Grow Community earns prestigious “Green Home of the Year” award

Grow Community has been honored with a coveted "Green Home of the Year Award” in the "Best Community Project" category for 2014 by Green Builder magazine.

In a feature headlined “Holistic Homes,” the magazine praises Grow for “connect[ing] health and happiness with sustainability” through every element of design and construction.

The magazine highlights Grow’s advanced framing techniques, weather-tight building envelopes, and locally sourced solar products among other distinguishing features. Grow is already the largest planned solar community in Washington state, with a solar component also planned for the next two phases, the Grove and the Park.

An expert panel of judges considered nearly 40 projects on criteria including overall sustainability, resilience, affordability, synergy with the environment and surrounding neighborhood, and depth of building science employed.

“Our winners combine the best of tradition and technology — homes of great beauty that are also resilient and flexible,” the editors write to introduce the awards.

Jonathan Davis, architect for Grow’s first phase, the Village, tells Green Builder that all the principles of One Planet Living on which the Village was designed supported the goals of health and happiness.

“When my kids go out the door, I know they’re safe,” says Davis, now a resident of the Village.

Read this great feature on the Green Building website page 22.

Grow Community has been honored with a coveted “Green Home of the Year Award” for 2014 by Green Builder magazine.
Grow is honored in the “Best Community Project” Category in the magazine’s year-end edition, on newsstands now.
In a feature headlined “Holistic Homes,” the magazine praises Grow for “connect[ing] health and happiness with sustainability” through every element of design and construction.

The magazine highlights Grow’s advanced framing techniques, weather-tight building envelopes, and locally sourced solar products among other distinguishing features. Grow is already the largest planned solar community in Washington state, with a solar component also planned for the next two phases, the Grove and the Park.
An expert panel of judges considered nearly 40 projects on criteria including overall sustainability, resilience, affordability, synergy with the environment and surrounding neighborhood, and depth of building science employed.
“Our winners combine the best of tradition and technology — homes of great beauty that are also resilient and flexible,” the editors write to introduce the awards.
Jonathan Davis, architect for Grow’s first phase, the Village, tells Green Builder that all the principles of One Planet Living on which the Village was designed supported the goals of health and happiness.
“When my kids go out the door, I know they’re safe,” says Davis, now a resident of the Village.
Read this great feature on the Green Building website page 22.
- See more at: http://blog.growbainbridge.com/#sthash.Y2WKE68T.dpuf

Grow Community has been honored with a coveted “Green Home of the Year Award” for 2014 by Green Builder magazine.
Grow is honored in the “Best Community Project” Category in the magazine’s year-end edition, on newsstands now.
In a feature headlined “Holistic Homes,” the magazine praises Grow for “connect[ing] health and happiness with sustainability” through every element of design and construction.

The magazine highlights Grow’s advanced framing techniques, weather-tight building envelopes, and locally sourced solar products among other distinguishing features. Grow is already the largest planned solar community in Washington state, with a solar component also planned for the next two phases, the Grove and the Park.
An expert panel of judges considered nearly 40 projects on criteria including overall sustainability, resilience, affordability, synergy with the environment and surrounding neighborhood, and depth of building science employed.
“Our winners combine the best of tradition and technology — homes of great beauty that are also resilient and flexible,” the editors write to introduce the awards.
Jonathan Davis, architect for Grow’s first phase, the Village, tells Green Builder that all the principles of One Planet Living on which the Village was designed supported the goals of health and happiness.
“When my kids go out the door, I know they’re safe,” says Davis, now a resident of the Village.
Read this great feature on the Green Building website page 22.
- See more at: http://blog.growbainbridge.com/#sthash.Y2WKE68T.dpuf

Completed Eagle Harbor Market Building - Bainbridge Island

Photography by David Cohen

As the saying goes: We all live downstream

That’s literally true for the rich sea life of Eagle Harbor and Puget Sound. Sediments and other runoff from land can have a harmful effect on their ecosystem, smothering fish eggs, increasing ocean acidity, or carrying heavier pollution (like plastics) into their — our —  precious waters.

So as we continue site work for Grow Community phase 2, we’re making sure we don’t send any pollutants off into the harbor.

