Spoiler: It's the top 10 green neighborhoods list. Georgetown is number eight.

Apologies for the clickbaity title. You should know that we would never make you click through twenty pages only to find a mediocre surprise at the end of the journey.

Back on topic, this is actually pretty cool for Georgetown, the area formerly known for satisfactorily dingy bars, burgers, and a weird smell probably produced by a mixture of said beer and burgers with a hint of airline fuel.

Redfin found that 56 percent of Georgetown homes were considered green, meaning they had one or more green features.

The study, conducted by Redfin data scientists, analyzed real estate listings for homes sold between January 2017 and April 2018 in more than 80 metro areas. The study also found that homes with the aforementioned one or more green features sold at significantly higher rates than those boring old techless homes—green had a median price of $569,000, compared to $522,000 for all other homes. That's…like a $47,000 difference. Right? Yes.

Numbers one and two on the list were, surprisingly, in Cleveland—the Malvern and Fenway neighborhoods in the upscale Shaker Heights neighborhood known for its sustainability efforts, among other things.

Neighborhoods in Philly, Orange County (CA), and the hipster haven Red Hook area of Brooklyn rounded out the list.

What does this mean for Georgetown? Nothing much more than a brag piece. It does, however, bring to light the fact that our builders and residents are trying. And that means something. Built Green, which certifies green homes in King and Snohomish counties and advocates for sustainability, can likely take some credit for Georgetown's number eight spot; last year, the partner program of MBAKS certified more than 800 new homes, which isn't easy to accomplish. Homes must adhere to vigorous checklists to be considered Built Green.

Says Built Green Program Manager Leah Missik, "Building green is about more than the gadgets that go into a home. (Programs like) Built Green work hard to promote healthy, sustainable communities in a variety of ways." Missik and Built Green are proud to lead by example both locally and at a national level. In fact, Missik says, "Each individual (Built Green) home is more water and energy efficient, healthier, and more comfortable, but our checklist also promotes walkability, access to transit, and community resources."

Missik drives home the importance of all-encompassing, sustainable communities like Georgetown and those others on the list, saying, "Homes are, after all, part of a community through the people who live in them!"

It's no secret that in progressive cities like Seattle and its surrounding areas that green is quickly becoming the new gold. People pay more for healthier, more sustainable homes and builders know this. Money has always talked, but when you attend a Built Green event, you quickly realize the people involved in green building also walk the walk. It's about more than higher home prices, which are already doing just fine in our area. It's about building a healthier future for our kids, and their kids, and so on.

Congratulations on being green, Georgetown. We'd buy you a beer, but you probably already have that covered.

By MBAKS Content Strategist James Slone

What makes a house a home? Is it an inviting place to raise a family, an escape from life’s worries, or a vantage point to take in nature? Is it a sustainable retreat or a base of operations in a bustling city? It’s all up to the people living there.

But what makes a home amazing? Building a truly inspiring abode requires a touch of magic. To find out what that magic is, I talked to two local firms with very different sets of priorities and approaches to custom homes—CAST architecture and Everton Homes—to learn how they create spaces that enchant.

Letting the light in: Villanueva Residence in Seattle by CAST architecture. Photo credit: Andrew Giammarco Photography

CAST architecture: Cast in the Northwest

There is something singular about the Northwest. Maybe it’s the vast open spaces, or forward-looking communities. Perhaps it’s the vivid contrast between the sun-dappled lands east of the Cascades and the rain-blanketed forests of the maritime coast.

Whatever it is, Seattle-based CAST architecture has channeled it since 1999 with a focus on sustainable, contemporary design that reflects the diverse landscapes of this region.

The firm casts a wide net of services—construction administration, feasibility studies, and master-planning—aimed at municipalities, businesses, and early education providers. But it’s their arresting portfolio of homes that truly captures the imagination.

Designing With Place in Mind

When it comes to designing homes, the Northwest is always front and center. “Balancing the environment with our clients’ needs is the most important part of what we do as architects,” explains Stefan Hampden, a principal at CAST.

He offers an example of contrasts. “In Methow Valley [in Eastern Washington], we design for snowy winters and sunny summers, with simple roof planes that stretch out and over the conditioned spaces to create protected, accessible outdoor spaces usable during seasonal weather extremes.”

But when building west of the Cascades they use flexible massing and rooflines to keep out the rain and “create a graceful transition” from inside to out. “With thoughtful planning,” says Stefan, “we are able to create indoor-outdoor spaces that bring a sense of connection to nature even in our light-challenged winters.”

