Cottage Home #1 is award finalist!

Number one in so many ways already.
Pringle Creek Community’s first home, Cottage Home #1, is the first LEED-Platinum home in the Northwest and the highest point-getter in the highest LEED category (see here). Now it has a chance to win a gold award at the 2008 Energy Value Housing Awards.

The awards program, in its 13th year, is put on by the National Association of Home Builders. The program “was created to help educate the home building industry and the public about successful approaches to energy-efficient construction that can be implemented by mainstream builders.”

The 2008 winners will be announced at the EVHA banquet during the 2008 International Builders’ Show in Orlando, Florida. Cottage Home #1 is a finalist in the “Production” category for the “Moderate” climate region. It is also in the running for the Builder of the Year award and the People's Choice award (you might get a chance to vote on the latter--if so, we will certainly let you know).

You may be thinking, “What is so special about this house that makes it a gold award contender?” If you want to read about the great features and benefits of this state-of-the-art home, click here.

Tokyo International University visits Pringle Creek

Last week, a group of students from Tokyo International University (which has a satellite campus at Willamette U) came by to learn about Pringle Creek. They had a great time touring around and were very engaged. The streets in particular amazed them; they videotaped a bucket of water being poured onto the street and vanishing into the porous asphalt (they all cheered and clapped loudly). They also were amazed by the massive wood beams we have in storage. These beams were milled onsite from winter blow-downs and hazard trees that will have a second life in new construction (instead of firewood). A cultural difference: Before the students went into the Cottage Home to look around, everyone removed their shoes and lined them up perfectly together, neatly. Typically students need to be asked to remove their shoes, which they then toss willy nilly on the porch.

These students have spent the last year living and studying in Oregon and are on their way back to Japan in December. They said what they loved most about Oregon was “all the beautiful nature.”

--santiago

First custom house

A couple weeks ago the permit was pulled on the home of Alan and Sue Wilson [introduced back in May, here]. Soon after that, the footing was poured. It was a beautiful fall day at Pringle Creek--the sunset maples in full glory.

The Wilson's home is the first custom house coming out of the ground. Phil Klaus of Spectra Construction is the builder. It will be a “tall house,” a wonderful, unique three-story design. The garage is tucked underneath, on the ground level, along with a bonus space that can be office, studio, guestroom, whatever. The second floor includes an open floor plan with living room, kitchen and dining room. Upstairs are the master bedroom suite and two additional bedrooms.

The Wilson’s house is slated for LEED gold. We're really going to enjoy watching this new housing style go up. Welcome to the neighborhood Alan and Sue!

Don Myers

Green tips

Pringle Creek Community is a pretty big project and features numerous cutting-edge sustainability features. It also incorporates New Urbanist planning ideas to foster community. We believe these are part of path to a better future. We applaud other developments doing similar things. We hope there will be many who follow our direction. In other words, we hope what we’re doing is part of something bigger.

In the same way, we all have to hope that when we make personal consumption changes--like installing an efficient showerhead--it leads to a greater movement by others who try to make a better future by making many little lifestyle changes.

Here is a website, The Daily Green, that we like. We have added to our list of websites on this page. This web publication regularly offers up new tips on greener living. You can sign up to get an email sent regularly.

Here’s my tip: Why not pack up your roller blades and ride your bike out to Pringle Creek for an hour of fun and fitness on our pervious streets, sidewalks and trails. It's just good to get outside and enjoy the fall colors.

Green + Solar Tour a Great Success

With over 350 participants and broad community support, the first-ever Salem Green + Solar Home Tour was a great success! Participants particularly enjoyed talking with homeowners at each of the 11 sites about the designs and products they’ve installed in their homes, from solar hot water systems to bamboo flooring. There were different types of homes represented on the tour, from single family to mixed-use condo, new construction to a 100-year-old remodel, a 3,000 sqft house to a 400 sqft house. The reception afterwards, at Pringle Creek, had over 150 people and was a lot of fun. I think the participants appreciated Pringle Creek’s involvement as host of the reception, and that we are an active supporter of the larger Salem community.

There was tremendous positive feedback and we will definitely be doing this event again next year. Thanks to the homeowners who opened their doors to the public and facilitated this valuable exchange of ideas. Also a special thanks to our community sponsors--your generous support made it happen.

--santiago

Reasons for calling it "smart growth"

Most commuters want to drive less. Many homebuyers want to live in walkable neighborhoods. This Natural Resources Defense Council article is a two-page primer on smart growth. It describes the benefits of mixed-use and location-efficient communities.

Residents of communities designed using smart growth strategies drive as little as one-fifth as much as their counterparts in conventional sprawl developments. This reduced dependence on automobiles means less money spent on gas, increased outdoor activity like walking and cycling, improved rates of public transit ridership, and less global warming pollution released into the air. In fact, if all new communities were designed using smart growth strategies we could slash emissions by about 595 million metric tons after 10 years, or 10 percent of total U.S. emissions of global warming pollution.

This Smart Growth America article has research findings along the same lines, that building compact, walkable neighborhoods would prevent a lot of greenhouse gas emissions.