We’ve commissioned “Rain for Rent,” an innovative, portable filtration system that captures and treats our runoff before it leaves the work site. The process looks like this:

First, water is channeled across the entire site and into a large sediment pond at the south end of the grounds. After heavy rains and once the water level reaches a certain point, our “pond" is pumped into the treatment system.

Then the blue "Rain for Rent" tanks run the site water through sand filters that remove sediment and pollutants, and balance pH levels to assure the water we finally discharge is cleaner than what landed on our site to begin with.

With Eagle Harbor less than a mile downstream from our several-acre worksite, we’re committed to giving it all the protection it deserves. After all, lives are at stake.

2014 Roof-Mount Project of the Year Runner-Up: Grow Community

Grow is a runner-up in Solar Builder magazine’s 2014 Project of the Year contest in the roof-mount systems category. We earn a nice feature in the glossy magazine’s new issue, and you can read the story online here or scroll down.

“We wanted to deliver a product that both was designed to be extremely energy efficient but also had the idea of solar in mind at the time of design,” project manager Greg Lotakis tells Solar Builder. “We started at the roof, asked how many panels we could get on it, designed the roof for that, [estimated] what we expected [to] produce, and then we used that energy budget and worked backwards into the house. What we are really striving to do: deliver a really healthy, energy-efficient home that has the ability to be net zero with solar.”

It worked! Grow is already the largest planned solar community in Washington, with more solar on the way in our next two neighborhoods, the Grove and the Park.

It’s also a great success for local manufacturing. Grow Community uses Made In Washington solar components including microinverters by Blue Frog/APS and solar modules by itek Energy.

Oh, by the way: The winning project is Solar For Seals, a rooftop system powering a Luguna Beach, CA, environmental center that rescues and rehabilitates injured marine mammals. We don’t mind finishing second to those guys!

Click here to read the article.

Grow Community solar program highlighted in Kitsap Business Journal

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.

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.
- See more at: http://blog.growbainbridge.com/grow-community-solar-program-highlighted-in-kitsap-business-journal/#sthash.PIAyE0Pa.dpuf

CNN lauds Bainbridge Island Museum of Art among nation’s best

The Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, developed by Asani, gets a shout-out from CNN this week, named one of America’s Best Small-Town Museums.

"BIMA's curators aren't concerned with any big-city competition,” the writer notes. "They've honed in with a laser-like focus on contemporary fine arts and crafts from a very small radius: the Kitsap and Olympic peninsulas and the Western Puget Sound region ... in a dazzling glass building that reflects the region's eco-friendly spirit.”

A small town like Bainbridge Island is the perfect spot for a good art museum, CNN says, as "coastal hamlets, mountaintop villages and desert whistle-stops have inspired American artists for generations."

Read the whole story at CNN.com

Grow Community earns Built Green Hammer award for PHC Construction

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 

August 22, 2014

SEATTLE - PHC Construction of Bainbridge Island has been honored as a 2014 Built Green Hammer award by the Master Builders Association.

The award recognizes Built Green members for outstanding projects from the previous year.

PHC Construction is being honored in the "Builder, Small Production" category for the Grow Community project in Winslow.

“We’re very honored to receive this prestigious recognition,” said Marty Sievertson, PHC Construction principal. “Our goal has been to make 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.”

The eight-acre Grow Community is the largest planned solar community in Washington state, with ultra-efficient, net-zero energy homes, neighborhood gardens and green spaces, healthy transportation options and other sustainable features. The community offers intentional, intergenerational living and a new "aging in place" focus on accessibility.

The project's first phase, the Village, is nearing completion, with groundbreaking this past week on its next two neighborhoods, the Grove and the Park.

Built Green is a program of the Master Builders Association in partnership with local counties.

The program is designed to help homebuyers find quality, affordable homes that offer opportunities to 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. 

The award will be presented at the 2014 Built Green Conference, Sept. 18 in Seattle.

