One house at a time

Greenstone Homes built 226 energy-efficient homes last year, continuing its commitment to construct all of its homes to standards set by Northwest Energy Star and the Spokane Home Builders Association’s Built Green program. The Liberty Lake-based contractor is building a mix of new homes at Ponderosa Ridge, on Spokane’s North Side, broke ground on townhomes at Kendall Yards near downtown, and recently hosted the Showcase of Green Homes in its River District development at Liberty Lake. While Greenstone had always incorporated some Green features into its construction, it committed to the Energy Star and Built Green programs three years ago, says Jayson Hunnel, director of sales and marketing. Business is up 37 percent from a year ago, he said. Joel White, executive officer of the Spokane Home Builders Association, calls Greenstone a “prominent player” in the green building industry here. “I think they’re definitely an industry leader and have targeted a niche that is growing. Something we’re seeing right now is that eventually these will become standard industry practices, but they’re taking the initiative,” White said. As the state of Washington pushes more green energy codes and the Energy Star program increases its requirements, the challenge will be to build homes that are eco-friendly and affordable, White says. Greenstone is “testing” that market. “They’re trying to prove that you can do sustainable and profitable and make it work together … to build better longer lasting homes that are energy efficient and that will actually save their owners money,” he says. Greenstone recently received the 2009/2010 Regional Builder of the Year Award from Northwest Energy Star, competing against builders in Washington, Oregon, Idaho, and Montana. “It was a pretty big deal because we beat out builders from Seattle and Portland,” Hunnel says. “We’ve also been very active in educating both the real estate community and the appraisal community and everyone else on what it means to have a green home, which is one of the reasons they honored us with that award.” Certified Northwest Energy Star homes are tested and verified to meet energy-efficient guidelines set by the Environmental Protection Agency. They are at least 15 percent more efficient than homes built to code, and they contain tightly-sealed ductwork, high-performance windows, and properly installed insulation, Energy Star says on its Web site. Meanwhile, as part of the Built Green program, builders commit to disposing hazardous waste properly, meeting Washington state energy and ventilation codes and water-efficiency standards, install carbon monoxide detectors, insulate water pipes, recycle job-site waste, use non-toxic paint, and many other requirements. Toby Broemmeling, who coordinates the Built Green program at the home builders association, says it has 23 builders here. “The Built Green program is a whole-house approach. It’s a certification program that gives builders the certification they need to say they’re building a green home. We give them the education they need and the marketing they need.” Other local certified builders include Brent Peterson Construction, Victory Homes, Georgian Homes, Habitat for Humanity, and others. A checklist of building requirements and list of builders is available at www.inwbuiltgreen.org. At Ponderosa Ridge, a 97-acre development located west of Indian Trail Road and just off Barnes Road, Greenstone offers a mix of home styles, including high-end custom residences, one-level cottage homes, and townhouses. “This one is kind of unique. It pretty much has all of our product type, from cottage homes to entry-level family homes, all the way up to custom half-million dollar homes on bluff,” Hunnel says. “It has a big breadth of what Greenstone has to offer.” When complete, the 7-year-old development will have 230 homes, many of which built at an at least two-star Built Green level, priced from $250,000-$280,000 and up. On the bluff overlooking the Seven Mile area, five new homes will have million-dollar views with a quarter-million-dollar price. Hunnel said they will be built to the two-star BuiltGreen standards with higher insulation values, sealed ductwork—high performance from a green feature standpoint—no VOC paints, and recycled materials in the home. The homes will have a more modern design with walk-out basements, vaulted ceilings, and built-in space for multimedia equipment. Each home will have at least a 70-foot buffer zone between backyards. The first two, which have been sold, should be completed within the next two months. To the east of the bluff lies Threshhold Park, a narrow natural area with native pine trees and vegetation, a trail, benches, and large boulders inscribed with quotations. “It provides a natural feel of the community,” Hunnel says. “It would’ve been a lot easier to wipe all of this out and put our backyards together rather than leaving this natural buffer in between the homes. We wanted to protect the natural scape of the community.” Ponderosa Ridge also includes a neighborhood of cottage-style homes, which bear a design reminiscent of the Craftsman style. The 1,600-square-foot “Reedsport” model has two bedrooms on the main floor and a loft. Nearby, two sets of townhomes are “first generation” examples of the units Greenstone recently began building at Kendall Yards, a 56-acre mixed-use development on a ridge on the north side of the Spokane River near downtown. Each townhome has four units that contain two to three bedrooms, and an efficient split-pump air-conditioning unit regulates the temperature evenly throughout the two-level dwelling. In June, Greenstone hosted the Spokane Home Builders Association’s Showcase of Green Homes in its 700-acre River District. The company’s “Purus” home boasted four-star level energy efficiency and an ultra-modern interior with an open floor plan, high ceilings in the dining room, bamboo flooring, fiber cement siding, and solar panels. Greenstone also strives to make its communities pedestrian friendly, with sidewalks on both sides of the street and tree-lined green belts between sidewalks and curbs. The streets in the River District are narrower and the intersections have pedestrian bulb-outs. “These bulb-outs do two things for you: They cut down pedestrian crossing by 30 percent, so it makes it a shorter crossing for pedestrians, and it makes vehicles slow down,” Hunnel says. “Just by doing that simple thing makes that community more pedestrian friendly.” Greenstone plans to install similar streetscapes in Kendall Yards. At the River District’s entrance, Holl Boulevard leads to a roundabout featuring a decorative display of artist-created cairns. In addition to the inscribed rocks at Ponderosa Ridge, it is an example of how Greenstone incorporates artwork into its plans in an effort to promote culture. “It’s the little details that really provide value to the communities,” Hunnel says. “If we don’t pay attention to all those little things, how can we pay attention to the big things? And it’s lasting value. It’s easy to add short-term value; we want to add long-term value.”