When homeowners tour Morgan Park Place in Germantown, they'll notice a hip live-work-play neighborhood - not the 1.7 million gallons of water conserved each year by efficient washer/dryer combos in the 73 condo units.
Interested buyers who peek at plans for Terrazzo, billed as "exclusive metropolitan living" in The Gulch, will see terraces with city views and contemporary kitchens - not the 30 percent to 40 percent energy savings a "green" building yields.
Both developments are sustainable, green goddesses in the world of residential design, where eco-friendly sensibilities are as important as fancy upgrades. You can't see the savings on the surface.
But as more residents translate green to energy conservation and better air quality, sustainability looks quite attractive - and efficient.
"I love the design," admits David McDowell, 49, who will move from his West End residence to Terrazzo when his condominium is complete in 18 months. But it was the environmental factor that helped seal the deal for him. "We need to establish new standards for development in this market, and those need to be in line with contemporary thought," he says.
Select builders who are introducing eco-friendly building to the residential market say a show-and-tell approach will drive the green movement in Nashville.
If you build it and explain it, they will buy it.
"Showing people what it means to be green is the key to the movement," emphasizes Mike Leonard, an architect with Brentwood-based Thomas, Miller & Partners and vice chairman of the Nashville Green Building Council. "It's really a touch-and-feel thing."
Sustainable redevelopment
Greening Nashville's urban core seems a logical way to spread sustainability in the city, if you ask Bill Barkley, president of Crosland Nashville. "This is the future," he says, suggesting that The Gulch "is on its way to becoming one of the great neighborhood redevelopment stories in the country."
Construction on Crosland's Terrazzo began in June, and it will be Nashville's first Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design (LEED) Certified residential building. LEED is a relatively new concept in the residential sphere, but it has been a buzzword in the commercial building sector for some time. Earning U.S. Green Building Council certification is the equivalent of completing a doctorate in green; requirements start at materials sourcing and include construction practices, energy efficiency, air quality and water conservation.
"Living in the 21st century, these are issues we need to address, and it makes the environment nicer for homeowners," Barkley points out, noting that media attention on global warming and gas prices also fuels demand.
An aware population will seek ways to live more efficiently, he adds.
"This is a sophisticated product, and most of the people who move into an urban environment are aware and interested in the green building initiative," Barkley says.
In fact, Nashville is a ripe spot for such innovative thinking, he points out. "We have the music industry, the health-care industry, and a diverse population with many colleges and universities based here," Barkley says. "This is a highly educated, sophisticated city, and we are on par with other areas of the country that recognize a need for building higher-quality, environmentally conscious buildings."
Many early adopters will seek housing in progressive neighborhoods such as Morgan Park Place in Germantown, where units meet EarthCraft House standards for construction, materials and design, explains Fred Lawrence, director of sales and marketing for Lawrence Bros. LLC. Lawrence Bros. and Werthan Zeitlin are each developing half of the project.
EarthCraft House is a blueprint for eco-friendly, healthy homes that reduce utility bills. Lawrence describes the concept as "a holistic approach" to building, from reducing waste on the job site to conserving lumber to using renewable resources such as bamboo for floors.
As a pair, an urban setting paired with thoughtful design is an appealing bundle for those already seeking a different type of living environment.
"Most of our buyers say that's part of the reason they buy at Morgan Park Place," says Bill Lawrence, director of operations at Lawrence Brothers LLC. "(Sustainability) is starting to show up as a viable sales tool."
Buying into green
Call it conscientious house hunting.
As more sustainable residential projects crop up in Nashville, awareness of green building's economic and health benefits is sparking interest and phone calls to passionate advocates of the movement such as Gwen Griffith. Griffith is project director for Building Outside the Box (BOB), an EPA-funded project initiated by the Cumberland River Compact.
BOB will demonstrate in three residential communities how eco-friendly building pays off for builders, homeowners and communities. Its sites feature EarthCraft homes in three neighborhoods: urban Morgan Park Place; Highlands at Ladd Park in upscale Franklin; and Quiet Creek, an affordable site in Antioch.
"We wanted to demonstrate that sustainable practices can be done in a variety of different areas," Griffith says. She hopes the project's resulting economic analysis will illustrate the impact of green building to "bankers and bricklayers."
"We believe the savings will offset extra cost and make (green building) doable," Griffith adds. "And in those cases where the economics don't make it feasible, that is where we want to point out benefits to the community and city so they can offer incentives to make it feasible."
For now, many homebuyers don't realize the benefits of green until a builder explains the concept, Fred Lawrence says. "The builder has to make a commitment and be willing to sacrifice so they can compete in the marketplace until the public really has a full understanding of the benefits," he says.
EarthCraft homes can cost about 3 percent to 5 percent more than traditional brick-and-mortar. And depending on whether a builder shoots for satisfactory or above-and-beyond standards, construction costs can exceed what homebuyers may be willing to pay. Lawrence Brothers soaks up the difference on its projects, so the impetus to build green starts with "sensibilities" - a cause, Fred Lawrence explains. Still, lower operating costs and a clean conscience balance the equation in the long term, he adds.
"We have to take the time to educate people," Fred Lawrence says. "People don't know how their homes are built. They know what engine is under the hood of their cars, but a house is many times more expensive, and they have no idea about the HVAC system."
But Leonard notices that more homeowners are starting to ask these questions. That's why he launched a task force to address green building in the residential market several months ago when e-mails and phone calls signaled a demand for sustainable construction. He wanted to connect them with builders and suppliers who think green just like them.
"I've definitely seen a rise in interest," Leonard notes. "It may be that people have always been interested (in green building) and didn't know where to go, and because it is more mainstream on the commercial side, that is being publicized and stirring up interest."
Transplants from other metropolitan areas move into town with ideas of what green means for energy efficiency, and they're looking for homes that reflect this mission, Griffith adds.
And as corporations adopt eco-friendly policies, their employees become interested and want to apply the same concepts to their homes. "If a company is in tune with sustainability, it bleeds down to employees," Leonard says.
Finally, Fred Lawrence says there are empty nesters who, after fulfilling career goals and raising families, want to focus more on giving back. "They really seem to connect with this concept," he says. Equally interested are Gen-Xers and young couples who "are already thinking about ecology right out of the box."
For these people, inviting Mother Earth into the home has never been easier here. "People like the fact that they can contribute and it's already built into the home they are buying," Fred Lawrence says.
Building higher standards
The pace of green building is picking up speed in Nashville - green isn't en vogue, it's a way of business, Leonard says. As long as technology rolls out and builders look toward better quality and more efficient construction, sustainability is here to stay.
"We need to keep pushing research and development because there is so much out there we could do differently," Leonard notes.
He figures the push to build green in the residential sector will come from large developers who want a clean image: "Live in our suburb, our company cares about sustainable design."
Barkley says introducing LEED Residential Certification to Nashville and offering homeowners options such as Terrazzo is the key to growing urban development.
"As we build communities, we have to build sustainable communities," he says. "I think you'll see more developers doing it, and people will start demanding it because it's the right thing to do."
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