LEED Certification Approved In Cincinnati's Newest Townhome Development
Cincinnati, OH (PRWEB) January 22, 2015 -- Woodland Vistas, a community of 16 luxury lifestyle townhomes in Columbia Township, announced today that it has received official LEED Certification for the first completed home in the development. It is now recognized as one of the most sustainably designed and efficiently built new construction neighborhoods in the area after finalizing required upgrades and installations and formally applying to achieve this designation.
LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) was developed by the U.S. Green Building Council as a multi-tiered rating system that creates standards and recognizes the design, construction and maintenance of green buildings. Formal certification is achieved once the project is designed, built and then evaluated based on efficiency and sustainability criteria put in place by the USGBC. Application for approval is only considered on completed, individual homes or units.
More than just a title, receiving formal LEED Certification has a number of tangible benefits for a myriad of interested parties. Homes built using LEED best practices are not only more energy efficient and environmentally friendly, they offer lower ongoing energy costs and are often rewarded with tax abatements and other financial incentives by the municipalities and/or states in which they are located.
“A key objective with Woodland Vistas (http://www.woodlandvistas.com) is to create a neighborhood that is both respectful to the environment and provides a real value to the homebuyer as well as the Columbia Township community at large,” said Andy Howe, President of project developer, Cranewoods Development. “With the Township offering substantial incentives and my builder being such an expert at this type of construction, homebuyers here will experience one of the best deals in Cincinnati.”
To implement his vision, Howe tapped experienced luxury homebuilder, John Hueber Homes. Known for extremely high-quality, luxury projects, Hueber Homes is also Cincinnati’s leading LEED builder with more than 25 projects to their credit.
“We built the first 4 LEED certified homes in Cincinnati and Ohio while we were in the USGBC’s pilot LEED Homes program,” John Heuber said. “We’ve always built to extremely tight, high-quality, and energy efficient construction standards, so using LEED best practices on a project such as this is a very natural thing for us to do.”
Building to LEED best practices and ultimately achieving formal certification often provides the homebuyer a double benefit of lower ongoing energy costs as well as financial incentives from participating municipalities.
Columbia Township’s Community Reinvestment Area is one such program. It offers incentives in a number of different areas, but emphasizes LEED development. “Woodland Vistas is the first to utilize the LEED incentive here,” said C. Michael Lemon, Township Administrator. “We introduced it as a way to responsibly improve property values in the Township. Offering incentives to the homebuyer – that could add up to tens of thousands of dollars over the first decade of ownership - is a great way to do that and LEED practices ensure that improvements are done sustainably and with the environment in mind.”
Sanyog Rathod, LEED Certification Consultant and President of Sol Design + Consulting agrees. “Financial incentives like the ones Columbia Township offers to Woodland Vistas homebuyers, tend to be great drivers of value for not only the buyer but the community itself. Additionally, everyone benefits from new construction and renovation projects that feature highly rated energy efficiency, HVAC efficiency, improved air quality and sustainably-driven design. It is most definitely a win-win for all parties involved.”
About Cranewoods Development
Cranewoods Development delivers 30+ years of experienced construction management and real estate development to deliver value to homebuyers, owners, investors and communities. Their newest project – Woodland Vistas – is an enclave of 16 new construction luxury lifestyle townhomes located in Columbia Township at the intersection of Kenwood and Madiera. http://cranewoods.com
Ben Stallard, MOTOR Brand Marketing, http://motorbrand.net, +1 (859) 512-7537, [email protected]
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