Craftsmen Developers Notches Green Land Certification
The waterfront townhome community on the banks of the Indian River in Millsboro, DE, is the first on the East Coast and only the fourth nationwide to earn a 4-star land development certification under the new National Green Building Standard, according to W. Dennis Gilligan, president Glen Burnie, MD-based Craftsmen Developers.
The site known as "Wharton's Bluff Parcel B" will complete the waterfront community that will have a total of 130 homes when finished, featuring walking trails, playground, a community swimming pool and pool house, a gazebo and direct access to the water from a crabbing and fishing pier and a nature preserve located at the tip of a peninsula. Phase 1 of Wharton's Bluff is fully developed with the majority of the 84 homes and townhomes now occupied, while the 49 waterfront townhomes in Phase 2, or "Parcel B," which received the 4-star land development certification, are currently under construction with a grand opening of a model planned for the July 4th 2010 weekend.
Developed by the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB) Research Center and the International Code Council, the National Green Building Standard is the first system to be approved by the American National Standards Institute and is recognized for its stringent benchmarks in lot and site design, as well as energy, water and resource efficiency and indoor environmental quality. The certification covers single-family homes, apartments and condos, residential land development and home remodeling projects and is administered by the NAHB Research Center, which also accredits local verifiers around the country.
In planning Wharton's Bluff, the project team from Craftsmen Developers protected environmentally sensitive areas throughout the site, including a buffer zone around the habitat once occupied by a bald eagle, preservation of existing trees and vegetation, creation of a 60-foot tree buffer and three-acre conservation area, avoidance of steep slopes to minimize erosion and the impact on the river, and creation of bioswales and a trench infiltration system to capture and channel rainwater. The Craftsmen Developers application was 13 points beyond the 175 points required for 4-star certification.
"Achieving the 4-star certification is an important industry recognition of our core values and mission to be an environmentally sensitive green land developer," said W. Dennis Gilligan, president of Craftsmen Developers, based in Glen Burnie, Md. "It's an honor that the way we do business has been documented and verified by a program with such high standards."
Subdivisions and developments can be rated from one to four stars, depending on the environmental challenges of the site. The first single-family home - in Tucson, Ariz. - was certified under the standard in January 2009, while the first 4-star certified development - in Burns Harbor, Ind. - was certified in March 2009. The two other 4-star certified residential developments in the country are located in Arkansas and Michigan.