Many custom home buyers focus primarily on aesthetics to create the home of their dreams. But builders such as Alair Asheville | Red Tree, a member of Alair Homes, North America’s largest custom home building and renovation franchise, know that bringing together smart design, high performance products and building science results in a resilient home that generates long-term value.
Green Builder Media and Alair Asheville | Red Tree are partnering to build VISION House Asheville, a custom home in the Beaverdam community that brings together climate-responsive architecture, innovative products and systems and high-performance building science. VISION House Asheville will serve as a demonstration project to showcase the future of homebuilding. Among the companies supporting this project with their knowledge, manufacturing processes and products is Kohler, which will showcase a range of sustainable kitchen and bathroom fixtures.
“The VISION House Asheville project reflects the future of homebuilding - where sustainability, design and performance work seamlessly together,” says Jackie Schneider, senior director – sustainable living, at Kohler. “As a company with a long-standing commitment to environmental stewardship, innovation and design excellence, this project aligns directly with our mission to help people live more gracious, healthy and sustainable lives. We’re proud to support VISION House Asheville in collaboration with Alair Homes, a valued partner that shares our commitment to thoughtful design, quality, craftsmanship and more resilient building practices.”
VISION House Asheville is designed around three pillars: wellness architecture, resilience and Value Per Square Foot™, a metric that provides insights for home buyers and owners about generational sustainability. Value Per Square Foot integrates sustainability, resource efficiency, wellness, comfort, equity and investment into measuring what a home is worth.
The Value Per Square Foot concept was conceived when Green Builder Media’s COGNITION Smart Data™ identified a new trend: homebuyers of every generation are more focused on long-term value and affordability than upfront costs.
Kohler’s continued investment in responsible manufacturing, including the use of recycled materials - such as their cast iron products, which are made with up to 80% recycled material, and water-efficient technologies that reduce environmental impact while delivering exceptional user experiences – contribute to long-term value as well as reduced operational costs that are central to the Value Per Square Foot concept. Key elements that contribute to Value Per Square Foot are water conservation, decarbonization, healthy homes, resilience, energy efficiency, equity and investment, and community.
Kohler’s high-performance, water efficient fixtures save homeowners money as well as contribute to resilient communities by conserving water contribute to resilient communities by conserving water from the watershed that the surrounding community, ecosystem and businesses rely on. Their clean, safe and hygienic products contribute to improving gracious, healthy and sustainable living. Kohler offers a wide range of products across price points so that every homeowner can invest in resilient fixtures made from durable materials, such as cast iron, which will endure for generations.
Kohler continues to invest in advanced manufacturing practices that reduce carbon impact and increase their commitment to 100% carbon-free electricity across manufacturing operations by 2035.
“Kohler is deeply committed to supporting custom builders and their clients regardless of project size or budget,” Schneider says. “The VISION House provides a powerful example of how builders can partner with a single trusted manufacturer to deliver cohesive, high-quality kitchen and bath solutions that meet both aesthetic and performance goals.”
Durable, Efficient Products for Long-term Value
While durability is an essential element of Kohler products, the company also invests in designers who create fixtures that elevate kitchens and bathrooms.
“We believe sustainability should enhance, not limit, design,” Schneider says. “This project reinforces that high-performance homes can be both beautiful and functional, without compromise and our intrinsic belief that we hold a responsibility as designers of product or spaces, to help our customers live sustainably naturally.”
Kohler products at VISION House Asheville include:
“The VISION House reinforces that sustainability and design are not trade-offs, they are opportunities to create homes that are beautiful, functional and built for long-term value,” Schneider says. “At Kohler, sustainability is foundational to how we design, innovate and manufacture. From incorporating recycled materials into our products to designing water-efficient solutions, we are focused on reducing environmental impact without compromising performance or aesthetics.”
Learn more about Kohler’s Impact on the environment and the building industry.