Site preparation work gets under way this week at new Grow Community Grove and Park neighborhoods

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, but significant stands and individual trees will be retained for the new neighborhoods to come. Trees that are taken down will be salvaged by the good craftspeople of Bainbridge Island’s Coyote Wood Shop, to be milled and repurposed as fine furniture. Maybe for future homes in the Grove!
Next comes the good stuff. As part of site development, we’ll be planting more than 250 more trees tha n are lost. 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.
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 GROW.
- See more at: http://blog.growbainbridge.com/site-preparation-work-gets-under-way-this-week-at-our-new-grove-and-park-neighborhoods/#sthash.b60DdQ5G.dpuf

Site preparation work gets under way this week at the 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, Grow will 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.

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

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, but significant stands and individual trees will be retained for the new neighborhoods to come. Trees that are taken down will be salvaged by the good craftspeople of Bainbridge Island’s Coyote Wood Shop, to be milled and repurposed as fine furniture. Maybe for future homes in the Grove!
Next comes the good stuff. As part of site development, we’ll be planting more than 250 more trees tha n are lost. 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.
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 GROW.
- See more at: http://blog.growbainbridge.com/site-preparation-work-gets-under-way-this-week-at-our-new-grove-and-park-neighborhoods/#sthash.b60DdQ5G.dpuf

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, but significant stands and individual trees will be retained for the new neighborhoods to come. Trees that are taken down will be salvaged by the good craftspeople of Bainbridge Island’s Coyote Wood Shop, to be milled and repurposed as fine furniture. Maybe for future homes in the Grove!
Next comes the good stuff. As part of site development, we’ll be planting more than 250 more trees tha n are lost. 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.
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 GROW.
- See more at: http://blog.growbainbridge.com/site-preparation-work-gets-under-way-this-week-at-our-new-grove-and-park-neighborhoods/#sthash.b60DdQ5G.dpuf

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, but significant stands and individual trees will be retained for the new neighborhoods to come. Trees that are taken down will be salvaged by the good craftspeople of Bainbridge Island’s Coyote Wood Shop, to be milled and repurposed as fine furniture. Maybe for future homes in the Grove!
Next comes the good stuff. As part of site development, we’ll be planting more than 250 more trees tha n are lost. 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.
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 GROW.
- See more at: http://blog.growbainbridge.com/site-preparation-work-gets-under-way-this-week-at-our-new-grove-and-park-neighborhoods/#sthash.b60DdQ5G.dpuf

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, but significant stands and individual trees will be retained for the new neighborhoods to come. Trees that are taken down will be salvaged by the good craftspeople of Bainbridge Island’s Coyote Wood Shop, to be milled and repurposed as fine furniture. Maybe for future homes in the Grove!
Next comes the good stuff. As part of site development, we’ll be planting more than 250 more trees tha n are lost. 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.
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 GROW.
- See more at: http://blog.growbainbridge.com/site-preparation-work-gets-under-way-this-week-at-our-new-grove-and-park-neighborhoods/#sthash.b60DdQ5G.dpuf

Solar-powered Grow Community continues to blossom outside of Seattle

Green building guru Matt Hickman of the popular Mother Nature Network has a great writeup here about Grow Community phase 2, calling it “even more lovable” than phase 1!

 Mother Nature Network

Matt Hickman
Wed, Jul 09, 2014 at 02:36 PM

Bainbridge Island's fast-growing intentional community enters phase two with the unveiling of new intergenerational micro-neighborhoods where cars are out of sight, out of mind.

When I last checked in with Grow Community, an exceptionally sustainable residential development on Bainbridge Island, Wash., it consisted of nothing more than three net-zero energy model homes, a sales office, and a whole lot of well-deserved hype.

Now, nearly two years later, it's apparent that this beyond LEED-striving intentional community has gone through quite the growth spurt.

In the time since the first phase of Grow Community entered the sales process (and quickly sold out), the development’s maiden micro-neighborhood, the near-completed Village, has emerged as the largest solar-powered community in Washington State. And in addition to Grow Community and its developers, Asani Development, being the subject of a decent amount of local, national, and international press, one of the Village’s Jonathan Davis-designed panelized homes was featured prominently in Sherri Koones’ latest coffee table-ready modular building tome “Prefabulous World.” Fast Company went as far to deem the Village — and Grow Community, as a whole — as “arguably the most resilient – and healthiest” urban neighborhood in the entire United States.