Implementing the policies recommended in the report would reverse a decades-long trend. Since 1980, the number of miles Americans drive has grown three times faster than population, and almost twice as fast as vehicle registrations. Spread-out development is the key factor in that rate of growth, the research team found.

The findings show that people who move into compact, “green neighborhoods” are making as big a contribution to fighting global warming as those who buy the most efficient hybrid vehicles, but remain in car-dependent areas.

Straub events

Pringle Creek Community supports the Straub Environmental Learning Center. They have a couple events coming up you might want to consider attending.

On Thursday, October 25, Dr. Dawn Wright will lecture on “Exploring the Deep: Cracks, Creatures, and Creative Maps of the Ocean Floor.” It’s at Salem Public Library's Loucks Auditorium, from 7:00 p.m. to 8:30 p.m.

On Thursday November 1, Josh Travers, from Oregon Department of Forestry, will teach an introductory class on use of compasses and topographic maps.
That is also at from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m., but it’s at Friends of Straub Environmental Learning Center, 1320 A Street NE, Salem. The lecture is followed by a field trip on Saturday November 3, from 10 a.m. to 12 p.m., at Minto-Brown Park (a scavenger hunt in the park to reinforce skills learned in class). The cost is $5, registration is required, call 503-391-4145 or email fselc@fselc.org.

Big small article on the cottage

We have this link up on the Pringle Creek home page also: it’s a large pdf file of an annual publication, Green + Solar Building Oregon (subtitled “A Comprehensive Guide to Green and Solar Building”).

The pdf has two articles in it.
The first is about the history of the Green and Solar tours, one of which starts at Pringle Creek on Oct. 6 at 11 a.m. (and ends with a reception back at Pringle Creek). The other article is “Pringle Creek Cottage: A Very Big Small House.” It’s written by Christopher Dymond of the Oregon Dept. of Energy. Mr. Dymond takes a close look at the systems, the specifications, the statistics. It's technical in places, but in a good way. Here are a couple of the less-technical paragraphs:

Designed by Opsis Architecture and built by Bilyeu Homes, the Pringle Creek Cottage is on of few houses to date that is built efficient enough to qualify the builder for a $2,000 federal tax credit for energy-efficient new homes. In addition, the home will be the first to qualify the builder for a $3,000 state of Oregon Business Energy Tax Credit for efficiency and up to $9,000 for the renewable energy features.

. . .

Imagine living in a home like this with an energy footprint 35 percent that of a typical, comparably-sized home. Energy costs would have to more than triple before you would pay as much as someone living in an average two bedroom new home. It is worth remembering that when we measure the environmental impact of a home, the single largest impact over the life of the home is its energy use.

SEDCOR's Enterprise Magazine

What used to be the Salem Economic Development Corporation is now the Strategic Economic Development Corporation, or SEDCOR. This creative organization provides a wonderful bi-monthly magazine, Enterprise, which documents what is happening in the mid-Willamette Valley business world. The current issue is dedicated to covering the move of local business and industry to sustainable practices. Click here to see page 16, on Pringle Creek--written by our masterplan coordinator, Tony Nielsen. Below are a couple paragraphs that name some of the other businesses involved.

Pringle Creek Community, and the other local businesses that are working on the project, are connecting Salem to Oregon’s green reputation. North Santiam Paving Company is using biodiesel and porous asphalt and concrete. DeSantis Landscapes is using all-organic methods on the property. O’Neil Pine Company and Withers Lumber Company are providing the sustainably harvested lumber (FSC-certified)—only FSC lumber will be used at the development. Prudential Real Estate has a core sales team that are among Oregon’s first certified Eco-brokers.

Other local businesses and individuals involved with the project include Kris Gorsuch of Saalfeld Griggs, Rick Yurk of BAM Agency, Scott Erickson of Evolution Paving Resources, Elaine Gesik of 1st Premier Properties, and Ron Summers of Summer Solar Systems. Four mid-valley builders--Bilyeu Homes, Spectra Construction, The Glen Rea Company, and Shipman Quality Construction--are building seven different housing types that will help attract new buyers and businesses to Salem.

You can see the entire issue of the magazine. It’s 48 pages, so it’s a large pdf file. Page 27 has a small item about a SEDCOR visit to Pringle Creek and includes a photo of Don Myers presenting information about the project to the gathering.

Green Building 101

This is connected to the Green + Solar Tour of Homes written up below. In fact, if you attend this lecture, at a cost of $5, you can get $5 off the price of the Green + Solar Home Tour. Here are the details:

GREEN BUILDING CLASS OFFERED OCTOBER 2

Salem, Ore.---Green Building expert Andrew Shepard will provide an introduction to environmentally benign and energy-efficient building design on October 2 from 7 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. at the Straub Environmental Center, 1320 A Street NE, next to Olinger Pool, near North Salem High School.

Shepard, a consultant with the Earth Advantage program, will talk about the economic and health benefits of green building, the costs of green building, and the future of green building.

The program is part of the Amateur Naturalist Series. The class costs $5 and is open to the public. The program and series is sponsored by the Friends of Straub Environmental Learning Center.

Registration is required. To register, call 503-391-4145.

The Friends of the Straub Environmental Learning Center is a Salem-based, non-profit organization dedicated to environmental education.

CONTACT INFORMATION: John Savage, 503-399-8615