Sustainable, green developments:
What are progressive developers doing?
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Reshetar Custom Homes restored a barn on the site of Springtown Knoll, which now serves as the development’s sales office.
by Tess Wittler ennsylvanians are seeing new, unique types of developments pop up across the commonwealth. Sustainable developments are revitalizing cities, towns and neighborhoods, while green, environmentally conscious developments are transforming how suburbs are viewed. But how do these new developments measure up in Pennsylvania’s landscape? Sustainable developments take into consideration much more than the building (or home) itself. They take into account the surroundings of the development — the social, economical and environmental impact the development has on the community. All three are of equal importance. David Sheridan of Sustainable Community Development in Carlisle explains it best. “Sustainable development is much more than clustering homes and green space,” he said. “This concept takes into consideration the manner in which the development is linked-in to the greater community. Existing infrastructure, closeness of services and transportation all are considered in the design of a sustainable development.”
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Sustainable v. green — What are the differences? Sustainable development takes into account the surroundings of the development — the social, economic and environmental impact the development has on the community. All three are of equal importance. Green development takes into consideration the environmental impact on the community first and foremost, over social and economic impacts. A cluster development can be considered a green development yet still be five miles outside of town. On the other hand, a sustainable development is linked into a community, with existing infrastructure and resources. One of the challenges Sheridan sees to sustainable developments in central Pennsylvania is simply that it veers from conventional practices. “The biggest challenge is that developers need to be confident that this type of development will work, be profitable and be attractive to consumers,” he said. Sheridan is in the planning stages of his first sustainable development venture in Carlisle. The residential only project will consist of up to 20 homes, and each energy-efficient unit will be between 600 and 1,800 square feet.
This development is located on a little more than an acre in the heart of Carlisle and will allow residents to walk or bicycle to many community resources. As for the future of sustainable developments in Pennsylvania, Sheridan said, “It seems like everyone is waiting for someone else to try it. With the housing market down, now may be the perfect time to introduce sustainable developments back into our smaller towns.” Charnelle Hicks of CH Planning, an urban and regional planning firm in Philadelphia, stated, “We are seeing more urban infill development in the smaller towns in Chester and Delaware counties.” One such project included turning the old Phoenixville Ironworks site into a mixed-use development. She also assisted with a revitalization of a brownfield site in the city of Chester. From Hicks’ viewpoint, the future of sustainable development is eminent. “We are already seeing it,” she said. “There will always be a demand for living on larger lots in the rural areas, but that lifestyle isn’t for everyone. Today, people want to take advantage of the cultural amenities and services that living in a
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town can give them. They want to live in and be a part of a neighborhood.” Green developments differ from sustainable developments in that green developments prioritize environmental factors over economic and social factors. Green developments tend to be “cluster” developments, although not always, and the homes are built to green standards. Springtown Knoll, built by Reshetar Custom Homes and certified as Bucks County’s first green community, consists of 20 semi-custom homes on lots measuring more than one acre. When Shawn Reshetar, president of the company, purchased the development, he immediately recognized the value of turning it into a green community. “The road ran east-west which made it easy to position each home to southern exposure, which is one of the key elements of building green,” he said. Reshetar builds his homes to the Keystone Green Building Initiative Standards, adapted from NAHB’s standards. “According to the KGBI, each home must meet specific requirements, certifying that they are built using energy efficient techniques and utilities; thus, every home in Springtown Knoll will be dually certified by both Energy Star and the KGBI,” he said. But to make the community as a whole a green certified one took special consideration. “The community is situated in a scenic wooded area, and we took great care in preserving existing vegetation and trees,” Reshetar said. The stormwater basin included local vegetation and more than 390 natural plants. He used recycled slag material as the roadway base. Reshetar also made it a point to recycle what was already on site, including using excavated boulders in the homes’ landscape and even restoring a barn, now used as the development’s sales office. The barn and model home will be sold together. Restetar said many more green building products have become available in the last few years. “Building green is much more costeffective today than it was even just a few years ago,” he stated. “Green homes are attractive to consumers not only because of the energy they’ll save in their home, but also because a green home is a resalable home. Building green communities is the way of the future.” s
States adopt different green-building laws by Grant Gulibon egislation promoting the development of high-performance green buildings — by both the public and private sector — has either been adopted or is under consideration in virtually every state, as well as at the federal and local level. Several states provide tax credits for buildings meeting certain minimum greenbuilding criteria, while others have mandated that government-funded buildings be built to a given level of greenness. The following information provides a sample of green-building laws that have been approved to date across the United States.
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Green-built government buildings In December 2007, the federal High-Performance Green Buildings Act was signed by President George W. Bush as part of a broader energy package. The act creates an Office of High-Performance Green Buildings within the General Services Administration for the purpose of coordinating research on ways that government buildings can become greener, as well as to make current green-building information available to the public. At the state level, more than two years prior to the adoption of the federal law, the state of Washington enacted a high-performance green buildings bill that, according to Gov. Christine Gregoire, made Washington the first state to require that new public buildings meet green energy efficiency, water conservation and other standards. The law states that all major public agency buildings larger than 5,000 square feet, including state-funded school buildings, must meet the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards developed by the U.S. Green Building Council. More recently, New Jersey enacted legislation requiring new state buildings larger than 15,000 square feet to achieve at least two Green Globes (on the rating system developed by the Green Building Initiative) or an equivalent rating using another nationally recognized certification or rating system.
Tax incentives promote private green building For private-sector development of green buildings, tax credit programs have been a popular incentive offered in a number of states. In 2000, the state of New York approved legislation creating the Green Building Tax Credit Program, which uses standards very similar to the high-level LEED rating. The program contains six different credit components (for the whole building, base building, tenant space, fuel cells, photovoltaic modules, and green refrigerants), each with its own requirements, formula for calculating the amount of the credit and cap. Taxpayers may be allowed one or more of these components (within certain restrictions). Maryland and Oregon both enacted green-building tax credit programs in 2001. Oregon created a Business Energy Tax Credit, which is available to commercial buildings that attain a LEED Silver rating. The credit is based on the square footage of the building, and is intended to help offset the cost of applying for the LEED rating and the extra design and commissioning costs. Maryland passed the Income Tax Credit for Green Buildings, which established a tax credit for new buildings or substantial renovations that meet certain green-building standards. The credits are worth from 6 to 8 percent of the total allowable construction costs. At present, LEED is the only standard used for the purpose of the tax credit, but as new standards become available, they will be incorporated for use with the tax credit. Such new standards may be submitted to the Maryland Energy Administration for review. Finally, in 2005, Nevada approved legislation that provided for steep reductions in sales taxes on construction materials and as much as a 50 percent property tax abatement for new buildings that meet LEED standards. However, the fiscal projections for the program badly underestimated the effect of the incentives on the Nevada budget, as the state ended up foregoing much more tax revenue than anticipated. In response, modifications to the program were signed into law in June 2007, including a reduction in the sales tax incentive for future qualifying projects and changes to the property tax abatement that reduced its size and implemented a graduated scale that provided for greater tax relief as projects achieve higher levels of LEED certification. s See page 13 for information about green-building legislation now pending in Pennsylvania. March/April 2008 • Keystone Builder 11
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