While continuing to garner the accolades, Grow Community has announced plans to move ahead with phase two of the development, a phase that will see the creation of two new micro-neighborhoods, the Grove and the Park, along with a community center to join the Village.

Sales for homes at the Grove kicked off earlier this month with prices starting in the $400s.

What strikes me most about phase two of Grow Community is what a departure it is from phase one while managing to stay true to the development’s overall — and very much holistic —vision of creating a progressive yet totally laid-back eco-utopia driven by the rigorous framework established by One Planet Living’s Communities program.

Read the rest of the article here: http://www.mnn.com/your-home/remodeling-design/blogs/solar-powered-grow-community-continues-to-blossom-outside-of#ixzz370wjLaNj

Introducing the Grove & the Park

Urban living with nature at every doorstep.

Grow Community’s first neighborhood, the Village, set a new standard for comfortable, sustainable urban living with its cluster of beautifully designed, energy-efficient single-family homes. Now come the Grove and the Park, two new neighborhoods of high-quality, sustainable homes surrounding lush public greens and a shared community center. The garden spaces, healthy transportation options and low-carbon designs of the Village are here too — along with those solar-ready roofs -- this time in a thoughtful new mix of designs including townhomes and single-level homes. 

The Grove and the Park also promote intergenerational living. Sixty percent of the homes will be fully accessible, and the community center will invite year-round sharing among our current and future residents over many generations.  

Very soon we will begin pre-selling homes in the Grove and are opening a sales office at 180 Olympic Drive SE on Bainbridge Island - just a 2 minute walk from the ferry terminal. We invite you to come and learn about this beautiful new phase of Grow Community. 

We hope you'll join us for our Grand Opening weekend - July 12 & 13th, 12-5pm. 

 

Google Maps Generator by www.map-embed.com

Bainbridge's Gateway development ready to welcome people to Winslow - Kitsap Sun

By Tad Sooter
Posted April 20, 2014 at 5:19 p.m.

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — A familiar bakery and a new tavern are among the businesses setting up shop this spring on Bainbridge Island’s busiest street corner.

Contractors are putting finishing touches on the last building in the Island Gateway development at Winslow Way and Highway 305. Interior finish work, driveway paving, landscaping and signage are all that remain to complete the five-year project, said Andrew Lonseth of development firm Asani.

Photo by Meegan M. Reid, Kitsap Sun 

Andrew Lonseth talks about lights to illuminate the Eagle Harbor Market sign that is part of the Island Gateway development at Winslow Way and Highway 305.

Island Gateway already is home to the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, Kids Discovery Museum and tech firm Avalara. The final two-story building on Winslow Way is filling fast.

Bainbridge Bakers, a popular café in Winslow Green, will open a second location this week on the ground floor. The bakery will be joined in late June by the Ale House on Winslow, a planned craft beer taproom. Avalara expanded into the top floor of the building. A rooftop event deck will be available for rent.

Photo by Meegan M. Reid, Kitsap Sun

Andrew Lonseth exits the rooftop Thursday of the Island Gateway development on Bainbridge Island.

One street-front retail space in the building remains to be filled. Lonseth said he is in discussions with several potential tenants but nothing has been finalized.

“We’d like a tenant that brings interest and excitement,” Lonseth said. “It’s important to us that we have a destination community.”

Bainbridge Bakers owner Mike Loudon said he’d had his eye on the corner location since well before the Gateway project broke ground.

“It’s the realization of a pretty long dream,” Loudon said Friday.

The new Bainbridge Bakers has seating for 85. Like the original location, it serves coffee, baked goods and food. Beer and wine will be added to the mix later this year.

The café also can double as a venue for theatrical and musical performances. Loudon, an avid community theater booster, said seating can be rearranged to accommodate 150 guests.

“I’m so excited about having it filled with music and people and light,” he said. “It’s going to be something pretty special for the island.”

Bakery customers might well mosey next door after those evening performances. The neighboring Ale House on Winslow aims to fill a niche as a craft beer taproom and late-night hangout.

