Green Means

Sustainable Community Development

By Shannon Scott

            Demand for sustainable homes and communities have a select few smart developers, planners, and contractors building healthier, greener, and more cost efficient neighborhoods. 

            These highly desirable community developments preserve open space, conserve energy, and sometimes are cooperative and collaborative in structure.    Currently, most of the few green developments are part of larger urban areas,  but some are being built in slightly more rural or suburban landscapes. 

            Sustainable neighborhood communities have or include:      

·       Green zones for walking, cycling, mountain biking, children’s play areas, outdoor sports, and communing with nature.  Green zones maintain healthy water, air, and land ecosystems sustainably for continued community enjoyment. 

·       Have good proximity to existing developments and infrastructures, and services.

·       Preserving sensitive lands

·       Public transportation access to jobs and services within the larger community

·       Common civic structures that offer larger scale indoor gathering places for special events and activities – may include movie screening room that residents can reserve.  A good neighborhood civic building includes a modest commercial style kitchen for catered events, outdoor grill/bbq, and library technology setting where residents may set up a book exchange or connect to the internet to study quietly in an environment outside their home

·       Outdoor gathering spaces for larger outdoor events – community picnics or holiday events.

·       Streets wide enough to be comfortable, but not excessive so that heat island affects are minimized, and designed for ease of navigation and connections

·       Meandering pathways throughout the community to encourage walking and gathering

·       Outdoor swimming pool, solar heated, and maintained by volunteers within the community. 

·       Large indoor gym and workout facilities with yoga area, spin cycles, cardio and weight equipment.  Gyms may include saunas and steam rooms men and women separately, lockers, and shower facilities.  Volunteers from the community help maintain the gym on a rotating basis.

·       Community vegetable gardens scattered amongst units, enable residents to grow food, and share bounties even if they were unable to physically maintain garden space.  Seasonal farmer’s markets in the neighborhood serve as a collective trading source for area’s community gardens.

·       Views from all residences

·       Sustainable, low maintenance, xeriscape landscaping

·       Relatively modest housing in a variety of types, condos, homes, and townhouses in various price ranges

·       All residences and buildings are net zero or close to net zero energy users and carbon producers.  They would garner benefits of passive solar design, hydronic solar applications, and preferable use clean or renewable energy sources.  

·       Residences have water saving fixtures, energy-wise appliances, tile or concrete or other thermal mass floors, and two different views from every room.  Wall and other finishes would be breathable and zero-VOC.  All buildings are designed and built following LEED, local green building codes, or similar sustainable guidelines.

·       Communal carports support clean fuel vehicle needs and provide cover for other vehicles. 

·       Cooperative, collaborative neighborhoods provide opportunities for everyone who owns a residence to have a role in maintaining or supporting the community.  This keeps home owners’ association fees to a minimum even.  Duties could be assigned on a volunteer basis annually or biannually, determined by volunteers and community vote.  Duties may range from gym maintenance to simply taking notes to monitor garden work or building upkeep.

            A community development similar to what I have described above, in that it allows for community gathering, energy efficiency, and green space has sprung up in Hailey, Idaho.  Sweetwater, referred to as a modern mountain community, is compact, energy efficient and offers positive, more environmentally conscious living choices, than typical, tracts, or other recent residential developments.  The developers are edging in the right direction.  We can still do much better.

            Green building and developments are one area where quite a bit of greenwashing takes place.  Builders and developers might market or advertise residences for sale as green, energy-wise or other eye catching draw phrases.  They may also go further into explaining a few energy saving features.  A few is not enough.  Sustainable neighborhoods do more than offer well insulated homes with floor radiant heat, and nice windows.

            Good neighborhood communities make excellent use of land and of preserving it.  They account for human happiness and health of the entire neighborhood environment.  Homes will be energy efficient, VOC (volatile organic chemical) free, incorporate passive solar design, be made of sustainable materials that were responsibly sourced, and built by people who share common green philosophies and environmental ethics.  When shopping for a home, read, research, think or ask someone with green experience to help you. 

            Suppliers will meet public demand.  As green concepts features begin to change building codes for new buildings and developments across the country, more communities will meet our needs to make living better and more sustainable for all.