simple home life

he opportunity to buy a forested, three-acre piece of land on a mountainside east of Black Mountain allowed Lori and Gary Tapp to start fresh with a custom home. And when builder David Bennert first met with the Tapps about building their modular house, he asked the same question he poses to any couple who wants a green home: “What does ‘green’ mean to you?” Bennert knew he was in for a refreshing collaboration when the couple had an easy answer. They wanted a home that was simple, efficient, and comfortable, and above all, not fancy.

Bennert’s company Innova Homes pioneered the first HealthyBuilt modular in the state and has built a spectrum of homes, from vinyl-wrapped, affordable housing units to roomier, Hardiplank-clad, customized dwellings, but they all have a nod from WNCGB. “It becomes fun to see how good performing, and how high a certification you can get,” he says.

Modular homes inherently fit the tenets of green construction because the skeleton is built in a factory. The fabrication method reduces waste and ensures a structure uncompromised by site-building saboteurs such as rain and snow, which can lead to mold. But how far buyers take the principle, beyond the walls, is up to them.

Perhaps the choice most symbolic of the Tapps’ values is the woodstove. Friends regularly sink into the overstuffed couches or lean back in rocking chairs that form a U-shaped conversation area around the centerpiece. The stove can warm almost the entire 2,200-square-foot, bi-level cottage. Guests leave their shoes at the door because, whether they are crossing the tiled foyer or the teak-planked floor in the great room, the radiant floors keep their feet toasty or cool, depending upon the season. And the air is always fresh, thanks to an outdoor-air exchange system. “This really is what we expected it to be,” says Lori, which is something to brag about considering the myriad pitfalls homeowners can face when building from scratch.

Lori, a veterinary technology instructor at Asheville-Buncombe Technical Community College, wishes more people could open their minds to modular building. “The thing I’d love to see is the whole modular myth dispelled—that they are fancy mobile homes. If we can get over that, we’ll be building much more efficiently.”

As more and more people understand the bounty of methods available to express their shade of green, Western North Carolina will continue to sow fertile ground for the movement. And as Bennert points out “We’re the hottest market around for this. The prevalence of healing arts, bodywork—it goes hand in hand with environmental consciousness. It is self-fulfilling.”