Photo by Meegan M. Reid, Kitsap Sun

Andrew Lonseth talks Thursday about the remaining construction to take place in the space that will house the Ale House on Winslow in the Island Gateway development on Bainbridge Island.

Travis Samson, one of four partners in the venture, said the Ale House will be outfitted with 16 taps and a wide variety of bottled beer and wine. They plan to stock a large number of local brews, alongside a sampling of domestic brands and a few imports.

“I’d like to make Bainbridge more of a destination for beer geeks,” Samson said. “Our overall goal is to have a beer there for everyone,”

Samson, 27, worked at Silver City Brewery before deciding to go into business with a group of college friends. They still have ambitions to start a microbrewery in Seattle, but Samson said the chance to create a tavern in the Island Gateway was too good to pass up.

Photo by Meegan M. Reid, Kitsap Sun

The Ale House on Winslow sign Thursday adorns one of the windows of the Island Gateway development at Winslow Way and Highway 305.

“It’s literally the first thing you’ll see coming off the ferry,” he said.

The Gateway project rapidly transformed the island’s main entry over the past five years, filling the 5-acre corner with a cluster of distinctly modern structures.

The final building in the development was constructed on the site of the Eagle Harbor Market, a small grocery opened by the Nakata family in the 1940s. The new Gateway building now bears the same name.

“It’s a little historical gesture,” Lonseth said.

Read the article here: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2014/apr/20/bainbridges-gateway-development-ready-to-welcome/#ixzz2zg20panI

Patriotism abounds at decommissioning ceremony for former military housing - Kitsap Sun

March 26th, 2014 
by Ethan Fowler

Tom Vargas said giving a proper closure to a subdivision that served as government housing was one of the best things about participating last Thursday in the decommissioning of a Bainbridge street formerly known as Government Way from 1957 to 2007.

Tom, and his wife Karen, lived on the street for 10 years starting in 1994. Tom donated an American flag that was used on the USS Alabama submarine at Bangor. The flag was used during Thursday’s ceremony to conclude the event.

Karen, along with Kathryn Keve and others, worked hard to collect the names of former residents, other stories and historical facts that were tied to the 16-house street. Karen retired from the Army.

Tom served on the USS Alabama with frequent Government Way visitor Brian Moss, who died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terroristic attacks while working at the Pentagon. The two friends enjoyed barbecuing together.

“It’s pretty cool,” Tom said after the decommissioning ceremony. “A lot of stuff gets closed and not a big deal is made and you come back a year later and it’s gone. This gives me closure because this was the majority of where I lived during my (military) career.”

Bainbridge Mayor Anne Blair said the ceremony was “nicely done all the way around.”

“Home is where our stories begin and this was a day of stories and it will continue to be,” Blair said.

Read more: http://pugetsoundblogs.com/bainbridge-conversation/2014/03/26/patriotism-abounds-at-decommissioning-ceremony-for-former-military-housing/#ixzz2x7euNEO8

Bainbridge Bakers marks 28th anniversary with a preview peek of new second location - BI Review

by CECILIA GARZA,  Bainbridge Island Review Staff Writer 
Mar 21, 2014 at 11:29AM

After 28 years of serving coffee and baked goods on Bainbridge, it’s time for Bainbridge Bakers to spread its wings — that is, to the other end of Winslow.

The bakery will celebrate its 28th anniversary this Sunday with music and a “peek-a-boo preview” tour of their new location near the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art.

“The establishment of the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art and the Kids Discovery Museum is one of the most important and notable events to occur on the island in many years,” said bakery owner Mike Loudon. “We are proud and honored to be able to support the patrons and visitors of these fine new facilities.”

Bainbridge Bakers will continue business at its original location at the Winslow Green, but come April, it will begin pouring coffee on the other end of Winslow Way, too.

At Island Gateway, nestled next door to Avalara and the museums, will be a full bakery and cafe serving all of the same Bainbridge Bakers favorites.

The bakery invites residents to join in its 28th anniversary celebration this Sunday, March 23 by welcoming the upcoming opening of its new location.

The party will kick off at 10 a.m. with kiddie karaoke until noon at the original Bainbridge Bakers location.

