Happy ThanksGrowing!

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What a wonderful year 2017 has been for Grow Community! As we enter the season of reflection, we pause to celebrate our many successes and the friends who made it all possible.

From the very start, we set out to make Grow a showcase for eco-positive construction, with energy-saving features throughout every home. And it’s earning notice. Early in the year, Puget Sound Energy feted our energy efficiency program for multifamily buildings with a visit and presentation.

When the Urban Land Institute held its annual conference in Seattle this past spring, Grow Community was on the tour stops. We were pleased to welcome leaders in spheres ranging from development to investment, planning and design, as they came to Bainbridge Island for site visits. What a great privilege to host these national leaders in sustainable planning!

Even as the new Community Center in the Park neighborhood took shape, we couldn’t wait to share it. So we invited folks with longtime ties to the neighborhood – including Jerry Grow, a descendent of our namesake pioneer family – for a Sharing Our History gathering and reception.

Along the way we earned Built Green’s prestigious Project of the Year Award, as selected by our peers around the Northwest construction community. What an honor!

And Grow’s position as Washington’s largest planned solar community continued to bloom, as the Community Center got its own row of solar panels on the bike shelter behind the building. It’s all part of our ongoing commitment toward sustainability and energy self-sufficiency.

The Grow Community team thanks our residents, construction and sales teams, and our many supporters for their enthusiasm and hard work this past year.

With just a few more buildings to go, we’re into the Homestretch – but in this season, we celebrate simply Home: Grow Community.

We’re leading the nation in Green Power

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The US Environmental Protection Agency recently honored the City of Bainbridge Island with its Green Power of the Year Award – and Grow Community helped earn the honor.

In his report to the community, City Manager Doug Schulze cited Grow Community’s leadership.

“Adjacent to one of Bainbridge’s three neighborhood centers is Grow Community, one of the first North American communities built on the One Planet principles,” Schulze writes. “These all-electric homes have the option of installing enough PV to meet almost all of their homes’ energy demands. The homes, available for sale or rent, are populated as quickly as they are built.”

Kudos to Bainbridge Island for this great national award! Read the City Manager’s report on our national leadership in Green Power below.

How far we have grown.

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With just three buildings to go, and construction paused for the winter, let’s pause ourselves to appreciate how far Grow Community has come.

This photo puts it all in perspective – three distinctive neighborhoods, tasteful, energy-efficient homes clustered around shared green spaces, a new community center, and row upon row (upon row!) of solar panels, soaking up the sun to help power Washington’s largest planned solar community.

What a great community to be a part of! And what a great vantage to take it all in.

Photo courtesy of Kelvin Hughes