Grow Community homes are 5-Star Built Green!

We are very excited to announce that Grow Community homes have achieved 5-Star Built Green status, the highest rating for Built Green certification. Built Green is designed to help homebuyers find quality, affordable homes that offer opportunities to protect the health of their families and the Northwest environment. This is a great step forward in their efforts to create cost-effective, energy efficient One Planet homes on the cutting-edge of today's sustainable development practices.  

Click here to read Built Green's case study on Grow Community.    

 

 

NW Green Home Tour

Saturday, April 27th 2013, 11am-5pm
Grow Model Homes | 428 Grow Avenue NW, Bainbridge Island, WA 98110  

Visit these Built Green 5-Star Homes on April 27th! Grow Community will be one of the stops on the NW Green Home Tour. Co-produced by Northwest Eco Building Guild Seattle Chapter and Built Green this tour is a FREE spring event. This will be the 3rd Annual NW Green Home Tour for Seattle, Bainbridge Island + Eastside.

To learn more about the tour go to the NW Eco Building Guild website.

 

Grow Community was awarded the 2013 Futurewise Livable Communities Award

Grow Community was awarded the 2013 Futurewise Livable Communities Award for Overall Excellence in Residential Community Development. 

 "The Grow Community development was selected because it demonstrates the extraordinary value of innovation in sustainable green building, reduced carbon footprint, transit oriented, and creating healthy communities with a strong sense of place. As the only One Planet Community project in Washington State, the second in the nation, and the fifth in the world, your development is pushing the needle of where our built environment needs to be going if we are truly going to create sustainable healthy 

 communities."  

 - Hilary Franz, Futurewise Executive Director 

Thank you for this honor!

 

Community Attraction Aims to be Washington State's first LEED Gold Certified Museum

Market Watch - The Wall Street Journal
March 21, 2013, 10:30 a.m. EDT

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND, Wash., March 21, 2013 /PRNewswire via COMTEX/ -- Situated on a prominent corner of Bainbridge Island, Washington, across from the Seattle-Bainbridge Island ferry terminal, the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art (BIMA) is scheduled to open its doors on June 14th 2013. The museum will feature its collection of artworks from the Puget Sound region of the United States as well as traveling exhibits.

BIMA is the anchor tenant of the Island Gateway project, a high-end mixed-use development also designed by Coates Design Architects. The building's striking curved form opens up the plaza between the museum and its adjacent building, drawing visitors toward the entrance. "We wanted it to be accessible, approachable, inviting," says architect Matthew Coates.

The south side of the building has a skin that is comprised of 28' tall curved glass, offering a transparent view into the museum. Mounted lights will allow the museum to illuminate at night and act as a beacon that is visible from multiple vantages. Coates Design Architects created curved wood louvers to wrap around the outside of the glass to provide ample shade for the artwork. The louvers are automatically controlled by a light sensor that triggers them to open and close in response to the quantity of sunlight and the sun's movement. On the second, uppermost level of the building, three long strip skylights permit natural light into the main gallery space. Curved baffled light shelves float underneath the skylights, diffusing the light to create a pleasant ambiance.

Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) Gold designation, certified by the US Green Building Council, is a challenging goal for museums as they are inherently energy-intensive due to such narrow tolerances in regard to humidity and temperature stability. In order to achieve this certification, the following features were included in BIMA's design: geothermal energy, daylighting control, solar panels, use of rapidly renewable and recycled materials, low-flow plumbing fixtures, and a vegetated roof garden.

Coates Design Architects specializes in sustainable design and green building techniques. The firm's managing partner, Matthew Coates, achieved international acclaim by winning the Cradle to Cradle (C2C) Home Design Competition in 2005. Recent achievements include the first LEED Platinum residence outside of the Seattle City limits, the LEED Silver Bainbridge Island Kid's Discovery Museum, and the Island Gateway development, targeted for LEED Silver.