Principal Tim Hammer expands on the theme. “A home that provides abundant natural light to interiors can be a huge benefit in a region that is gray for much of the year. Successful homes take advantage of what the natural environment provides and connect our clients to their surroundings.”

Demands differ based on location, says Hammer. “When designing in the city, finding a balance of privacy and connection to nature and the outdoors is always a challenge. Working in rural areas, we have a lot more freedom to capture views and connect to the immediate surroundings.”

Nelson Residence in Methow Valley is a vacation home for family and friends to enjoy and explore outdoor recreation. Photo credit: CAST Architecture

Casting a Single-Family Spell

When it comes to single-family homes, CAST’s work is spellbinding. Their buildings are not just designed for function and comfort; they’re stunning, visually cohesive spaces embodying new construction techniques and traditional craft. Open floorplans seem to segue right into the landscape.

Describing CAST’s style, Hampden says, “While we’re guided by the context and client’s preferences, we tend to embrace an expressive Northwest modernism.” That translates to legibility in materials and structural systems, celebrating what the building is made of instead of hiding it.

The 12-member CAST team utilizes a wide spectrum of materials, looking for unassuming colors and textures that invite nature in. Despite their eye for handcrafted details, the overall construction is relatively simple to make the most efficient use of resources and energy.

Dream Cast

Given the ambition of CAST’s work, I was curious about what they look for in clients. “Clients who are excited about the process and keen to collaborate,” Hampden replies. “Standout projects happen when clients have a dream and are reaching for something larger— sustainability, social equity, or even something playful. The best projects and clients tend to be ones that are aspirational.”

The magic ingredient to CAST’s success is careful listening and clear communication. Through close collaboration, the CAST team creates a vision that sets project goals and parameters and works with clients and contractors to overcome any challenges that arise.

“Our clients are often drawn to our projects because they speak to them,” Hammer tells me. “If they’re realistic about time and budget and their values align with ours, we’re off to a good start. It is important we feel like trust and good communication will come easily as we navigate the project.”

Durable Design

CAST draws on LEED, passive house, Living Building, and Built Green design principles to ensure the client gets the “budget, performance, and longevity” they want out of their home, and that building resources are responsibly managed throughout the home’s life cycle.

To CAST, sustainable means architecture that lasts, a “legacy of enduring, high-performance buildings that work with their environment and site.” When I asked how CAST balances resilience, aesthetics, and comfort, Hampden offered another way of looking at it.

“I don’t view it as striking a balance. I see function as an opportunity for expression rather than something to be covered up.” That can mean super-deep eaves with photovoltaic panels as an awning or an interactive water feature that feeds a water catchment system.

CAST emphasizes durability, structures that last and require little effort to maintain. “We put a great deal of thought into how structures will weather and wear and choose our structural elements and finishes accordingly.”

This careful consideration of how a home blends in makes CAST’s homes feel less like alien impositions of style on the environment and more like complementary features. Whether embedded in a city block or a forest in the foothills, they’re an elemental part of their surroundings. They’re built to last.

This Kirkland residence, by Everton Homes, takes indoor-outdoor living to the next level. Photo credit: Everton Homes

Everton Homes: The Intersection of Luxury and Livability

Everton Homes offers a captivating mix of familial warmth and sleek modern design, packed with high-end finishes and smart home features. For this Bellevue and Kirkland-based boutique builder, it’s all about the flow and function of the living space. Surfaces dazzle, but it’s the thoughtful floorplans that make their homes warm and inviting.

Each house is unique, Co-Owner Igor Tsapenko tells me, tailored to the preferences of their owners. “We’re all fans of a spectrum of architectural styles ranging from contemporary, modern, and hybrids of both, including farmhouse and craftsman styles.” But what really matters is what’s inside.

The first word that comes to mind when touring an Everton is quality. Everything from layout to fixtures is top-notch. It’s all about having the right team, says Tsapenko. “We employ people who are passionate about what they do and creating a standout product. They will not settle for anything short of perfect.”

“We hope that interior design features catch people’s attention and admiration,” says Tsapenko. “We want them to look at some of the elevated features like a work of art in a gallery.” But don’t be fooled by the spectacle. What Everton cares most about is the experience of actually living in their homes.

Multiple Generations Living Together

According to Frank Bua, Everton’s lead designer, “Creating a home is not just going down a checklist of rooms and amenities or making them all as big as possible. It’s considering how the homeowner moves from one space to another.” Everton designs spaces to make their occupants feel comfortable, relaxed, and immediately familiar with certain elements.

Bua says their designs must also be responsive to changing lives. “In 1923, Le Corbusier described a home as, ‘a machine for living in.’ The way we live in our homes continues to evolve like everything else, so the space’s functionality has to be both current and adaptable” to the needs of future generations.

