Standard Home Features

• Floor Plans
• Vaulted ceilings
• Energy efficient homes with well insulated (walls R29, roof R38)
• Private backyards
• High speed internet connections
• Open floor plan: living, kitchen, & dining room
• Sunny and spacious
• Enjoy the privacy of your own private home Know all your neighbors

Green Features of Individual Homes:

• 5/8" drywall instead of standard 1/2" - better sound and thermal insulation
• Insulation upgrade (higher R value; cellulose in walls; BAT in ceiling)
• Solar stubs to roof for future solar water heating
• Units exceed model energy code and have the Energy Star/Energy Advantage designations
• Basements provide space that is easier to heat and cool
• 2"x6" walls provide extra depth for more insulation
• Homes oriented for solar gain
• Programmable thermostats
• Solatubes in most units; some skylights
• "Borrow lights" made of glass block let natural light into interior rooms
• High efficiency A/C units
• Hydraunic heating - home heating based on heat generated by water heater
• Insulation of basement walls with foam
• Upgraded double-pane windows

 

Water:

• Corrugated roofs included to provide cleaner water for harvesting
• Some homes include water harvesting cisterns
• Detention basins hold 100 year storm on site. Reduces flooding downstream, increases soil moisture
• Water harvesting swales and basins included throughout to help water plants
• Water purchased in bulk for savings
• Efficient drip irrigation system

 

Toxicity:

• Low VOC paint
• Lower toxicity mudsills
• Corrugated metal roof yields cleaner water for reuse Some plywood used in place of OSB (or other low VOC wood substitute)
• Low VOC OSB used
• General directive to subcontractors to use the lowest tox option available
• Choices were explored for lower toxicity flooring (e.g., no floor covering - polished concrete, wheatboard, cork, low-voc carpet, etc.)
• Fresh air intake to exchange out interior air (important in closed-in air-conditioned spaces.)