Island band Paundy will take the floor from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. for a live performance at the new location.

Their performance will be followed by local singer/songwriter Zach Fleury for another round of music back at the original Bainbridge Bakers from 1 to 3 p.m.

The party will continue until 6 p.m. at the bakery’s Winslow Green location.

Cake and preview tours of the new bakery will be provided.

CECILIA GARZA,  Bainbridge Island Review Staff Writer 
cgarza@bainbridgereview.com or 206-842-6613

Before new development, remembering history of Bainbridge street - KITSAP SUN

By Ethan Fowler 

Saturday, March 15, 2014

Former Navy housing on Government Way on Bainbridge Island is slated to be torn down in April to make way for the second phase of the Grow Community, a sustainable housing development. (LARRY STEAGALL / KITSAP SUN)

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — A lot of history is being dismantled as 16 single-family homes on John Adams Lane make way for a 5-acre development.

Decades ago, the street was home to a thriving Japanese population, which built a huge community hall in 1927 that hosted weddings and funerals.

Later, homes on the street were taken over by the Navy, and military members created memories raising their families on Bainbridge Island.

The street, which was known as Government Way from 1957 to 2007, will being developed later this spring as part of the second phase of the Grow Community. Grow 2.0, as it’s being called, will be 5 acres developed on what is now John Adams Lane. It will feature 3 acres of open space that will be mixed with fields, orchards and light forest groves, said Greg Lotakis, project manager for Asani Developments on the Grow Community project.

But before the homes are knocked down, a community celebration will be held at 12:30 p.m. Thursday on the old basketball court on the street. The event is a way to bring closure for those who remember the neighborhood for what it used to be. And it’s an opportunity to celebrate former residents, some who were part of high-profile events in history.

Residents such as:
—Tony Watson, a Navy underwater diver who was on TWA Flight 847 when it was hijacked in 1985 and later held hostage for two weeks in Beirut, Lebanon, before being released.

—Peter Iwane Ohtaki, a 31-year Japan Airlines executive who was a contributor to opening trade avenues between Seattle and Asia.

—Brian Moss, who served on the USS Alabama submarine at Bangor and died in the Sept. 11, 2001, terroristic attacks while working at the Pentagon.

To honor those residents — many of who served in the Navy while the 16 homes served as military housing — representatives from the Navy, Grow, the Japanese American community, American Legion Post 172, past residents and more are expected to attend the event.

“Those 16 little houses and those that lived there have touched the world,” said Karen Vargas, who lived on the street twice and has tracked down much of the street’s colorful history.

There are also stories of Utah Jazz player Marvin Williams traveling from Bremerton to practice with friends at the basketball court as a youth. Or Gov. Jay Inslee, a Bainbridge resident, who carpooled children to the baseball diamond off Weaver Road for Little League practices in the late 1990s, Vargas said.

Cindy Rees is one of two people to live on Government Way with the military — from 1996 to 2004 — and as a civilian — from 2010 to 2013. She said she found a lot of peace moving into the house next door to where she raised her four children.

“I founded the Bainbridge Island Special Olympics team out of my house,” Rees said. “There’s so many stories there. One of those days is 9/11.” She remembers her husband at home in his uniform, reacting to the news and telling her, “I still need to go to work.” “The whole community went on around us, but we stayed together through that ordeal,” she said.

She recalls lighter moments: kids sledding down the street during a 2002 snowstorm. A big street party that they got permission to hold.

Before the government housing, the street was home to a thriving Japanese population, which built a huge community hall in 1927. Events held at the hall included basketball, jujitsu training, social events and movies. The hall went into default during the three-year interment of the Japanese during World War II. It was purchased by a private owner and partially converted into a home by removing the roof and adding room dividers.

Frank Vibrans later bought the home, at 330 Shepard Way, and finished the conversion and lived there, Vargas said.

“We thought it was so weird for someone to build in that hall, but it was so huge,” said Kay Nakoa, 94, who was born on the island. “We had weddings and funerals there.”

The Grow Family homesteaded in the area, according to the Grow Community’s website.

