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Healthy

Concord Green founder, Lisa Kauffman Tharp, has experienced first-
hand the negative long-term health impacts of “modern” unhealthy
construction practices, after spending two years in a corporate “sick air
building”. Back during the energy crisis of the 1970’s, the building had
been sealed tight to preserve heat. Unfortunately, by the time she
arrived at the firm, this “ziplock bag” environment also contained a toxic
soup of black mold, cleaning chemicals, printing ink particulates, and off-
gassing formaldehyde –-- all kept constantly airborne for easy inhalation
by the miracle of forced air heating and cooling.

Unfortunately, this dangerous situation repeats itself in our homes,
school and workplaces every day. The EPA tells us that the indoor air of
a typical home is up to 5 times more polluted than outside air… from
hidden mold and toxins lurking in paint, cabinetry glues and adhesives,
floor finishes, carpeting, cleaning products, air fresheners… the list goes
on. Worse yet, the off-gassing continues for months and even years
after that “new paint or carpet” smell disappears.

Upon losing her youngest sister Jeannie to cancer in 2008, Kauffman
Tharp committed herself to learning all that she could about healthy living
environments. Her personal mission is to demonstrate that healthy,
green buildings are not only possible -- they are an imperative for our
own health, and the health of future generations. They can also be
incredibly beautiful and timeless in design.

Green

By now, it is well known that our country’s housing industry contributes a
huge percentage of waste to our landfills, and that our homes consume
staggering volumes of non-renewable and polluting resources like fossil
fuels. Luckily, there are now so many ways to drastically reduce these
effects. They fall into three main categories:

Design – It takes the same amount of time to build a poorly designed
house, with no regard for Nature, as a house that works with Nature. Yet
the differences are significant. Orienting the home with careful regard for
the sun garners free warmth in the winter, and opens up opportunities for
passive and active solar heating systems. Meanwhile, preserving
deciduous trees that leaf out and provide shade in the summer can
dramatically reduce cooling loads. Careful window placement provides
free “day-lighting”, so that you can keep the lights off until the sun goes
down. Super-insulating walls and roofs can drastically reduce energy
consumption, so long as the design includes reliable fresh air ventilation.
Installing radiant heat prevents contaminants, allergens and dust from
becoming easily airborne and inhaled.

Construction Practices – Stick-built construction is still the predominant
mode of building in the US today. But other options can provide
significant benefits. For example, panelized construction, in which
materials are precision-cut and partially assembled in a factory before
arriving at the site, saves significant waste, makes for easy recycling of
scraps and protects building components from the elements, thereby
avoiding the potential development of hidden rot and mold.
Manufactured, pre-fab or kit homes now all represent quality building
options, even for high end custom homes.

Specifications – Never has there been a time in our modern age where
such a breadth of healthy and green building products has been
offered. Non-toxic paints, sealants, glues and finishes abound.
Reclaimed wood, brick and stone, salvaged doors and hardware, vintage
sinks, tubs and tile are not only easy to find, they add the beautiful patina
of age to a new construction or remodeling project. Energy Star
appliances, recycled materials and FSC-certified forestry products are
now on the shelves of most local retailers. Finally, responsible “green”
finishes are just as easy to select as any other in creating your beautiful
home.

Classical / Traditional

The traditional building principles of our ancestors still hold deep value
today. Homes were built “green” long ago, quite simply because early
settlers had no choice but to work with nature. There was no thermostat
to instantly adjust a room’s temperature, no overnight shipping of exotic
hardwoods from a tropical locale, and certainly no burning of fossil fuels
to light up the night.

We can learn so much from studying our world’s regional architecture,
custom designed for each unique climate. New England’s iconic Saltbox
hunkered down its low shoulder to the cold North winds, while opening up
its tall windows to the sunny warmth of a southern exposure. The thick
adobe walls of New Mexico, or the deep shady porches of Louisiana, for
example, serve entirely different climates.

Local building materials, the latest green trend for reducing
transportation costs and preventing resource depletion around the
globe, were the only option in centuries past. In New England, that
meant plentiful stone and wood and brick… materials that have stood the
test of time for hundreds of years.

Finally, the aesthetics of historical architecture remain prized even
today. As preservationists know all too well, the greenest form of home
building is maintaining and caring for the homes that are already built. If
your home is built in a classic style that is always in demand, it will
virtually guarantee that it will be well cared for, into the next century and
beyond.

C O N C O R D G R E E N

Promoting Classic + Healthy + Green Design

Mission:

CONCORD GREEN is dedicated to the idea that it is entirely possible
to build homes that are both healthy for occupantsand kinder to the environment,
all while honoring New England's historic architectural heritage.