
Green Building Initiative: Conditioned Crawl Spaces
Since our inception in the mid-1990s Woodlands has been pushing the envelope and including green building practices on every project. Wrapped in the final package of a finished house, these features are easy to miss and so in this ongoing series we will shine a spotlight on practices that we all can do to make our living spaces more healthy and efficient.
Conditioned crawl spaces refer to a sealed, insulated, and vented area under a building. This might look like a regular crawl space at first glance, but with insulation protecting the walls from the ground up to the floor boards, and a thick layer of insulation under the house, they are sealed from the elements so they never get damp or bug-ridden. In addition, the HVAC system circulates a small amount of heated or cooled air into the crawl space and the vents allow airflow that prevents mold, rot, and stale air.
In houses without a conditioned crawl space, a significant percentage of the air in the living space moves up through the floors from the basement/crawl space, bringing with it the damp air and mold from that space. This lowers the overall air quality in the home, increases heating costs, and gives us feet cold all winter!
Conditioned crawl spaces solve all these issues. These spaces significantly improve air quality in the upstairs, reduce heating and cooling costs, and mitigate mold and rot issues common in our damp local climate. More efficient heating and cooling, healthier air, and less deterioration of the house’s structure mean fewer resources are needed to maintain the house and the structure will survive longer.
Conditioned crawl spaces are an investment in the health of our communities, residents, and environment!

New Units Opening on the Banks of the Blackwater River
Woodlands Development and Lending is excited to open the doors to tenants at the new Blackwater Avenue apartments in Davis, WV in early 2022. This community complex of 8 ...
Read More
Shades of Green
Since our inception Woodlands has been driving sustainable and energy efficient building practices in our region. We use sustainable construction practices in all our building projects. Our units are ...
Read More
Barbour County Businesses Continue to Expand Collaborations
Despite everyone’s busy December schedule, a wonderfully diverse cross section of businesses and organizations attended the December Small Business Solutions meeting in Barbour County. As always, the relaxed, informal ...
Read More
Autism Support Brings Services, Careers to Small Towns
At Woodlands Community Lenders, our mission is to support small businesses and foster economic growth in rural communities. One of our standout success stories this year comes from Mountainside ...
Read More
Golden Rule Saved
Many of our housing and development projects are quiet, neighborhood projects that don’t demand much coverage in the press but the Golden Rule project in Belington, WV caught the ...
Read More
Tygart Hotel Project on Track to Begin Reconstruction in Early 2022
Key partners and investors meet at Tygart property to discuss plans for the iconic and historic Elkins property. [09.29.2021] A group of local business owners, nonprofit organization leaders, and ...
Read More
Big Timber Shows the Big Impact of Small Businesses
Matt and Ashley Kwasniewski were shopping around for startup capital for their craft brewery idea in 2012, just as we opened the doors of Lenders. None of the commercial ...
Read More
“I’m Very Particular About My Fish”
John Bell, owner and operator of Johnny B’s Campground in southern Randolph County, takes his fishing ponds very seriously. The central feature of a multi-faceted property, his three fishing ...
Read More
Resurrecting the Golden Rule’s Water Powered Elevator
We invite you to watch a bit of the story of the marvelous water powered elevator in the Golden Rule Building in Belington, WV. This innovative piece of machinery ...
Read More
Microenterprise Loans Support Local Businesses
Woodlands is pleased to have the support of USDA-Rural Development (USDA RD) in providing lending and technical assistance to small businesses in our region. Through USDA RD we ...
Read More
Northview Apartments Impress Local Residents and US Senators
When we completed work on our Northview Senior Apartments in 2016 the project was lauded by everyone from our US Senator Shelly Moore Capito to the new tenants of ...
Read More