SOURCE:  Coates Design Architects

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Art meets science at Bainbridge museum - KITSAP SUN

KITSAP SUN 

By Tad Sooter 

Posted March 15, 2013 at 7:12 p.m.

The new building taking shape in Winslow goes to great lengths (and depths) to increase efficiency.

BAINBRIDGE ISLAND — Some of the most interesting features of the new Bainbridge Island Museum of Art building begin 400 feet underground.

That’s how deep the deepest of its 14 geothermal wells are drilled, wells that will harness stable temperatures underground to help heat and cool the building. High above, a rooftop photovoltaic array will harvest solar energy while a second-story garden recycles rainwater. Rows of louvers along the curving glass front of the building will open and close automatically to let in light or block out glare.

Gilbert Dominguez works this week inside the Bainbridge Island Museum of Art, which is taking shape in Winslow. The museum is scheduled to open June 14.

“It will be a reminder to visitors that this building is alive,” museum Executive Director Greg Robinson said. “It’s changing and adapting to the environment.”

The museum, now in its final phase of construction at Highway 305 and Winslow Way, is being built to showcase energy efficient design alongside Northwest artwork. The structure is expected to qualify for a gold rating under the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) rating system, which awards points for energy conservation and use of recyclable materials among other categories. More than 90 percent of the construction materials used in the museum can be recycled at the end of the building’s predicted 100 year life span, architect Matthew Coates said.

All told, renewable energy will offset about one third of the museum’s energy needs. Coates said that figure is “significant,” given the demands of lighting, heating and climate control in a 20,000-square-foot museum.

“Museums are notoriously energy inefficient,” he said.

The green features will soon be put to the test. The museum recently announced a final $1.2 million fundraising push to close out its $15.6 million capital campaign. A grand opening is set for June 14.
As interesting as the design work was, Robinson said he is eager to finish construction and bring in the art.

“We didn’t just set out to build a building,” he said. “We set out to open a museum and a new cultural amenity.”

That quest began in earnest about three years ago when a board of directors formed and launched a capital campaign. The museum completed a first phase of construction 2011, which included an auditorium, classrooms and a small gallery. The spaces were made available for community events.
The full museum was expected to open in the summer of 2012. The date was pushed back a year as donations lagged.

Now fundraising and construction are on track for an early summer opening. Saws and hammers clamored inside the building during a hard-hat tour early this week.

The museum’s most prominent feature is the two-story curved glass facade, which opens a cutaway view of the museum’s interior. The design was the favorite among 12 presented to members of the public during planning meetings.

“I think it creates a graceful presence on the street,” Coates said.

Visitors who enter from the main Winslow Way entrance will be greeted by a reception space, bookended by a gift shop an a “bistro” dining area. The museum’s permanent art collection will rotate through a 1,000-square-foot gallery on the main floor.

A broad staircase leads to a second floor landing with a view of the new Waypoint park and a broad stretch of Winslow Way. The expanse of glass keeps the museum connected to the world around it, Coates said.

“Having a lot of transparency and allowing that connection was one of the most important parts of the design,” he said. “From the outside you’ll be able to see people inside experiencing art, and from the inside you’ll look out and see your community members.”

The second floor art experience begins with the “Beacon” gallery, sized for small solo artist shows. It leads to the museum’s main gallery, a 2,500-square-foot space for traveling exhibits. Movable walls will give curators flexibility to section out the room as needed. Behind the main exhibition room, another small gallery lined with glass cases will display three dimensional pieces and touchable artwork.

Several doors on the second floor open onto terrace overlooking Winslow Way. The patio is bare now, but will soon be outfitted with a rain garden courtesy of island gardeners George and David Lewis, of Little & Lewis fame.

“They’re doing a simple but very beautiful design,” Robinson said.

Other museum spaces are hidden from public view. In the basement, an archive room will store artwork when it’s not on display upstairs. The archive is climate controlled and secured against burglary.

“I like to tell people on tours that they’ll probably never see this room again,” museum Development Director Renate Raymond said.

