Next June, when attendees to the Southern Building Show view this remodel, they will see a very strong adaptation of a 1915 brick, Arts and Crafts bungalow.

Tucked beneath the clay tiles of the home’s roofline will be a new second floor that adds 2,200 sq. ft. of living space. On the first floor, a boxy, old-style plan will be replaced with an open, more up-to-date living space. Yet it will retain the graceful pre-War feeling that draws many home buyers to older homes in historic neighborhoods, like Druid Hills, in Atlanta, where this home stands.

Harder to see for those that view the house in June, when the remodel will be completed, will be all of the materials and construction practices that helped make this project an EarthCraft certified remodel. EarthCraft is an environmental designation awarded by the nonprofit Southface Energy Institute in cooperation with the Greater Atlanta Home Builders Association. Southface administers the stringent EarthCraft guidelines in areas of energy efficiency, indoor air quality, durability and several other “sustainable” and “green building” benchmarks.

From the home’s super-tight foam insulation, to its framing practices that eliminate the number of dead air pockets, and the time-consuming efforts to reuse and recycle demolition and construction waste, much of what makes this home an EarthCraft remodel is either invisible or locked in behind the walls. But the effects will be noticeable.

“The home will be very tight,” explains Carl Seville, of Sawhorse Inc., the design/build remodeling firm that is renovating the home. In fact, Seville owns the home and his family will move in after its short run as a show house. “We expect that this home will exceed the limitations on air exhcange, which will make it easier to heat in winter and easier to cool in the summer.”