What Does It Mean to Build a Green Development?

What does it mean to build a green development? It can mean different things in different settings.

The NAHB Site Design and Development chapter in the National Green Building Standard, the guideline for certification of green building projects, lays out the criteria for qualifying a development as green. It addresses a wide variety of possible aspects that a green development might embody. 

As with any green project, the most basic principle is value. No amount of green trimmings is going to sell property if it’s not a really attractive place to live at a decent price. There simply is not a clientele that is looking for a green lifestyle at the expense of comfort, accessibility, quality, and a sense of home. Bruce Frost, the green building educator from Central Michigan University is fond of saying that green building at its most basic level is simply building with integrity. So it is with development.

When I proposed the Cedar Valley Ridge development in 2002, I had no idea that it would become Michigan’s first NAHB green-certified development, or that it would become the first development in the United States to be certified at the Four Star level, the highest certification offered by NAHB. I wasn’t interested in building a green development. “Green” wasn’t part of the language of the marketplace at the time. I merely intended to build the type of development that my wife and I would want to live in. That meant, among other things, a place that would foster relationship with nature, that would provide easy access to ways to exercise and stay fit, and that would provide a strong sense of community.

There are many other attributes, though, that can contribute to making a development green. One of the primary characteristics for some certification agencies is density. Good use of land resources calls for reducing sprawl. The certification requirements under some green program demand a level of density that almost require a development be urban. As a matter of fact, I doubt that Cedar Valley Ridge would even qualify as a green development under some of the other standards. However, I believe there is a place for rural green development. More about this later.

In general, green development under the NAHB Standard means:

·         Selecting an appropriate site. Preference is given to infill or greyfield/brownfield sites.

·         Assembling a team with a mission statement and goals, and providing education and guidelines to all members of the development team, including subcontractors.

·         Designing the site to protect the environment and enhance the natural features and resources of the site.

·         Providing building sites that will facilitate implementation of green features in the structure.

·         Planning the landscaping to build on the local ecology instead of replacing it, and to keep the use of energy, water, fertilizers, and herbicides/pesticides to a minimum.

·         Protect existing wildlife and plant life.

·         Use natural materials and re-use existing materials on the site.

·         Provide as many dwellings per acre as possible and/or cluster the building sites.

·         Minimize damage to the environment during construction.

·         Implement innovative practices to bring new ideas in design, construction, materials use, zoning, etc. to the marketplace.

That list is good as far as it goes. Clearly, based on the objectives for Cedar Valley Ridge, I would add to that list the building of community among the owners after the lots are bought. For a development to fulfill the intent of building green, it has to be more than just a green facility. The purpose of building a green development or a green home is ultimately to protect the planet – to save energy and to prevent destruction of the environment. If we build buildings or developments that are designed to do those things, but don’t educate the buyers or convey that vision to them, the building or development will not fulfill its intent. I can live in an energy efficient house, but if I leave the doors and windows open in Winter, it’s still going to waste energy. If a community doesn’t buy into the concepts behind a green neighborhood, it’s not going to be a green neighborhood for long.

Part of the education – the vision-sharing process – can be built into the restrictions in the master deed. The most essential part of the process, though, is the developer’s responsibility to follow through with educating buyers and fostering a sense of green community after the sale. It isn’t typically considered normal for a developer to be involved in a community after the sale, but I think it’s essential for the health of a green neighborhood. It’s also good business. Providing a clear and accomplishable vision of maintaining a neighborhood that fosters relationship with nature and with green living concepts is a great way to help build community spirit, and a strong and cohesive community is one of the primary qualities that attracts potential buyers.

Marketing a green development is no different than marketing any development. While a green label may bring in some free media exposure – which can represent some of the best advertising you can get – the green label in itself is unlikely to bring potential buyers to a project. “Green” generally appears to be way down the list on most buyers’ list of priorities. What is high on the list of priorities is what green represents in a project: access to nature – especially here in northern Michigan, a strong feeling of neighborhood, and the quality of lifestyle that a green project can provide. Those are strong selling points, and they are an essential part of what green development represents. As I’ve made presentations around the US on green development, it’s clear that this is a direction that is going to be a strong part of the development market in the coming years. Developers are beginning to see the potential in this market, and prospective buyers are asking for these characteristics. Incidentally, market surveys have shown that the most attractive selling point in a green development is the existence in the project of a system of nature trails.

The Cedar Valley Ridge project consists of thirty-five lots clustered on one hundred seventy acres. As I mentioned earlier, in some green certification protocols, this development wouldn’t even qualify for consideration because of the low density. We have a unique situation here in northern Michigan. We have an excellent and active land conservancy community that has preserved thousands of acres. We live in an area that will experience dramatic growth in the coming decades. We could end up with pockets of natural area surrounded by subdivisions. Doesn’t it make more sense to develop in a way that preserves land and at the same time allows people to live there? Cedar Valley Ridge represents this kind of transition between conservation land and urban living. The thirty-five lots are clustered on forty-five acres, leaving the remaining approximately seventy-five percent of the land in a permanently protected, private nature preserve that can never be developed. This protects some beautiful, environmentally sensitive land and allows an opportunity for people to live close to nature. It also can also help maintain wildlife corridors.

There are now many green developments around the country, representing a number of different approaches. The first NAHB green-certified development in the US is The Village at Burns Harbor, just across the border in Indiana. It’s an urban development that artfully brings together a sense of neighborhood and nature. Many other subdivisions exhibiting a wide range of interpretations of green development have been certified in the last four years. And no description of green development would be complete without looking at the work of Ross Chapin, whose book Pocket Neighborhoods was recently published by Taunton Press. Ross has worked for decades with Sarah Susanka, the author of the Not So Big House books. Pocket Neighborhoods are small developments, usually no more than a few acres, with an average of twelve to sixteen not-so-big houses, that are a remarkable expression of beauty, good use of resources, and vibrant community. You can learn more about Pocket Neighborhoods at http://www.pocket-neighborhoods.net/.

If you’re interested in learning more about green development, visit the NAHB website at http://www.nahb.org/page.aspx/category/sectionID=1801

Dan Paulson is the developer, with his wife Susan Sherman, of Cedar Valley Ridge, Michigan’s first NAHB-certified subdivision, and the first in the US to be certified at the Four Star level. Cedar Valley Ridge is eight miles west of Traverse City in Long Lake Township.