This beautiful brick bungalow sits in the middle of a historic Atlanta neighborhood designed by renowned landscape architect Frederick Law Olmsted. Remodeler and green consultant Carl Seville bought the small house because it was well-built and in great shape. Once he saw the 2,000-square-foot unfinished attic with 11-foot ceilings, he knew he could add space yet maintain the modest façade and building footprint.

The judges said the remodel is extremely sensitive to the neighborhood. “The finish detail is great, but the construction quality goes beyond the finishes,” one judge said.

Seville used vintage roof tiles to supplement the existing clay roof, and interspersed new brick with salvaged brick for an invisible transition between old and new.

In addition to recycling materials, Seville used energy-efficient and green principles to upgrade the infrastructure. His firm focuses on mainstream green, which is particularly of interest to owners of traditional houses in Atlanta. “Clients don't want things that look different,” Seville says. “You can make any house extremely efficient with just a little extra effort.”

The entire building envelope is air-sealed and insulated, so there are no unconditioned spaces, which reduces the load on HVAC systems. Seville also installed low-E, argon-filled glazing and tankless water heaters, and used low-VOC paint and floor finishes.

Category: Green remodeling, over $250,000

Location: Atlanta

Contractor/green consultant: Carl Seville, Seville Consulting, Atlanta

Designer: Jimmy Carrion, Dacula, Ga.