garnered honors in for a home built for retired language professor Carroll Yoder and his wife Nancy.

This two-level, 2,300-square-foot house, at 1322 Greystone St. in Harrisonburg, Va., was built with Styrofoam-covered concrete blocks that yield energy-conserving walls. Three solar panels on the roof provide most of the hot water needed for the heat that radiates from water-filled tubes in the floor and for washing. The house was oriented to permit passive solar heating, shaded in the summer.

“We really like our house—it is very quiet because we have thick walls and no moving hot air,” says Carroll. “Our son (Joel ’97) is now using Aaron to build his house.”

Harrisonburg architect Randy Seitz, class of ’87, commends Aaron for his interest in building “well-crafted, modest-sized houses in existing neighborhoods, rather than another McMansion on former farmland.”

Aaron has been a leader in promoting EarthCraft-certified construction in Virginia since 2006. began in Atlanta, Ga., in 1999 and has been spreading across the nation. From its website:

EarthCraft House certifications are determined through a points-based worksheet, which allows builders to select the sustainability measures that are best suited for their project. Worksheet items address proper site planning, energy-efficient appliances and lighting, resource-efficient building materials, indoor air quality, water conservation and homebuyer education, and all are verified during site visits and inspections.

Aaron says that EarthCraft Virginia has certified over 1,600 homes and 7,000 multifamily dwelling units to date.

In 2008, Aaron led the to form a green-building committee. In 2010, this committee launched the first annual Green Expo in Harrisonburg. This event, now at its third year, is expected to fill the gym area of ˛ÝÝ®ÉçÇř’s “Commons” with booths, exhibits, demonstrations and workshops on green building when the expo is held on Nov. 10, 2012, 9 a.m. to 4 p.m.

In 2011, a large green-certified home in a development on the edge of Harrisonburg by A.M Yoder & Co. took top prizes from the Shenandoah Valley Builders Association for best overall, best interior and best exterior.

Melinda Joy Yoder, who majored in at EMU, runs the company’s office operations, as well as contributes to the design of the company’s showcase homes. The Yoders have two children.

That was the mantra of Barry Click, co-owner of , during a social media panel discussion that anchored EMU’s annual appreciation luncheon for the 100 members of its .

Another panelist, , Harrisonburg City councilman and , said: “Find some consistency in your posts. Look at what your audience is into and looking at — you have to put time into it to be successful.”

Click and Denger joined three other panel members — Lindsey Loughlin of , Aaron Yoder of , and Kyle Coleman of — in highlighting the advantages of using Facebook, Twitter and other social media. All agreed the simplest approach is often the best.

“Know your audience, go where they are and connect,” Click said.

Funding priorities

spoke to the group on the funding of the new science center, next year’s enrollment projections, and the upcoming Bach festival.

Swartzendruber said EMU has raised 25 percent of the funds it needs to renovate and expand its science center. He linked this fundraising campaign to maintaining EMU’s remarkable record of 90 percent acceptance rate into medical school, which is more than twice the national average.

EMU’s fall enrollment numbers look promising and are on par with the numbers from last year’s record enrollment, he said. Swartzendruber also mentioned the excitement of hosting the twentieth annual Bach festival on campus and the anticipation of the program itself.

Social media matters

between Business and Professional club members.

Current members

Below is a list of current Harrisonburg-Rockingham Business & Professional Club members.

• Kreider Machine Shop
• Nelson Swope Enterprises
• Turner & Company

Aaron Yoder ’01 owns ., a Harrisonburg home construction and remodeling company that uses the EarthCraft House program. Compared to conventional building, EarthCraft House projects generate less waste during construction, require less energy for climate control and demand less ongoing maintenance. A M Yoder & Co. applies these techniques to a wide variety of houses. The company can build a home that uses 40 percent less energy, and an 8,000-square-foot luxury home that is far less resource-intensive than a conventionally built mansion.

Benjamin Meredith ’92 is owner and president of (Harrisonburg), which conducts home and small business energy audits to identify the best ways to reduce energy consumption. It also provides third-party verification for homes built to Energy Star or EarthCraft green building standards. Meredith uses construction expertise and specialized equipment – duct blasters, infrared cameras – to understand and improve a building’s energy usage. “Residential buildings consume approximately 22 percent of the energy consumed in the United States,” he says. “It is my job to help people figure out how they can reduce their energy consumption footprint.”

Bradley Yoder ’02 is project adviser for , based in Durham, North Carolina. It builds all its new homes to the of the . Smart and efficient homes, Yoder says, are a key part of living well-balanced lives: “If you’re careful about building [people’s] homes responsibly, efficiently and healthily, [they] are better equipped to do what they want with their lives.” One of Bradley’s colleagues, John Price, class of ’76, is the “build lead” at Build Sense, overseeing several of the company’s construction crews. Through another company, Carolina X Wall, Yoder also sells insulating concrete forms, an efficient and eco-friendly building material.

In Fulks Run, Virginia, Heather Bauman ’04 and Justin Thomas Yoder, class of ’03, live in a passive solar house, with supplementary heat from a masonry stove. It has a lightcolored metal roof to ward off summer heat. Built by Justin and his father, Kenton E. Yoder, the house stays comfortable during summers without air conditioning, says Heather.