Green Homes Tour to showcase eco-friendly abodes Oct. 21

The San Diego Green Building Council will host its ninth annual San Diego Green Homes Tour on Sunday, Oct. 21. The popular one-day event will showcase 13 homes across San Diego, including Encinitas, La Jolla, South Park, Pacific Beach, Vista, Lakeside and Campo with unique eco-friendly home features such as solar-powered children’s play forts, reclaimed building materials and shared community gardens.

The Green Homes Tour celebrates the best practices in green building and design while showcasing the innovative work of some of the industry’s top professionals. It is a unique opportunity for members of the public as well as industry professionals to step inside a diverse mix of private residences to get ideas, find inspiration and explore various green features in real-world settings.This year’s tour also includes a number of eco-friendly gardens and exteriors spaces.

Project highlights for the 2018 tour include a LEED Platinum-certified home in Encinitas that was completely remodeled to be designed to be healthier and more sustainable and an Encinitas home retrofitted to be more energy- and water-efficient, with an edible garden shared with neighbors through a community bartering system.

The tour also includes a creative residence in Lakeside constructed from three recycled/re-purposed shipping containers and a custom home in Jamul featuring strawbale walls, earthen plaster, concrete floors for thermal mass, solar power, native landscaping, rain catchment, and a graywater system for orchard irrigation.

The self-guided tour runs from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. and attendees may visit as many of the homes as they like, meet with industry professionals and homeowners, and learn more about the latest green home design, construction and upgrade options.

Tickets are $15 per person. Discounts are available for San Diego Green Building Council members ($10) and students ($5, with I.D.). Children under 16 are free and must be accompanied by an adult.

More information is available at usgbc-sd.org