Trailside Development to Spotlight Energy Efficiency
Addison Homes, a custom home builder specializing in energy-efficient homes, has launched its first foray into the subdivision home market with a new 16-home development named Trailside.
The homes will be Greenville’s first community built according to the U.S. Department of Energy’s rigorous Challenge Home standards and the first in the entire country built to ActiveHouse standards.
“Zero Net Energy homes are designed to create as much energy as they use,” explains Addison Homes president Todd Usher, who builds all of his homes to Energy Star, EarthCraft House or DOE Challenge Home standards. “There have been so many intriguing advances in ZNE construction of late, moving it from theory into mainstream possibility. Zero Net Energy and Near-Zero Net Energy homes can now be affordable, cost-effective and, of course, attractive.”
A Zero Net Energy home begins with “ultra-efficiency” – via energy-savvy design, green construction techniques and high-performance products and systems – to reduce utility consumption, then adds an external energy source, typically solar, to produce sufficient electricity to meet or exceed the home’s minimal remaining energy needs.
“From the outside, a Zero Net Energy home looks just like any other,” Usher says, “but within that mainstream exterior is a means to forego excessive, and expensive, consumption. Zero Net Energy lets you avoid unnecessary utility costs – no more worries about sudden energy price spikes, no more guilt over carbon emissions – so you can focus more of your own energy on pursuing an active, healthy lifestyle.”
And while several home builders tout their homes as being Energy Star-efficient, Usher says they are usually referring to appliances, which are just one component. Addison Homes is Energy Star-certified and includes additional items such as thermal enclosures, water/moisture control, HVAC systems and lighting.
Homes will include hardwood floors, granite countertops, pocket offices and outdoor living spaces. Prices are expected to begin in the $250,000s, but Usher says the “total cost of home ownership is less” than other homes in this price range due to the energy efficiencies and durability of materials used. There’s also the intangible benefit such as an improvement in indoor air quality.
Trailside is located off Watkins Bridge Road along the Swamp Rabbit Trail, which is the community’s main amenity. Plans include a community garden, and a vacant lot also owned by Addison Homes could turn into a parking area for the trail or a “health stop” offering benches to rest or a cycling flat-tire repair station, the builder says.
The community is also located near Furman University so residents can take advantage of recreational, educational and cultural amenities the university has to offer and is only 5.5 miles from downtown Greenville.
Addison Homes will break ground on Trailside in mid-September and pre-sales are under way now. For more details, visit trailsidecommunity.com.
