Mark Johnson Custom Homes Blog

Saturday, October 10th 10:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m.
Pender County, NC custom home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes encourages you to attend this year’s Solar and Green Building Tour! The annual Tour will feature the following sites, offering diverse examples of Green technology:  

City of Wilmington Street Sweeper Facility – 1110 S. 17th Street: Solar power, radiant floor heating, site and building re-use and stormwater run-off improvements are showcased in a commercial setting.
This is the official Tour kick-off site. Bring your PayPal receipts here to pick up tickets purchased online. Tickets will be available for sale here the day of the Tour.

3404 Talon Court: A LEED Platinum gut rehab led by architect Jay DeChesere. This home illustrates a wealth of Green strategies both inside and outside, including a Green roof, a 3FW photovoltaic array, solar hot water, geothermal, rainwater harvesting and an Audubon wildlife habitat.

2002 Kenilworth Lane: Mark Johnson Custom Homes’ LEED Platinum Home in Landfall. New residential construction in Landfall is only the second residence in North Carolina to receive the highest rating by the U.S. Green Building Council. To achieve Platinum certification, the 2,770 square foot, 4 bedroom/4 bath home scored points for health, sustainability, energy and water efficiencies. Note: This site can only be visited by taking the trolley.   

10 South 5th Avenue: This renovation of a grand historic home exemplifies the ultimate in recycling and how, contrary to popular belief, many elements of Green are both simple and traditional. The home’s “new” kitchen also features custom cabinetry and architectural accents crafted from reclaimed wood.

1919 Wrightsville Avenue: A single family dwelling that has been retrofitted with Green technologies by the owner slowly over time. Green technologies include a tankless water heater (natural gas), ductless HVAC system, sealed crawlspace and attic, material repurposing, recycled material, permeable pavers and great landscaping. 

2214 Allens Lane: A single family dwelling with solar hot water heater and where 10 PV cells are in the process of being installed on the roof. The home also features an electricity demand limit meter through Progress Energy. This device limits the home’s appliance use during the peak electricity time period. The home is Energy Star certified and also features separate zones for heating and cooling in each room and all halogen dimmer lights and CFL non-dimmers.

Take a self-guided tour or ride the Trolley with the official tour guide for a narrated excursion!

Early Bird tickets are $15 per person for CFGBA members and $20 for non-members. Due to limited space on the Trolley, children’s tickets for the guided tour will be full price. There is no charge for children on the self-guided tour. Tickets will be available the day of the Tour for $25 at the City of Wilmington Street Sweeper Facility. Proceeds benefit the Cape Fear Green Building Alliance.

 For more information, visit their website!

Wrightsville Beach, NC custom home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes encourages our readers to attend the Cape Fear Green Building Association’s Green Living Expo & Conference! It will be held on October 21st at the Hilton Riverside in Historic Downtown Wilmington, NC. The Green Living Expo and Conference is for people in the Wilmington region interested in living a Green lifestyle, developing Green-related businesses and learning about local Green initiatives. In addition to the Green Expo, there will be seminars & workshops, a keynote speaker luncheon and the Vision of Green Wilmington Awards. 

For more information on the seminars and workshops, including a detailed list and registration instructions, click here. Topics to be discussed include Green retrofitting, landscaping, solar thermal, tax credits and rebates and more!

The Green Expo will be in the Hilton Grand Ballroom from 1:30 pm – 7 pm and free to the public. The Expo will feature products and services from a range of industries dedicated to operating businesses, homes and people’s lives in a Greener way. For more information on the Expo, click here.

The Keynote Speaker Luncheon will be from Noon – 1:30 pm and welcomes Jack Fuller, the CEO of GE Hitachi Nuclear Energy. Learn about the multi-billion dollar bets GE is making on Green initiatives through its Ecomagination Program. Advanced registration is required; for more information click here.

The evening will end with the Vision of Green Wilmington Awards & Reception from 7 pm – 8 pm. The Visions of Green Wilmington Awards will recognize the people who see Green opportunities in the Wilmington region. For more information, including how to enter, click here.

Mark Johnson Custom Homes will have a booth at the Expo in the Hilton Grand Ballroom from 1:30pm – 7pm. We welcome you to stop by and look forward to seeing you there!

Brunswick County, NC custom home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes would like to share this informative video about the United Way of the Cape Fear Area. A proud supporter of our local United Way, we encourage others to “Live United” by “Giving, Advocating, and Volunteering.” For more information, visit their website!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vzBzNYNkIT0&feature=player_embedded]

Mark Johnson Custom Homes Invites You to Attend an Open House for Our LEED Platinum Home in Landfall!

