November 7, 2007
Source: Chicago Mayor’s Office
The U.S. Green Building Council will launch its LEED-for-homes program, a nationally accepted benchmark for the design and construction of green buildings.
A two-year pilot program first launched in 2000, but the organization’s official debut will take place at the conference this weekend.
”At least 335 houses have earned LEED certification since the pilot program began in August 2005, and 8,000 more are in the pipeline,” said Emily Mitchell, the LEED-for-Homes assistant program manager, in an article on the Environment News Service Web site.
Chicago Mayor Richard Daley unveiled the Chicago Green Homes program and the Green Home Remodeling Series last month to kick off Green Building Month.
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November 8, 2007 at 12:56 am
Here’s some more news:
NEWS RELEASE
November 8, 2007
Contacts: John Wark (850) 321.6490
David Wamsley (850) 528.4410
FLORIDA HOMEBUILDER AMONG FIRST NATIONWIDE
TO BUILD ONLY LEED CERTIFIED HOMES
Tallahassee-based K2 Urbancorp, demonstrating LEED does not have to cost more,
joins USGBC in Chicago for unveiling of new “LEED for Homes” Program.
CHICAGO, IL — A leading advocate of new urbanism in north Florida and one of the state’s
most innovative development companies, K2 Urbancorp LLC, announced today that it will
henceforth only build homes that meet the tough new green building standards formally adopted
Thursday by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) and announced in Chicago.
K2 Urbancorp is currently in the second phase of creating a new traditional neighborhood
community named Evening Rose in Tallahassee — Florida’s capital city. The $80 million,
36-acre, in-fill development will feature 132 homes and a walkable town center with more than
120,000-square-feet of retail, restaurant, commercial, and live-work space. Construction on the
initial homes is complete and USGBC certification is anticipated this month on what will be
North Florida’s first LEED certified homes.
“We are incredibly proud to be at the forefront of what is becoming a national movement in
home building”, said K2 Urbancorp CEO David Wamsley, who was invited to attend the USGBC
announcement in Chicago.
“Building the highest quality homes and meeting the industry’s strictest standards for
sustainability, environmental construction and energy conservation — from the ground up — is
the future of homebuilding in America,” Wamsley said. “Further, we are demonstrating that this
can be accomplished without increasing the cost of a home to consumers.”
Steven Winter, of Steven Winter Associates and chairman of the U.S. Green Building Council
from 1999 to 2003, congratulated K2 Urbancorp on its comprehensive commitment to the
USGBC LEED for Homes standards.
“It’s inspiring to see a builder truly be innovative, and to apply these rigorous national standards,
to every home they build going forward,” Winter added. “Just wait until the public gets a chance
to see what K2 Urbancorp is doing down there.”
The U.S. Green Building Council’s Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED)
Rating System is the nationally accepted benchmark for high performance green buildings. The
voluntary rating system sets the standard for design, construction, and operation of high
performance green buildings, giving building owners and operators the tools they need to have
an immediate and measurable impact on their building’s performance. LEED promotes a whole-
building approach to sustainability by recognizing performance in five key ares of human and
environmental health: sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials
selection, and indoor environmental quality.
http://www.K2urbancorp.com