Grow Community solar program highlighted in Kitsap Business Journal

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Grow Community’s groundbreaking solar program got some great press this week in a Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal feature. Read it here.

The KPBJ gives a comprehensive look at the incentives that make Washington solar such a great deal, using Grow Community as a case study. The journal highlights Blue Frog’s Solar’s Simple Solar program, which makes it easier than ever to make the move to energy self-sufficiency. Blue Frog provides the advanced microinverter technology integral to each Grow Community home solar system.

As the Business Journal notes:

Blue Frog is collaborating on the largest residential solar project in Kitsap County — Bainbridge Island’s Grow Community, a project of real estate development and investment firm Asani. It’s an example of effectively designing and building homes to accommodate rooftop solar panels.
“We knew from the outset that our goal was to create a net-zero community using solar,” says Marja Preston, senior director of development at Asani and owner of a solar home at Grow. “So everything there was designed, including the apartments, so we could get enough solar panels on the roof to provide all the energy needed for the homeowner.”

Thanks to the Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal and editor Tim Kelly for the great coverage! Find out more about Simple Solar here.

 

 

One Planet Lunch for Construction Team

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Contractors in the Grow Community PHC Construction team were treated to a locally grown luncheon on the job site last week. All food for the noontime repast was grown on Bainbridge and North Kitsap farms. Local agriculture, sustainability and health are always on the menu at Grow!

How Does Our Garden Grow?

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Very nicely, thanks! And it’s only going to get better. The shared gardens at Grow Community promise a bounty for the table and a close-knit neighborhood to share its goodness.

Community gardens and “edible landscaping” — everything from blueberries to tree fruits, with tasty vegetables on the vine — are a key feature at Grow, and a big part of our “One Planet Living” ethos. We want to honor the land by fostering and enjoying its wholesome yield.

Now as we approach the first harvest season of our completed Village neighborhood, our gardens are really coming into their own. Residents in our new homeowners association (whose ranks include a few master gardeners, wouldn’t you know) have the happy task of divvying up the delicious fare. You gotta love it when a new sign goes up in your neighborhood, and it says, “Pick Me.”

We’re also talking to Friends of the Farms, the local non-profit that manages and promotes Bainbridge Island’s public agricultural land. We’re discussing how that group may be able to manage our orchards and gardens for an even greater yield, creating an urban farm that produces sustainable, locally grown food in volume and forges stronger community connections.

And this is just in the Village in Phase 1. With Grow Community’s next neighborhood, the Grove, which has just broken ground, and the Park neighborhood to follow, our green development will get even greener (if that’s possible). Sixty percent of the new neighborhoods will be devoted to open space including more bountiful trees and gardens.

We call our community “Grow” for a reason.

 

Grow Community earns Built Green Hammer award for PHC Construction

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We already knew Grow Community sets a new standard for sustainable construction. Earning a Green Hammer award just pounds that message home.

Our builder PHC Construction is being honored with a 2014 Built Green Hammer award by the Master Builders Association, a real mark of excellence among regional projects.

The Built Green program is designed to help buyers find quality, affordable homes that protect the health of their families and the Northwest environment. Built Green homes are designed to provide homeowners with comfortable, durable, environmentally friendly homes that are cost-effective to own and maintain.

Yep, that’s Grow!


“We’re very honored to receive this prestigious recognition,” says PHC’s Marty Sievertson. “Our goal has been to help make Grow Community the healthiest, most environmentally friendly project possible, and to show what’s possible in sustainable construction. This award is a great endorsement of how a sustainable project can be a success.” This company is one of many who are looking to make construction sustainable for the future. By using materials, such as steel, construction can be made into a much more sustainable industry. Nowadays, more and more building sites are looking into using steel for building projects as it is strong and long-lasting. This means that the material will last a long time, lowering the chances of the building materials ever needing replacing. When installing steel to a building, welders are normally called out to make sure the pieces of steel have been cut precisely with Hypertherm powermax models. This ensures that the steel will fit in place. Welders will then use high temperatures to join the materials together, ensuring that they last a long time. This is a more sustainable approach to construction.

Congratulations to PHC Construction for this fine honor!

 

Seattle Magazine highlights Grow Community

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Grow Community gets a great mention in Seattle Magazine this month!

Grow made the magazine’s Real Estate Essentials column for “Best Laid Plans,” celebrating the cream of local planned communities. “From revitalizing urban neighborhoods to fighting climate change to rekindling a lost spirit of small-town connection, these are precincts with a purpose,” the magazine writes.

What does Washington’s largest planned solar community look like from the air?