We would like to invite our readers to tour the Wilmington, NC LEED Platinum home on August 29th, 2009 from 10am-3pm.
 
The home is located in the Birkdale Community at 2002 Kenilworth Lane in Landfall.   

Please RSVP to Kevin@MarkJohnsonCustomHomes.com or call 910-208-9151,
as your name must be added to the guest list at the gate for entry if you are not a resident of Landfall. 
 
We look forward to seeing you there! 

Mark Johnson Custom Homes’ LEED Platinum Green Home in Landfall Country Club was featured on local news station WECT 6 Wilmington. The LEED Platinum certification is the highest possible rating for a Green home from the United States Green Building Council. View the video and read the complete article on the “Greenest Home in the State”.

St. James Plantation custom home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes contributed to the Kids Summer Stock 2009. Sponsored by the Food Bank of Central and Eastern NC, Kids Summer Stock is a community-wide food and funds drive aimed to help school children who no longer have access to free or reduced priced meal options during the summer months. Through a series of concerts, festivals, and events, collections of food and funds helped fill the empty shelves of Food Bank warehouses in Durham, Greenville, Raleigh, Sandhills and Wilmington. The drive was especially imperative at a time when food drive donations tend to slow down and at risk children are out of school and are still in need of three daily meals.

Wilmington, NC builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes, Inc was among the winners of the 2009 Communicator Awards that were announced by the International Academy of the Visual Arts in May of 2009.  With thousands of entries received from across the US and around the world, the Communicator Awards is the largest and most competitive awards program honoring the creative excellence for communications professionals. Among the winners are Wilmington, NC custom home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes, Inc with the Award of Excellence for their website. Visit www.communicatorawards.com to view the complete list of winners which includes Nike, Skittles, Johnson & Johnson, Warner Brothers, IBM and John Deere.

The Award of Excellence is the highest honor given to a home builder website. Mark Johnson Custom Homes, Inc.’s website has previously been awarded the national W3 Award, the North Carolina HBA’s STARS Award and the local Wilmington-Cape Fear HBA’s MAX Award.

The Communicator Awards are judged and overseen by the International Academy of the Visual Arts (IAVA), a 450+ member organization of leading professionals from various disciplines of the visual arts dedicated to embracing progress and the evolving nature of traditional and interactive media.  Current IAVA membership represents a “Who’s Who” of acclaimed media, advertising, and marketing firms including:  Condè Nast, Coach, Disney, The Ellen Degeneres Show, Estee Lauder, HBO, Keller Crescent, Monster.com, MTV, Polo Ralph Lauren, Sotheby’s Institute of Art, Tribal DDB, Victoria’s Secret, Wired, Yahoo!, and many others.  See www.iavisarts.org for more information or view the Winner’s Gallery.

“The quality, creativity and execution of this year’s work is a true testament to the talents and abilities of communications professionals from around the world.  The entries received reflect an increasingly diversified industry and the work once again sets the bar extremely high,” noted Linda Day, director of the IAVA.  She added, “On behalf of the entire Academy, we are honored to have once again judged the 15th Annual Communicator Awards and we are proud to honor the outstanding communications professionals who continue to push a high standard of excellence.”

Mark Johnson Custom Homes’ website was designed by Provis Media, a full service interactive agency based in Wilmington, NC.

The newly appointed United Way of the Cape Fear Area President Christopher Nelson has been spending his first few months in the position meeting with local business leaders hoping to spread awareness and increase activity. St. James Plantation custom home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes is excited to join Nelson and the United Way of the Cape Fear Area in their efforts.

Focusing on the issues and concerns primarily in our region, Nelson anticipates making an impact where the community is in most need and to impact the greatest amount of people.  The United Way is committed to finding the causes of a community’s problems, such as youth violence and homelessness, and address the root of those problems rather than just applying quick fixes or “band-aids”.

To read more on Christopher Nelson and the United Way of the Cape Fear Area, click here.

To become involved, contact the United Way of the Cape Fear Area.

Jacksonville, NC home builder Mark Johnson Custom Homes is among the 2008 winners of the National Association of Home Builders’ Safety Award for Excellence. Mark Johnson Custom Homes was recognized with the Single-Family Builder Safety Program Award, kept safety regulations at the forefront of their educational efforts and has maintained a workplace free from serious injuries for 41 consecutive months. “Safety is one the most important factors when considering the overall success of a project. If our trade partners and jobsite visitors don’t make it home in the same condition they arrived, we have failed them as managers,” said safety coordinator Kevin Johnson.