Co-Owner Iryna Sysenko says that when Everton designs homes, they picture a family with children and multiple generations living together under the same roof. They always include a junior master suite and spacious kids’ bedrooms. “We try to anticipate features that offer the best use of spaces for future homebuyers.”

This luxurious yet functional five-bedroom, five-bathroom home in Bellevue is nestled on a large, quiet lot. Its spacious floor plan caters to the owners’ active lifestyle, while large doors from main rooms seamlessly transition to the outdoor space. Photo credit: Everton Homes

Tech-Friendly, Not Technocratic

Comfort doesn’t just mean a flowing space. It also means green, healthy design. For Everton Homes, that means efficient use of technology to save energy and maintain a healthy environment— smart heating, advanced insulation, EV chargers. But they tuck away the gadgetry to keep the house feeling like home.

Technology, says Sysenko, is a natural fit. “Everton’s founders came from the local tech industry, so smart technology is naturally on the top of our list of priorities, and we deploy it to make our homes more relaxing and more secure for families.”

“Along with standard smart home fare like smart thermostats, locks and chimes, switches, surround-sound audio, and irrigation control, we’ve also started providing wired security cameras and dedicated equipment closets that [discreetly] connect it all.”

Sysenko says that tech is not the main feature so much as a means to an end. “As tech gets better and smaller, it stops being a design centerpiece. This is crucial because we want to create a warm family environment.” For Everton Homes, hearth and home are always front and center.

Making the Next House the Best House

Everton Homes is involved in every aspect of homebuilding, from lot acquisition and design to construction and sale—starting from market research and ending with the buyer moving in. Getting it all right is an iterative process. “Ideally, we’d start building, staging, and selling in rapid succession after permitting,” says Tsapenko. “The reality is that we constantly go back to the design.

“We may get feedback from our open houses and sales or quality assurance info from the construction team, or perhaps learn new design techniques between projects or simply have to deal with material availability issues.” But for Everton Homes, revisiting the design isn’t a bug—it’s a feature.

As Tsapenko elegantly puts it, “All of this drives the next house to be the best house.”

By MBAKS Content Strategist James Slone

Reducing greenhouse emissions means housing more people in healthier, more energy-efficient homes in cities near jobs, amenities, and transit. Unfortunately, a lack of affordable options has priced residents out of booming cities like Seattle and into sprawling suburbs with long, carbonintensive commutes.

A new generation of homebuilders understands that the lack of affordable housing and climate change are related problems requiring interlinked solutions. One of the leading lights in this new way of thinking and acting is Green Canopy NODE.

Where housing is located and who can afford it matters as much as how it’s built—a realization Green Canopy NODE intuitively grasps. For them, solving the housing problem at scale means creating a new paradigm where green housing is accessible to people of all income levels. It sounds easy, but it’s complicated.

Green at Scale

Green Canopy NODE brought together Seattle-based carbonmitigating construction firm NODE with Green Canopy, a green development and construction company based in Seattle and Portland with a long history helping lead the net zero revolution.

In a 2021 press release announcing their merger, Green Canopy NODE Co-CEO Bec Chapin said that the company’s aim was “an evolution of the industry to build more houses faster that create greater health, wellbeing, and resiliency for people and communities now and in the future.”

For Aaron Fairchild, Green Canopy NODE co-CEO, it’s as much a moral question as a practical one.

“As humanity continues to grapple with the need to house more people, our communities and planet feel the strain. We’re trying to lessen the strain and offer more regenerative solutions that help build communities while prolonging the life of the resources required to do so.”

For Green Canopy NODE, transforming the homebuilding industry requires a multifaceted approach: building more housing where it’s needed, offering a full suite of development services to other housing providers, prefabricating building components offsite, and deploying an impact investment fund for projects.

Build, Build, Build

Green Canopy and NODE’s coming together allowed them to pool their respective experience in green development and technological innovation to scale up construction, leading to their multifaceted approach. I recently chatted with Fairchild to find out more about each aspect of their overall work.

Obviously, the first is building housing, lots of it.

Green Canopy NODE builds rowhouses, townhomes, and multifamily units because they’re a more affordable option for families who want to live in high-quality neighborhoods with jobs and amenities. They are experts in the “missing middle” with the real estate chops to secure land for infill development.

Not an easy ask in a city where land value is through the roof.

“It’s hard to build affordable housing in urban areas where housing is needed most,” Fairchild explains. “It requires greater subsidies and a more flexible approach. As time goes on, private, nonprofit, and public partnerships will become the norm.”