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Here’s a bird’s-eye view of Grow Community phase 1, the Village, and its remarkable concentration of energy-producing rooftops.

Grow Community homes are now producing 85-105 percent of their energy needs, eliminating residents’ power bills and earning financial credits through Washington’s strong solar incentives.

YES, THE ‘T’ IS SILENT

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The first neighborhood in Grow Community phase 2 is called the Grove, so it’s apropos that one of its signature buildings draws its name from the Northwest forest.

The Tsuga (pronounced SOO-guh) is named for a familiar group of conifers from the pine family — your friendly neighborhood western hemlock. These grand, fragrant giants are so central to our local environs, we even honor Tsuga heterophylla as our Washington state tree.

We had the quiet nobility of this splendid specimen in mind as we designed the Tsuga. Most residences in this bright and airy building offer single-level living with outdoor patios for gardening and entertaining, and 1,200 to nearly 1,600 square feet of comfortable, ultra-energy-efficient living space.

One remarkable unit offers a unique three-story layout, with a spacious outdoor deck on every level and a more-than-generous area for a home theater, workout room or den. So we might say, “tsee the Tsuga” — find colorful renditions and a really cool interactive display of available floor plans here

Grow Community solar – now a radio star!

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Grow Community’s solar program got the star treatment on KIRO-FM’s “Real Estate Today” over the weekend.

Grow project manager Greg Lotakis was among the panelists for “Simple Solar,” an hourlong discussion of Washington’s dramatic solar incentives and the ease of financing new solar systems for homeowners — and the tremendous benefits for solar adapters like Grow Community residents.

Real Estate Today’s popular host Tom Kelly interviewed Greg along with Tim Bailey, Blue Frog Solar founder and principal; Shannon Ellis-Brock, COO of Puget Sound Cooperative Credit Union; Reeves Clippard, founder and CEO of A&R Solar of Seattle. On-air callers had great questions for the in-studio team, our partners in the Grow solar program.

Almost 100% of homes in Grow phase 1, the Village, now have an operational solar system or are queued up to get one installed, giving Grow distinction as the largest planned solar community in Washington state. Solar will be a key feature of our next two phases, the Grove and the Park.

Homes in the Village are producing between 85 and 105 percent of their energy needs through their rooftop installations.

“Until you can see and feel and understand that it works, it feels like it’s a myth,” Greg told Real Estate Today listeners.
“It’s been pretty remarkable.”

Listen to a podcast of the program on the Real Estate Today website.

Big thanks to Tom Kelly for his interest in Grow Community and the Simple Solar program!

Breaking Ground, Then Making It Better Than Ever

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We’ll do our best to keep the dust down, and the noise. But bear with us for a few days, and we think you’ll like what comes next.

Site preparation work gets under way this week at our new Grove and Park neighborhoods, beginning with removal of the old military housing along John Adams Way.

We’ll be recycling as much of the material as we can, although lead paint unfortunately will prevent reuse of some debris. You’ll also see some tree harvesting around the five-acre site being performed by the good craftspeople of Bainbridge Island’s Coyote Wood Shop. These will be milled and repurposed as fine furniture. Maybe even to use in future homes in the Grove!

Next comes the good stuff. As part of site development, we’ll be planting more than 210 new trees.

These healthy new specimens will define and enhance the Grove’s signature green corridors, help neighborhood stormwater retention, and play a big role in carbon sequestration for future generations. In case you missed it, you can read all about Grow Community’s tree plan here.

We expect onsite tree salvage to go through the week, and demolition of old structures to run about a week after that. Watch this site for updates, and then look forward to watching the Grove neighborhood rise up in your midst.

Construction update: All’s super at Cooper

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As we begin home presales in Phase 2, we’re rounding out our first neighborhood, the Village, with the Cooper Apartments on the north end of the grounds.

Cooper West is now getting its interior finishes and fixtures. All windows and doors have been installed, and with siding more than 50 percent complete, the exterior look is really taking shape; watch for exterior painting in the next few weeks. The building should be completed and ready for move-in by mid-September.

Cooper East follows right behind, and should be ready for tenants on Oct. 1. Both buildings are fully leased.

Meanwhile, Phase 2: The Grove and the Park neighborhoods have now gone before the city’s Design Review Board, the Planning Commission and the Hearing Examiner, and we’ve earned positive recommendations at every step of the process. Next we submit plat drawings for the subdivision to the City Council for review and approval.

The permit for the site work and the Grove’s underground garage have been submitted and are under review. Once permits are released later this summer, demolition, grading and utility work will begin on the full five acres. Watch our Grow Community news page for further updates.