EarthCraft House hits decade mark

GEORGIA: EarthCraft House's first home reaches decade mark

In 10 years, EarthCraft House, a green-building program of the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association and Southface Energy Institute, has spread to six Southeast states. More than 5,200 EarthCraft homes have been built; 43 percent of them are in metro Atlanta.

The program was started after the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency contacted the National Association of Home Builders about creating standards for energy-efficient construction. The Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association, the nation’s largest home-building group at the time, won the job of creating a green-building template.

In metro Atlanta, 128 active builders have been trained on EarthCraft standards, the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association says, about 12 percent of the association’s builder members.

The air-tight homes offer an important advantage in busy Atlanta -- quiet interiors.

Also in the South:

ALABAMA: State Rep. Craig Ford (D-Gadsden) to write legislation for tuition program

ARKANSAS: Legislator says she'll try again to push bill allowing guns in churches

FLORIDA: Bill would ban cities, counties from charging fees in crashes

KENTUCKY: Creation Museum's newest exhibit suggests Darwin was right

LOUISIANA: Newt Gingrich visits Tulane, attacks federal bailout plan

MISSISSIPPI: Gov. Barbour signs incentive bills for casinos

NORTH CAROLINA: Some legislators want e-mails, letters kept private

SOUTH CAROLINA: Push to ban mega-landfills gains momentum in legislature

TENNESSEE: Report touts energy conservation among 13 Appalachian states

VIRGINIA: GOP chairman fights ousters with point-by-point rebuttal

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