Anchorage Building Corp
Chapel Hill NC's ÜberGreen Custom Homebuilder
Uniquely focused on "Passive Resilience", the last home you, your children, and your children’s children will ever need to build.
about us
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After 40+ years in the industry, we respectfully seek out and treasure the most key element in the equation - the incredibly motivating joyful reciprocity of working with fun, happy, thankful clients. Talk with us!
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A student of PassiveSolar since the 1970s, then as a Contractor pioneering advanced GreenBuilding in NC daily since 1993, we've specialized in constructing some of the most energy-efficient and sustainable homes on the planet.
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We see mindful siting and overall "futureproofing" being so important in home design now more than ever. "Passive Resilience" can absolutely be built-in!
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Always trailblazing trendsetters, the first PassiveHouse Consultant & Builder in SE US, we built the First 3 Certified Passive Houses in NC and many more "Passive-ish” homes since.
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College in the rural NC mountains then in urban DC, then a 6-year stockbroker in Anchorage Alaska, then 25 years building in the salty, sunny, harsh, humid, hurricane-prone coastal environment of Wilmington NC, where we learned the importance of micro-focusing on stout, sturdy, weatherproof, hurricane-strong, high-performance, low-maintenance, green-building techniques, while integrating super-efficient yet simple-to-operate comfort systems. Now 14 years building high-performance custom homes in central NC!
Chris Senior - a lifelong fascination with human beings, their cultures,
their environmental adaptations & their dwellings.
Combining Intellectual & Physical Work
BA+MA in Archaeology/Anthropology - 7 summers & 1.5 years
on archaeology digs in the SE US & the Middle East.
Business-Seasoned
A licensed unlimited NC Residential & Commercial Contractor (SC + TN too).
An NC Real Estate Broker since 1978. Stockbroker in Alaska in the '80's.
In 1993 his new construction company began amassing records & firsts in advanced GreenBuilding in North Carolina. His constant and continuing education has fostered his holistic view of new home construction:
“We always view the whole home & outbuildings as
an harmonious system that’s in rhythm with the Earth’s calibrated
seasonal spinning & swaying to and fro,” he says, “never as a
collection of unrelated disparate parts.”
Recent Praise from some Grateful Fun Clients:
During our project, Chris
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was personable and easy to work with
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was creative with ideas and solutions (including cost savings)
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was very patient
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was always available to communicate
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was flexible regarding a few timely changes
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all you need to do is stay out of his way and let him do his thing! -D&R
"Your professionalism, creativity, craftsmanship, attention to every detail, and mostly, your genuine kindness has been a gift to us.
There was something very rhythmic, (mostly!) predictable, and reassuring about this process and your presence at the house during our visits gave us a sense of stability during unstable times, and a certain level of excitement about the future that we really appreciated and needed.
We are enchanted by the home you created with us.
You all KNOCKED IT OUT OF THE PARK!"
With Love and Fondness, P, J, & A.
in the news:
ECO, MINUS THE EDGY LOOKS
A PassiveHouse builder in North Carolina designs homes that look traditional, with a forward-thinking energy strategy.
By Amy Albert
Builder Chris Senior has been fanatic about renewable energy for as long as he can remember. The owner of Anchorage Building Corporation, based in North Carolina, says that his energy obsession morphed into a fascination with “aggressive solar orientation” back in college. An archaeology student, Senior went on digs everywhere from 7 states in the SouthEastern US to the Middle East. One day came an epiphany. “I realized there’s no prehistoric site on the earth that’s not oriented toward the equator,” he says. “But somehow that primary concern for habitation got lost in things like cul-de-sac developments.”
Magazine
by Stephen Hren
Homebuilder Chris Senior wants to leave a legacy by creating homes of beauty and super-efficiency that will last for centuries. He’s steering his company, Anchorage Building, toward specializing in homes that meet Passivhaus energy-efficiency requirements and use a fraction of the heating and cooling energy of conventionally built U.S. homes. read more...
Passive Makes Perfect in North Carolina
When we first profiled Anchorage Builders in 2010, they were in the construction phase of North Carolina’s first PassiveHouse. We followed up with the project in a subsequent post and were quite impressed with the completed home, both aesthetically and sustainably. Building on this successful experience, Anchorage and an architect have recently collaborated on yet another Chapel Hill home designed with Passive House building methods. read more...
First PassiveHouse in North Carolina
This home is officially the first PassiveHouse in North Carolina. It’s also the first PassiveHouse in the country built out of concrete, according to Chris Senior, certified PassiveHouse consultant and owner of Anchorage Building Corp., the builder. Senior said his company was able to keep construction costs “surprisingly reasonable” by fashioning the entire exterior from concrete. read more...