Dan Paquette, director of development for DPS Sporting Club Development, talks about the company's latest offering – The Green Homes at The Greenbrier in White Sulphur Springs, W.V. – which, upon certification, will be a "green neighborhood."
Is this under construction or is it already built?
It has been planned, model homes have been designed, and sales are going on right now. Nothing has been built yet, but there are several sales pending right now.
Which organization certifies these homes?
We are using the National Association of Home Builders' green building guidelines, and we have studied both USGBC LEED and Energy Star, and have chosen the NAHB guidelines because we think they are the most appropriate for residential construction. I also happen to be what's called a certified green professional, which is a designation that has been given to people who have been trained in how to design and certify these homes.
How does this project 'go beyond a lot of the expectations of green,' like it says on your Web site?
I've been involved in energy efficient design and construction for the last 25 years, so this green revolution isn't new to us. We believe that the process is not just the scoring sequence with LEED or NAHB, that it's a consciousness approach to it as well. Therefore, we believe it's important to not just hang a rating on a building, but really try to create a well-planned house. We have to go beyond getting a score as a green building – it still has to be a marvelous piece of architecture, a great floor plan, and still has to be in a cost structure that our client is going to buy.
When it's finished, you're going to see a community where houses have been very carefully placed both for views as well as solar, as well as wind orientation. You're going to see 100+ acres of open space. You're going to see the use of natural materials, and native stone that was on-site, hiking trails throughout the neighborhood. You’re also going to see folks preserving the flora and fauna through education with our naturalist, as well as continuation of a recycling effort that was done with the construction of a house and the use of a house as well.
How much of this community is going to be powered by renewable energy?
We're going to focus on geothermal as the renewable resource. Given that we're in a mountain setting with a lot of mature trees that we do not want to compromise because of their CO2 absorptive qualities, we're in a setting where we can dig a few geothermal wells, and supply heating and cooling very efficiently that way. Solar really doesn't work in a tree/mountain setting, and wind is a little controversial because of the aesthetics. We’ve chosen an embedded resource, and we’re going to tap that resource, and run heating and cooling water source heat pumps off of it.
I think, like all of us who are focused on creating green architecture and building and development, one of the things that I think I've enjoyed the most is trying to source materials that are nearby. One of the advantages in this effort is that obviously you can use native rock or timber that's down the street, or a piece of soapstone that's within 500 miles. We’ve cut down on the transportation footprint on all of this.
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