Nakoa fondly remembered Will Grow’s grape vineyard, which was on the south side of the community hall. She recalled children often eating the grapes.

 “We used to go and swipe grapes,” said Nakoa, who worked 25 years as a checker at Town & Country Market.

As a way to save much of the street’s history, American Legion Post 172 Commander Fred Scheffler plans to create a repository for the memorabilia. Vargas plans to assemble a booklet to present to the Bainbridge Island Historical Museum. At Thursday’s ceremony, Scheffler hopes to chronicle the residents by having them sign their names with the year they arrived and left.

“With the last person living there signing it last,” Scheffler said.

Even though Rees said she has a lot of good memories of living on Government Way, she said it’s time for a new development. “I hear people say they shouldn’t take down those houses, but these houses needed to be torn down years ago,” Rees said. “What’s awesome is having the Grow Community doing it environmentally friendly and we appreciate that the Grow Community listened to us to do this (ceremony.)”

IF YOU GO

The Honoring Historic Government Way ceremony will take place Thursday at 12:30 p.m. at John Adams Way NW (formerly Government Way) on the old basketball court.

The community is invited to share stories that organizers plan to preserve in a pamphlet form and possibly on-site markers. If you have a story to share and can’t attend, please email it to kbkeve@earthlink.net.

Installation Notes: Welcome To The Net-Zero Neighborhood - Solar Power World

March 11, 2014: By Andrew Merecicky

Residents of Bainbridge Island, Wash., led by Asani Development Initiatives, are re-imagining what a residential community could be. Even more impressive than its community gardens and car share program, the Grow Community is on track to be the largest planned solar-ready neighborhood in Washington State.

The housing development is designed to be a net-zero energy community, and is one of seven such endorsed projects by the One Planet Living program. Asani has also partnered with two Washington-based companies, BlueFrog Solar and A&R Solar, to develop an installation-ready solar package around which each home in the Grow Community is specifically designed.

The solar systems are intended to provide 100% of the energy demand of each house. The roofs of each structure were carefully designed to support the required number of solar panels. The installation package available to homebuyers features the Washington-based itek Energy‘s PV panels and APS America‘s microinverters.

Model homes on Grow Avenue NW. September 26, 2012. Credit: Anthony Rich

“The variety of rooflines that make a project like Grow so visually interesting can be a challenge for solar systems, which rely on PV arrays being optimally oriented toward the sun,” says Kelly Samson CEO of APS America. “Unlike regular ‘string’ inverters, APS microinverters maximize output and allow monitoring of individual panels, optimizing the productivity of the whole array at all points in the sun’s daily arc across the sky.”

The project will be completed in three phases. The first phase, which is presently nearing completion, will contain 18 single-family homes, six town houses and 20 multi-family rental units. Two more neighborhoods, referred to as “neighborhood 2.0″ and “3.0″ respectively, are still in the design stages. Homeowners have the standing option to install a solar system or not, providing customers with flexibile options regarding installation timing and financing.

“The project is being constructed in three phases to reduce risk and to allow the development team to apply lessons learned in each phase to the subsequent phase,” says Marja Preston, president of Asani Development. “We were confident that the solar community would work as we had a long interest list prior to placing the homes on the market. All of the homes were presold before construction began, an indication that there is strong interest, not only in solar homes, but in solar homes in a connected, walkable community.”

The first solar modules installed on Grow model homes. July 13, 2012.
Credit: Jonathan Davis

Phase II, containing neighborhood 2.0 and 3.0, will involve building 88 more homes. Housing options will consist of a mix of two-story town houses, single-level houses and apartments in three-story buildings. Additionally, residential parking will be underground to maximize the community’s green space. The second phase is also going to include the community center building and a childcare facility in its construction. Every structure in the community is built solar-ready.

The ultimate goal of the project was to design a repeatable model for a net-zero energy housing development, a task which, Preston says, was accomplished.

 “The biggest challenge for our team was to design a net-zero energy single-family home that could be built and sold for a reasonable price. The goal for the project was to demonstrate a profitable and therefore replicable net-zero energy residential real estate development. We absolutely met that challenge,” Preston says.

