Chesterfield builders go green to make green

Steve Kopilchak with Royall Pump & Well drills a geothermal well at a home under construction in Hallsley. Lisa Billings/Chesterfield Observer The real estate market may be ailing across the country, but in Chesterfield County, green building is keeping the industry abuzz. More and more consumers are seeking out energy efficient homes due to financial and environmental concerns, and developers and home builders are rising to meet the demand.

“It’s not smart business not to be moving in this direction,” says Linda Bilger of Cedar Crest Builders, an independent dealership for Lindal Cedar Homes, which launched a nationwide green building initiative earlier this year. “The average consumer is a lot more aware and interested. What’s happening nationwide – and I think a lot of areas are moving faster than we are – is local governments and building codes are changing. It’s going to ultimately become the standard.”

Green homes vary widely in degree, but the ultimate goal for most consumers is energy efficiency. A number of different national organizations, including the U.S. Green Building Council, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and National Association of Home Builders (NAHB), have established certification programs to promote the design and construction of high-performance green homes.

“All of these programs are menu-driven,” explains Kevin McNulty, president of Midlothian-based LifeStyle Builders and Developers. “The builder and/or the client can choose from a variety of different means and methods in order to hit the minimum standard [for each one].”

Since January, LifeStyle Builders and Developers has been building each of its houses to a standard that would qualify for Energy Star certification, the green building standard set by the EPA. The company places an emphasis on creating airtight homes to prevent energy loss, as well as installing Energy Star-certified windows and appliances.

“We see the trend both locally and nationally that people are willing to spend their money on a home or any other product that will help them lower their energy usage,” says McNulty. “That’s what EnergyStar is focused on – lowering energy use and utility bills.”

As a NAHB-certified green professional builder, Cedar Crest does everything from positioning the house to take advantage of natural light to offering alternative solar and geothermal energy systems.

“We encourage people and educate them on what they can do, and it just really is up to the customer,” explains Bilger. “We’re finding a wide variety of responses. Some people have very negligible interest and then others want to do a living roof – it runs the whole gamut as far as people’s interest.”

For Casey Sowers, president of Roseland Custom Homes, building green homes is a natural complement to his larger role as developer of the new Roseland community, a “new urbanism” development located at the intersection of Route 288 and Woolridge Road.

“We’ve always touted our Roseland project as a market leader in green building – from the land plan all the way through the construction side,” says Sowers, who estimates that the company will build 30 homes in the Roseland community by year’s end. “We’ve been able to integrate the development goals with the end product, and it’s proven pretty successful.”

Roseland Custom Homes embraces an amalgamation of building techniques and technologies suggested by the various certification programs, prioritizing energy efficiency. More than 75 percent of its homes use geothermal energy systems, which, though expensive upfront, are 200 to 300 percent more efficient than traditional heat pumps.

“One thing about green is everybody wants it, but they don’t want to spend a lot for it,” says Sowers, who has pointed many of his customers to a significant federal tax credit for the geothermal energy system. “We believe that if you show people how much less it costs to operate their home, they’ll be willing to spend a bit more on their home.”

Bilger agrees. “People want to do the right thing, but of course you do have to invest a little bit more on the front end and wait for the payback,” she says. “Ultimately, you’ve got lower energy bills, lower water bills and lower long-term maintenance. All of those things benefit you financially.”