A Value-added Summer

It's hard to believe that the summer is over and school has started up again! The summer months are often filled with vacations and events where we take some time to re-charge out batteries and reconnect with our families and friends. At Brytan, we used the time to research and learn about new technologies and ideas to make the homes in this community, the greatest value in terms of features, sustainable designs and economic benefits. We are excited about what we will be offering and look forward to sharing it with you!

Stay tuned!!

Spring is here!

Not only are the houses green in Brytan, but the wonderful street trees are showing their green side! The many plants in the Butterfly Garden are beginning to bloom and the entire area looks great. This time of year is perfect for strolling on the trails and envisioning what your home could look like. Brytan is the place to live if you believe in sustainable design, energy conservation and walkable communities. Go and enjoy the wonderful weather!!

One of These Things is Not Like the Other....

A reader commented on a previous blog entry:

I have driven by this Subdivision several times and the homes look like any other homes in Gainesville. What is the difference between these homes and the other Subdivisions surrounding it? Is the difference inside the walls?

Then, later, she asked:

After driving by this subdivision several times, what is the deal with your signs up front? First LEED Community in Alachua? can you explain what this means to me as a consumer?

These are great questions.....

First of all, I am going to disagree. I don't think these homes look like any other home in Gainesville - they are like homes you may find in some of the other New Urbanist developments, but they are not what you find in a typical subdivision. Obvious differences include the height off the ground (provides privacy in houses that are close to the street), higher end windows that have depth and add contour to the house (rather than the flat windows you typically see), high level design with attention to proportion and scale (these houses were designed by an architect, not a builder, with an eye towards the entire picture of the neighbhorhood and how the houses fit together), classic design details versus trendy home finishes, lack of garages on the front (garages are located off the alley behind the house), and a neighborhood planned to fit into the urban community.

Secondly, I will agree that yes, there are many differences behind the walls. The houses were planned for efficient use of wood and other materials to reduce waste -- walls use "pre-cut" lengths of wood, as well as full sheets of OSB siding materials. This not only saves money during construction, but prevents our landfills from filling up with needless waste -- did you know that 10% of the material ordered to build a house is wasted? That is a lot of garbage in our landfills, a lot of needless transportation costs, and a lot of expense in our pockets. The houses were carefully insulated and sealed -- insulation was inspected by a third party energy consulant to make sure that nothing was missed (such as behind the bathtub) and that the insulation met not just Energy Star, but the highest Energy Star standards. All houses are also prewired to be a "Smart House" and fiber optic cable is run to each house, giving these houses some of the fastest internet speeds in the country. Why is that environmental you may ask? If you can stay home and work effectively, then that is one less car on the road. Other items that are included in some of the houses include insulated hot water pipes, built in vacuums, and products treated with non-toxic chemicals to resist pests and fire.

Finally, LEED certification - what is that? The US Green Building Council, which manages the LEED programs states:

LEED is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings. LEED gives building owners and operators the tools they need to have an immediate and measurable impact on their buildings’ performance.

There are other green building programs out there -- the better known ones in this area include programs by the Florida Green Building Coalition and the National Association of Home Builders. LEED stands out as the program that these newer programs are measured against. The USGBC, through the LEED program, not only certifies homes through the LEED for Homes program but they certify commercial and office buildings, hospitals, schools and government buildings. And, if you did not know already, the University of Florida requires all of it's buildings to be LEED certified. There is an up front cost to this certification, but there are lasting savings in energy, health care, quality of life and carbon footprint cost.

So what do those signs mean to a buyer? It means the this developer and these builders picked the most stringent and most carefully documented green program available. It means that they followed the rules, tracked the materials and waste, carefully chose their materials and paid for third party certification. It means that not just a builder built your house, but an architect, a green consultant, an engineer, a landscape architect, and an energy expert. And that benefits you because you, as a homeowner, would have a copy of all of this documentation, all of the warranties and information, and access to these experts if you have questions. What does this sign mean? It means that the builder did a "good job" -- and you do not have to take their word for it. They can prove it.