It’s not enough to just build them. They also have to be green.

“Nearly 100 percent of our homes are Built Green or Earth Advantage Certified,” says Fairchild. “At Green Canopy, we historically focused on energy efficiency. We’ve always built all-electric homes and have completed several net zero homes,” or homes that produce more energy than they take from the grid.

Building green homes not only helps the environment; it also makes housing a more affordable proposition. “Because we build homes that perform well beyond code, utility costs are lower, and residents save money.” Remarkably, the company is able to deliver net-zero-ready homes to the market at the same price as code-built.

But decarbonization is no longer just about saving energy. Green Canopy NODE has recently started focusing on carbon emitted from the production of their building materials, what’s known as embodied carbon. Making sure embodied carbon doesn’t outweigh a home’s performance is the next frontier in green building.

Promoting Innovation

Perhaps the most essential element of lowering green construction costs is using new technologies to increase productivity, including standardizing building components, modernizing the workforce by training them in the latest in construction methods, and manufacturing pre-fab building components.

For Fairchild, manufacturing is especially important. “To scale up and lower costs, the industry will need to embrace the power of off-site manufacturing more and more. It is the only known pathway to the sort of efficiencies required to build more sustainable, higherquality, lower-cost housing.”

By manufacturing offsite in the controlled environment of a factory and quickly assembling components onsite, Green Canopy NODE avoids inefficiencies. The company is investing heavily in pre-fabricated solutions that can be moved directly from manufacturing facilities to project sites.

They’re especially excited about fabricating cross-laminated timber (CLT)—an engineered wood product made from wood stacked and glued together at 90-degree angles—for residential mid-to-low rise construction.

CLT is easy to carve and groove with computer-controlled cutting machines, making it uniform and easy to install. The best part? “Along with being a beautiful and exceptionally strong building material,” Fairchild enthuses, “CLT also sequesters carbon and can be reused at the end of a building’s life."

Spreading the Love: Development Services and Impact Investment

To deliver the high volume of housing needed to have a substantial impact, Green Canopy NODE also needs to be able to employ their strategies on an expansive multi-project scale. The best way to do that is by extending a helping hand to other builders and nonprofit housing providers.

Their real estate development services have helped complete hundreds of homes reliably and cost-effectively. Current projectpartners include Sunnyside Village Co-Housing, Habitat for Humanity, Africatown Community Land Trust, Homestead Community Land Trust, and Grow Bainbridge.

Their services cover all aspects of homebuilding, including acquisition, finance, estimating and feasibility, architecture, construction, and warranty services. The key to their services’ effectiveness, says Fairchild, is that they’re vertically integrated.

“Vertical integration means our team can work with you at any stage of the development process, avoiding the headache of external bottlenecks.” It lowers the cost of developing housing projects because it cuts construction costs by consolidating different stages like R&D and procurement.

The result is a high degree of flexibility and control. “We’re able to rapidly respond to requests, enhancing our ability to collaborate.” And because the company manages real estate funds, they can drive housing demand in a way that’s “aligned with our sustainability and technology goals.”

The company created an impact investment fund management firm, Green Canopy NODE Capital, to invest in infill building projects in Seattle and Portland.

Currently, Green Canopy NODE offers both investment and fund management for more than 90 shareholders and over 45 limited partners. Over the last decade, the company has leveraged their building expertise and knowledge of the housing market to raise and manage over $70 million in accredited investor capital.

Heart and Soul

Green Canopy NODE has already tallied an enviable list of accomplishments. As of this writing, they have built more than 300 Built Green and Earth Advantage Certified homes in and around Seattle and Portland, mitigated 33,000 metric tons of greenhouse gas, and steered investment to six major infill projects. And they’re just getting started.

This success isn’t just an outcome of their business acumen. It’s driven by a housing philosophy. Housing is the “nexus of our lives,” their website declares, “providing shelter, safety, and security,” a place “where one can develop a sense of love, belonging, acceptance with friends and family.”

Housing is also a solution to sprawl, homelessness, and climate change. Its importance goes far beyond profitability. It may seem idealistic, but the company genuinely believes that a change in paradigm requires a change in thinking. Fairchild says that a sense of mission permeates their company culture.

The Green Canopy NODE team, he says, shares a sense of purpose, and “a desire to regenerate communities and environments.” When they take on new team members and partners, they “look for people from communities seeking greater empowerment and renewal.”

Of course, technology, experience, and expertise are crucial to carrying out the day-to-day work. But it’s their focus on community that may be the key to unlocking the new homebuilding paradigm. It’s the heart and soul of Green Canopy NODE.

Article photos courtesy of Green Canopy NODE