In honor of Earth Day, the Savannah Chapter of the USGBC hosted their monthly meeting Tuesday evening, April 22 at the HGTV Green Home at Tradition, South Carolina. The event was catered by Bluffton’s Urban Bistro, and guests traveled from as far away as Swainsboro to take part in the evening. Vessela Valtcheva, the chair of the Savannah Chapter of the USGBC, introduced the program. Speakers included David Page of Core Communities, Neil Dawson + Pearce Scott of Dawson Wissmach Architects, and Martin Sauls of Tradition.
David Page spoke about Core's commitment to creating sustainable communities and the different components that help make this commitment a reality. He gave the example of Core's all-inclusive approach to building neighborhoods which include various types of housing, schools, businesses, and wellness/fitness facilities, as well as a network of paths that connect them. He mentioned that every home in Tradition comes with a golf cart so that residents can ride to the grocery store or the tennis center without having to expend fuel and emissions. Additionally, David mentioned Core’s initiatives in getting through legislation in order to be able to implement a community-wide reuse irrigation system, which uses treated blackwater from the community for irrigation, rather than wasting potable water.
Pearce Scott, in the absence of Eric Walsnovich (the landscape architect for the project), talked about the green aspects of the site planning and landscape design. Some of these features include the orientation of the home on the site, the selection of indigenous, drought-tolerant plants, as well as the specification of plants that bring additional shade to the south face. Pearce also discussed the gutter system and the rain collection cistern which will provide water to the herb + vegetable garden.
Neil Dawson discussed the LEED Score card and the different components which enabled the home to earn Gold certification. In addition, the home earned a Hers rating of 50 which means that it uses 50% less energy than a comparable home built to code requirements. He mentioned that the measures taken were not ‘rocket science’ and that it primarily boiled down to choices of products and systems that are readily available to the public.
Guests then donned the blue booties and leisurely toured the Green Home.
For more information on the local USGBC Chapter, please visit www.coastalgreen.org