Bainbridge is an ideal location for such an innovative project, because tax rebates in Washington make possible an affordably-priced solar option. This is one of the reasons Preston sees a promising future for Grow and similar green community development in Washington.

“The fact that almost all the homebuyers have chosen the solar option is an indication that the strategy for adding solar that we created with BlueFrog and A&R has been successful and is entirely replicable in other housing developments in the state.”

Installation Notes:  

Panel type: 240 and 270W itek Energy  
Microinverters: YC200, YC500 APS America  
Racking and Mounting: SunModo Racking Systems  
Monitoring: APS Energy Communication Unit/Energy Monitoring and Analysis Output: 2.9 kW to 8.9 kW per housing unit.
Installation Crew: A&R Solar  
Installation Dates: June 2012 – ongoing project

Read article here: http://www.solarpowerworldonline.com/2014/03/installation-notes-welcome-net-zero-neighborhood/

Bainbridge ferry terminal retrofit beginning soon - KITSAP SUN

KITSAP SUN

By Ed Friedrich

Posted January 18, 2014 at 4:38 p.m.

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — The Bainbridge ferry terminal building might be mid-century, but it’s not modern.

That’ll change over the next several months as an island firm brings the 1950s-era facility up to current energy, earthquake and accessibility standards. Work is expected to begin Jan. 27 and be completed in September.

PHC Construction will replace the windows, roof and light fixtures along with the electrical, ventilation, air conditioning and heating systems. Most visible to customers will be roomier, relocated rest rooms, better pedestrian flow from the removal of inside tollbooths, and vendor Commuter Comforts’ move from outside to inside.

During the first month, the ramp to the overhead walkway will be closed and one of the two exit lanes will be used for staging during non-peak hours, said Nicole McIntosh, Washington State Ferries terminal design engineering manager. No changes will be made to the overhead walkway or passenger loading and unloading area. The terminal building will stay open throughout the project.

Customers can learn more about the project during a meeting from 6 to 7 p.m. Tuesday at Bainbridge Island City Hall, 280 Madison Ave.

Construction was planned to start in November, but the state put it out to bid a second time. PHC’s construction proposal of $1.94 million beat out three other firms. The total project cost is just over $3 million, down from the original estimate of $4.7 million.

McIntosh emphasized this is strictly a preservation project, not the $150 million terminal modernization once envisioned. That went away after license tab revenues were cut in 1999.

The building was constructed in 1955, a year after WSF’s oldest ferry, the Evergreen State, and five years after the Agate Pass Bridge opened.

Read more: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2014/jan/18/bainbridge-ferry-terminal-retrofit-beginning/#ixzz2sHpglg2O
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BioRegional Launch a Major New Sustainable Consumption and Production Report

BioRegional, creators of the One Planet concept, have recently launched a major report about Sustainable Consumption and Production (SCP). The report is a significant NGO contribution to the UN debate on a set of sustainable development goals due to succeed the well-known Millennium Development Goals (to be fulfilled by 2015). BioRegional CEO Sue Riddlestone was recently given the opportunity to present this report to representatives of several dozen governments of countries around the world gathered at the United Nations in New York. Major new report, authored by BioRegional, on sustainable consumption and production:

• This published paper makes the case for why sustainable consumption and production (SCP) should be integrated into the post-2015 development agenda, as well as setting out practical proposals for what SCP-related targets might be, divided among the likely themes for post-2015 goals.
• It is evidence-based, drawing on the latest literature and evidence to explain why achieving sustainable development demands a decisive, global shift to sustainable consumption and production. The paper aims to increase collaboration within civil society and with other actors on this agenda.
• It calls for nations to adopt 28 different targets related to SCP, organised under five key themes for sustainable development goals and covering the period 2015-2030. One or more indicators is given for each target.
• The report was produced by BioRegional, as they are the Beyond 2015 focal point on Sustainable Production and Consumption, with input from the following organizations: WWF-UK;Christian Aid; Bond; Save the Children; Progressio; Practical Action; Friends of the Earth; Cafod; Tearfund; Population Institute; One Earth; Tellus Institute; Integrative Strategies Forum; Institute for Global Environmental Strategies.

Click here to read the report here.