The museum is still collecting pieces for its permanent display but plans to showcase a diverse assortment of contemporary art representing Puget Sound and West Sound. As for the temporary displays, Robinson said the museum sees itself as a “launching pad for new artists.”

“How wonderful it would be if in 20 years we’re borrowing work from another regional museum that came from an artist who we debuted for the first time,” he said.

Robinson expects to announce the museum’s first offering of programs and exhibits next month as the June opening nears. General admission to the museum will be free and exact hours have yet to be set.
The museum will operate in an “open house” format for the first six weeks after opening, meaning visitors can view exhibits and participate in workshops as they wish. After six weeks the museum will begin selling tickets for some of its lectures, classes and special events.

And after that, “we’re open for the next hundred years,” Robinson said.

Read more: http://www.kitsapsun.com/news/2013/mar/15/art-meets-science-at-bainbridge-museum/?partner=RSS#ixzz2O0BpmyYa

Grow Community / Asani Awarded Most Sustainable Business of the Year!

Grow Community/Asani were honored to receive the 2012 Sustainable Business of the Year award from the Bainbridge Island Chamber of Commerce.   This is an award that was truly achieved due to the support and involvement of our greater Bainbridge Island community.  Thank you.

The 'Mora Index' for growing a connected, freedom-loving kid

The following is part of our Five Minute Lifestyle series. Living at Grow Community makes getting out your car easy with all of your local amenities and transportation needs met within a quick 5 minute walk or bike ride away. Our Five Minute Lifestyle posts are dedicated to spotlighting nearby local businesses, transportation options for residents, community resources and the spectacular local attractions of Bainbridge Island and our surrounding community.  

By our Health and Happiness Champion, Leslie Schneider

As a 12-year-old, I remember well the territory I was comfortable exploring on my bike with friends and siblings. We could ride on a dirt path from the residential road through an empty lot to the usually vacant parking lot behind Safeway. The empty lot had little hills that helped us hone our bike handling skills. And the Safeway store offered us refunds for empty bottles and plenty of ways to spend the new cash.

These days, as parents we put a lot of money and time into taking care of our kids. Different families make different choices, but the community we live in makes many choices for us too. During the week we drive our kids from one activity to another, and then on weekends we drive to big box stores to provision ourselves for the coming week. These rituals can be fun… come on, admit it, Costco has us nailed, offering free samples of prepared food sold in volume, cheap pizza or a cone at the checkout. But it is not a kid's world. We don't feel safe letting our children run around by themselves as we shop.

Going somewhere and buying something… that is what grown-ups do. So isn't it the Holy Grail of freedom for a kid to be able to get somewhere by themselves and purchase something of high kid-value? How many parents with school-aged children in your neighborhood would think it safe to send their kids to the grocery store alone? Architect Ross Chapin is an advocate of small scale communities. In his book "Pocket Neighborhoods", Chapin describes what he calls the "Popsicle Index" - the percentage of people who think it is safe to let their kid walk to a store and buy a Popsicle without adult supervision.

On Bainbridge Island, we are lucky to have Mora's Ice Cream, surely a part of many families' ritual outings long before a kid has much independence. So. If you lived within walking distance from Mora's in downtown Winslow, would you let your daughter walk there by herself to buy a treat? To reach that Holy Grail safely, a child needs to start much earlier in life with smaller circles of independence, or safety zones that expand with the age and confidence of the child. A safe base creates independence.

Grow Community is designed so that no one ever crosses a street while inside the community. Courtyards between homes are the protected close-in zones, with opportunity to meet the neighbors as the first integration into the larger community. Living in this community, a child will graduate to playing alone at the community center, with helpful eyes watching out for the unexpected. It takes a community to keep an independent child safe, to contribute to raising independent children.

 When children graduate to the outer circles of the community, there are many options for walking and biking—to get to two nearby elementary schools, Ordway and Odyssey, the two Island middle schools, Sakai and Woodward, and the high schools, Bainbridge and Eagle Harbor. The library and a park is even closer. The Farmer's Market is practically across the street. Hmmm. Maybe this smaller world helps us stay out of our cars and gives our kids the autonomy they crave a little earlier!

