Carl Seville of Atlanta area-based Seville Consulting was among several panelists participating in a panel on “Consumer Attitudes Toward Green Remodeling” hosted by the Remodeling Futures Committee of Harvard University’s Joint Center for Housing Studies.

Kermit Baker, director of the Remodeling Futures Program, commented that “to date, green remodeling has not been a major force in the U. S. home improvement industry.” He asserted, however, that “a recent discussion of industry experts at Harvard’s Remodeling Future Conference presented a roadmap for how this can change:, with panel participants from the U. S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), Seville Consulting, Better Homes and Gardens publications, and the Home Depot. “Carl Seville’s vision for integrating green remodeling with standard industry practices would be a tremendous benefit to the industry,” he said.

The session at the Kennedy School of Government Taubman Conference Center was moderated by Dr. Carlos Martin of HUD, who is a director of the PATH Program, a public-private partnership for advancing housing technology. Panelists included Seville, who was the founder of SawHorse Inc., one of the Atlanta area’s best known remodeling firms, who was instrumental in helping implement the EarthCraft Renovation program for the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association; Linda Kast, Special Interest Publications, Better Homes & Gardens; and Saddat Abas, The Home Depot.

The panel explored consumer motivations for purchasing green building products over traditional ones and who influences their decisions to do so. Discussing which consumers are purchasing green building products and why, the panel noted that the recent increase in energy costs is driving consumers to consider green building methods and products. Mentioned specifically was a study put together for the panel in which some 90 percent of consumers surveyed indicated that they would be willing to pay $4,000 to $5,000 for an energy-efficient, environmentally-friendly home. The study also found that there are many programs across the country driving the adoption of green remodeling and building practices, including the LEED for Homes Pilot Program, professional programs, federal and local government programs and incentives offered by utilities, retailers and vendors. The ENERGY STAR label was identified as the most frequently used method for identifying green products for the home.

In upcoming weeks, Seville has other speaking engagements on his calendar. Last week he traveled to Lansdowne, Va., to speak at the Habitat for Humanity Urban Affiliates’ Conference on greening their homes. He is scheduled to speak on “Green Remodeling” at the “Greening the Heartland” Conference May 17-19 in Kansas City, Mo., and he is also currently involved in putting together the New and Renew Showcase portion of the 2006 Southern Building Show in Atlanta in June. The Showcase will feature a new custom home and a remodeling project, both built to EarthCraft standards to create an efficient, healthy, durable, and sustainable home.

In addition, he has written articles for recent or upcoming editions of New Life Journal, Home Energy Magazine, and Green Builder Magazine.
Seville, who founded SawHorse in 1980 and was with the company through 2005, has incorporated his knowledge and experience in EarthCraft Renovation into his new business venture, Seville Consulting. During his final years with SawHorse, Seville had become involved in green remodeling and EarthCraft Remodeling both personally and through the company.

Seville Consulting was recently named as the winner of the Remodeled Home of the Year award at the 2006 National Association of Home Builders National Green Building Conference. The award was for a project which Seville, who enlisted the assistance of SawHorse, carried out at a home in Druid Hills. Seville presented a case study on this project during the National Green Building Conference, and it was featured in a recent article in Atlanta Home Improvement Magazine and will be the subject of a PATH case study.

Seville is also involved in the Sustainable Buildings Industry Council (SBIC), and in 2005, he and SawHorse received the SBIC Best Sustainable Practice Award for “Stimulating Demand through Increased Consumer Awareness”.
A major component of Seville Consulting’s services is consulting work for businesses and individuals who want to make their homes “greener”, but who need the assistance of someone with a greater depth of knowledge about the design and specifications of green building programs. In this capacity, he serves as a consultant in the planning process and can also keep an eye on the work in progress. This is a service which is available to custom builders, production builders, architects, remodeling contractors, designers, others in the building industry, and homeowners.

He is also involved in general consulting with other remodelers in Atlanta and other cities to help them develop their businesses and improve their processes and procedures.

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