Cathy and Andrew Green
When Cathy and Andrew Green outgrew their Forest Hill home, they set out to find a new house with more space, both inside and out. In 2015, they found what they were looking for in a 1959 split-level home in nearby Bon Air.
One family had owned the house for more than 50 years, and the Greens knew it would take some work to create the sustainable, modern home they envisioned. But with Cathy’s background in interior design and Andrew’s experience leading corporate sustainability initiatives, they felt up for the challenge.
“We wanted to make it our own,” Cathy says. “And we’ve slowly worked to do both cosmetic and structural upgrades to get it where we want it.”
When the Greens moved in, the home had original doors and single-pane windows, oil-fired heat and hot water, and appliances from the 1970s — all of which needed to be replaced. In the years since, they have installed new double-pane windows, solar panels and a hybrid heat pump — a “game-changer” for reducing electricity use, Andrew says. They also replaced the original wood siding with HardiPlank fiber cement siding, and they painted the siding and brick white to reflect heat.
Andrew led much of the initial work, relying on his expertise from leading the sustainability program at Capital One and starting his own commercial sustainability and climate consulting company. But three years ago, the Greens called in Viridiant to audit the home’s energy usage and guide their next steps. The Richmond-based nonprofit is a green building verification and consulting firm that helps homeowners and businesses reduce the environmental impact of their spaces.
“We believe that there is a better way to build buildings — that they can be energy-efficient and healthy to live in, that they can have reduced energy operating costs, and they can be more comfortable,” says KC Bleile, Viridiant’s executive director. “Buildings are also a huge contributor towards the energy demands of our grid, and we believe we can do a better job. It just takes some planning and an understanding of building science.”
Encapsulating the attic and crawl space helps control air loss.
As part of their assessment, Viridiant inspects a home’s attic, crawlspaces, insulation, ductwork, windows and HVAC systems. They can conduct a blower test to measure the level of draftiness in a building and assess a home’s suitability for solar panels. They can also recommend contractors and service providers with experience in eco-friendly construction and equipment and reanalyze the home after project completion to certify its energy efficiency.
Energy Services Director Andrew Grigsby says new clients often think about windows and solar panels but don’t realize that other updates might be more impactful.
“Duct cleaning, crawlspace encapsulation and tankless water heaters are all things that, in theory, are good,” he says, “but we come in and say, ‘Let’s look at it from the whole perspective of what’s cost-effective and how they interact [with one another].’ Every house is different.”
Viridiant’s audit reports include a prioritized list of recommendations, ranging from zero- and low-cost DIY projects to major upgrades.
“The blower test was really enlightening,” Andrew says. “We knew it wasn’t great, but there were 14-plus air turnovers per hour. That was even after we’d done windows.
“Air sealing all around the house, encapsulating the attic, encapsulating the crawlspace and [placing a damper to stop] air loss through the chimneys — those are all things we’ve fixed since then.”
The Greens continued to fill air-loss gaps when they completed a renovation of the main level in 2023. The renovation was also Cathy’s opportunity to bring her touch to the home’s interior. Since starting her business more than 10 years ago, Cathy has honed her skills by integrating colors, patterns and shapes, as well as sustainable design and furnishings.
For her home, Cathy decided on a color palette of navy blue and deep purple. They started with navy kitchen cabinets and built-in bookshelves in the living room, which Cathy complemented with a custom purple and navy tile from Mosaic Home Interiors for the fireplace and kitchen backsplash. A decorative piece of architectural salvage from the 1850s that Cathy found on Etsy is incorporated into the fireplace mantel.
The Greens also enhanced the continuity between the spaces by removing a wall separating the kitchen, living room and dining room to create an open first-floor living space. In the kitchen, they replaced the outdated appliances with EnergyStar appliances, including an induction cooktop that uses significantly less energy than coil and gas stoves.
Next up, the Greens are looking to the outside. While they have worked to reclaim much of the overgrown yard they found upon move-in, Andrew hopes to turn their spacious cul de sac lot into a suburban farm equipped for gardening and composting.
While retrofitting an older home to align with their modern aesthetics and incorporate energy-efficient features has been a slow process, the Greens agree the renovations meet the very definition of sustainable living.
“Looking at embodied carbon alone — the house exists,” says Andrew, referring to the emissions produced throughout the entire lifecycle of a building, “and the houses built in the ’50s tend to be stronger.”
“Even when making upgrades and doing renovations,” Cathy adds, “there’s nothing like the character of an older home.”