Check out '5 Minute Neighborhood for Kids' also written by Leslie Schneider  

Leslie Schneider is a marketing and communications specialist with a history of building community. Leslie has worked with both start-ups and software giants offering messaging, marketing collateral, and training development. She is also a founding member and ‘graduate’ of cohousing, having developed and then lived in Jackson Place Cohousing (near downtown Seattle) for eight years. She served on the cohousing development LLC managing board for five years and was the owner’s representative for the 27-unit condominium construction. You can find her at Office Xpats, a co-working and conference center based on Bainbridge Island.

Grow Solar Part 3: Incentives for Solar

October 22, 2012 By GrowTeam

 
Click here for Part 2 of our Grow Solar Series, where we talk about the energy efficiency measures we’ve taken to make solar power feasible in each home. 

When we set out to build Grow Community, we committed to creating a One Planet community that would allow its residents to live a zero carbon lifestyle without spending extra money or compromising the comforts or quality of life that they desired.  We set an immense challenge for our team:  to design and build zero-carbon houses that could sell for less than or equal to market price.  Our incredible team met that challenge and exceeded our expectations, not only designing zero-carbon, solar powered homes that met our price requirements, but creating homes that are incredibly comfortable and pleasant to live in.  The homes are amazing spaces to be in.  Seriously.  If you haven’t been to the models homes for a tour, check it out.  We think you’ll agree.

We have an even bigger challenge now. To encourage each and every resident to join us in meeting the One Planet Zero Carbon goal for the community.  We think we can do this by making the option to add solar panels to each home an easy choice.  With no-money down financing available for the solar package, and a well-established federal and state incentive program that essentially pays for the solar, there really is no reason not to add solar to each house.  It is our hope that over time each and every building within Grow Community can be powered by solar, bringing the community as a whole closer to the goal of zero carbon living by 2020.  We know it can be done.

The idea of tax credits and incentives for the solar package may at first seem complex, but really it is quite simple.  The incentives available for renewable energy can be broken down into 3 major parts:

1. The most notable of these incentives is a 30% tax credit provided by the federal government to anyone installing renewable energy (Solar, wind, geothermal, etc.) at their place of residence.  As an example, say you purchase a $40,000 solar package.  In the first tax cycle after your purchase, you will receive a tax credit (actual cash – not a deduction) of approximately $12,000.

Here is some additional information from EnergyStar on this tax credit.

2. The second important incentive is provided by Washington State Department of Revenue’s solar power purchase incentive,through Puget Sound Energy (the energy provider on Bainbridge Island). In order to promote both energy efficiency AND Washington manufacturing, solar owners can receive up to $5,000 per year in production incentives until 2020 if they use renewable energy technology manufactured within the state. Grow Community uses solar modules manufactured by Washington-based iTek Energy and solar micro-inverters manufactured by Blue Frog Solar, also a Washington business, in order to maximize this production incentive.

3. Last, but not least, Puget Sound Energy has  a net-metering program where residential homes that use renewable energy can actually provide electricity back to the power grid. Based on typical modeled energy use, by sizing our solar for each home at Grow, and expecting average weather, each resident can end up producing as much as they use.  The result?  Your averaged annual energy bill – Zero.  With potentially rising energy costs over time, the ability to live in a home and not pay for energy has a significant positive impact on annual cost of living – no small consideration.

By working with iTek, Blue Frog, and PSE, to craft a solar package specifically tailored for each house, Grow Community homeowners are able to realize all three incentives: tax credits, power production incentives, and no electric bill each year.   All this results in a payback of 7 to 8 years and a better return on your money than many current investment opportunities. 

We think it’s a no-brainer, but we are interested to know what you think.  Does it make sense?  Do you have questions?

Click here for more information on Washington State solar production incentives.

Stay tuned for Grow Solar Part 4: Financing and Paying off Your Solar Panels.