![Planet Earth - The Complete BBC Series [HD DVD]](http://ec1.images-amazon.com/images/I/11UFAyLAjJL.jpg)
Entries from January 1, 2008 - February 1, 2008
New Inman Park green development going for the gold [LEED, that is]
One of Atlanta's most desirable intown neighborhoods will soon have a new LEED, EnergyStar, and Earthcraft certified development. The 12 unit neighborhood will be located in Inman Park and is on track for LEED Gold certification, setting a new standard for a green development in the Atlanta market.
The homes will start in the $180's and feature:
- covered outdoor living space
- tankless hot water heaters
- dual flush toilets
- vegetative roofs
- concrete flooring
- garage parking
Beautiful, historic Inman Park is on the National Registry of Historic Places as one of the nation's first garden suburbs. Residents used to commute to and from Atlanta on streetcars via the restored Trolley Barn [circa 1889], a spectacular landmark of the community.
The property is located just minutes from Downtown, Midtown, Virginia Highlands, and Little 5 Points with great shopping and restaurants at nearby Edgewood Shopping District.
The homes will have a walk score of 72. Although it just misses my Walk Score Rebate by 3 points, it's still classified as "Very Walkable." Good news is that the development will be well within 1/2 mile of the Inman Park MARTA station, qualifying Buyers I represent for my Rail Estate Rebate.
You can currently reserve a home at pre-construction pricing. Hurry before prices increase in mid-February when the development is listed. The neighborhood is scheduled for completion in Summer 2008.
Post a Comment
PrintToilet Retrofit Rebate
Change a light bulb? That's so last year. The greenest conservationists in Georgia are changing their toilets -- and getting some green for their trouble.
Some metro Atlanta homeowners can get back as much as $100 from their local water authorities for replacing older water-wasting toilets with low-flow toilet fixtures. Details differ by municipality or county but the highest rebate of $100 usually applies to 1.28 gallon-per-flush water conserving toilets with a lower amount of $50 for 1.6 gallon-per-flush models.
In my town there is talk of tripling the water rates, so replacing 5 gallon-per-flush toilets in your home could also translate into monthly savings on water bills.
This, of course, in addition to being part of the solution to Georgia's water shortage. What's that worth?
Here's links to more info on current and upcoming programs:
Dekalb www.dekalbwatershed.com
Cobb
www.water.cobbcountyga.gov
Marietta
www.mariettaga.gov
City of Atlanta [program to be announced soon]
www.atlantawatershed.org
Clayton [available in February 2008]
www.ccwa1.com
As you can see, the current programs only apply to homes built before 1993. For those who don't qualify for the rebates: prayer still helps...
1 Reference
All the colors will bleed into one...
MLK Day got me thinking about Van Jones and Bono.
Stay with me.
Van Jones, a black civil rights activist, is becoming a leading spokesman for the green movement. Watch the video above and you'll understand why.
Bono sings "I believe in Kingdom Come, when all the colors will bleed into one, bleed into one."
Could that one color be green?
Now watch the video below of Bono at the NAACP Awards last year. Bono, who has been heavily influenced by the life of Martin Luther King, Jr., is given the Chairman's Award. Watch this white, "almost pink," Irishman channel the spirit of Dr. King in his acceptance speech.
A LEEDing Edge live/work ecohome for the Old Fourth Ward
546 Edgewood Avenue will soon be the location of an ecohome representing the leading edge in energy and environmental design for Atlanta. My client, Michael "Fletch" Fletcher, is just about ready to break ground on a single family home that will be certified LEED, Energy Star, and Earthcraft. So far, Fletch [a LEED Accredited Professional Architect his own bad self], is on track for LEED Platinum certification with this project, setting a new standard for green building in the Atlanta residential market. His design has received a HERS rating of 61, equaling a projected 39% energy savings over minimum energy code. The home will also reclaim the roof rainwater for building use, with a calculated 72% savings in water consumption.
There is much to discuss about this ecohome, which I will do in future posts. For now, here's a list of some of the planned features and attributes:
- Reuse of salvaged wood and marble
- Incorporated passive solar strategies
- PV solar-ready
- Very high efficiency plumbing fixtures [toilets, showers, and faucets]
- Improved hot water distribution system and pipe insulation
- 75% to 100% waste reduction sent to landfill during construction
- Meets Energy Star with Indoor Air Package (IAP) standards -- exceedingly high indoor air quality measures
- Radon mitigation system
- Very high efficiency windows and doors
- Immediate proximity to PATH bike lane
- Less than 1/2 mile to King Memorial MARTA Station
- Walk Score for the property is 83, defined as Very Walkable
- Within the proposed BeltLine Master Plan
- Approximately 1000' from proposed BeltLine trolley stop
From the last five bullet points my keen insight into the obvious reveals that the property will be location-efficient and the owner(s) could enjoy a reduced reliance on cars, saving on gasoline and auto operational costs.
In addition to all this, the home is zoned C2 commercial/residential. It's a mixed-use building perfect for a Buyer seeking a live/work solution in a prime location.
To top it all off, the home will have a rooftop veranda with downtown city skyline views!
The home is available as a pre-sale. MLS #3635696. Email me for details...
Burke Sisco
Professional color floorplan renderings are now available for your viewing pleasure, proving that all that money Fletch invested in his architecture degree was well spent.
You know what to do [click, click]:
Burke Sisco
Here's a picture taken from the third story of a building in the vicinity of LEEDing Edge. This is what the city skyline looks like from the direction of the Old Fourth Ward:
GreenSteel Homes could LEED the way in Atlanta
GreenSteel Homes has it's first prototype completed and installed in a Traditional Neighborhood Development [TND] in Tallahasse, Florida, home to GreenSteel's brand new manufacturing plant. The prototype cottage is certified LEED for Homes Gold [peep the floorplan here]. Their models, designed by architect Bruce Tolar, are evolutions of The Katrina Cottage, the little house that roared after the Hurricane. The home has a surprisingly open feel for just 1125 square feet of space and can be delivered with HVAC, electrical, plumbing and interior finishes in place for as low as $100 per square foot [excluding the foundation and site development costs]. The homes use steel studs, wall panels filled with ground mineral rock, cementitious-board exteriors, wood or laminate floors, Andersen windows and metal roofs. Most of the materials are recycled or recyclable, don't harbor mold or mildew and are nonflammable.
GreenSteel co-owner Bud Chiles has a goal to manufacture about 250 cottages in 2008. They could do more, but there's a high commitment to quality and environmentally sound construction.
Another goal is to see the creation of model villages of the GreenSteel homes built around the country. The inspiration for this initiative is Tolar and Company's Cottage Square in Ocean Springs, MS. I am working on a partnership with Chiles and Tolar to do just that in Atlanta, Georgia. Success would mean Atlanta's first certified LEED Gold home on the ground later this year -- and possibly within Atlanta's first community certified LEED for Neighborhood Development.
The answer is blowing in the wind...and winding through our bodies...
Turns out the most efficient design for a wind turbine copies the structure of DNA. Several companies are now offering rooftop-mounted double helix wind turbines to generate electricity for the home and small business. The videos tell the story:
Burke Sisco
Also turns out that whale fins teach us how to construct a more efficient traditional turbine blade. Toronto-based Whale Power Corp. has started mimicking whale fins in the manufacture of their bumpy-edged fan and turbine blades after US scientists discovered that tubercles -- the little bumps on humpback fins -- result in 32 percent less drag and an 8 percent rise in lift when compared to a smooth fin.
