Renewal Design Build announced yesterday that it had received a regional Whole House award from the National Association of the Remodeling Industry for its “green” renovation of 601 Third Avenue in Oakhurst.

During its construction in 2007-2008, the Third Avenue renovation was a media darling, from its feature on Discovery’s Planet Green, which helped fund some of the renovation, to its inevitable AJC spread.  The only other Decatur residence with such extensive media exposure in recent years is another eco-friendly home, Wilton Avenue’s RainShine House.

Though at the time of 601’s completion I wondered how REALLY eco-friendly a house twice the size of the old could be, Renewal states that the remodel “doubl[ed] the home’s existing square footage while cutting its energy bills in half.”

Not too shabby.

Disclosure: Renewal is a Decatur Metro sponsor

Photo Courtesy of Re-Nest

The Apartment Therapy junkie in our household noticed that the RainShine house was prominently featured on AT’s sister site Re-Nest yesterday, with a bevy of interior and exterior pics of the Decatur eco-home on Wilton Drive.

In that green-vein, The Decatur Minute noted yesterday that the city of Decatur, along with friendly arch-nemesis Alpharetta, won bronze-level certifications from the Atlanta Regional Commission for efforts towards environmental sustainability.  Cobb County was the only municipality to receive a silver certification (?!).

In response to the ARC announcement, District 2 City Commission candidate Kyle Williams tweeted “Step in the right direction #DecaturGA, now let’s pass ordinances providing green building incentives.”  I, for one, would be very interested in hearing more details on this proposal.

After the jump, you can read the ARC’s announcement detailing Decatur’s green efforts to-date that led to the certification. Read the rest of this entry »

Jetson Green profiles the RainShine House on Wilton Drive and notes that it has received the coveted LEED Platinum certification, “the first modernist residence in the Southeastern U.S. to achieve such a lofty green certification.”

Also according to Green, the house will be on the Modern Atlanta Home Tour (May 16th & 17th) this year, if you’d like to take a first-hand peak inside.  Or just pop over to the Jetson Green article for a few interior pics of Decatur’s newest “green” marvel.

Personally, I like this house by itself (and especially in photos!) but take some issue with its lack of sympathy to its surroundings.  But hey, that’s modernism for you.

Oh modern architecture, why do you hate the gable so?