Net-Zero Energy Homes in Grow Community - JETSON GREEN

Jetson Green

By Preston on Sep. 20, 2012 

This is Grow Community near downtown Winslow on Bainbridge Island in Washington.  The first three model homes — Ocean, Everett, and Aria — are finished and work is moving forward for the next 24 homes and two 10-unit rowhouse apartments.  The eight-acre project is the first residential One Planet Community in North America (issued by U.K. non-profit BioRegional).  However, in addition to this recognition, the aim is net-zero homes and an entirely net-zero energy community by 2020.

Grow Community was designed by Davis Studio Architecture + Design, creators of PieceHomes (the Modern Living Showhouse at Dwell on Design 2011) and developed by Asani.

There will be community open spaces, gardens, and an urban farm program, as well as car- and bike-share programs.  In addition, residents won’t necessarily need a car in this place.  After about a five-minute bike ride, one can take a 35-minute ferry to downtown Seattle, if that’s where work is.

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Window into the New: Innovative Design Using Technology Shapes Grow Community on Bainbridge Island For Ultra-Cool Sustainable Living

SMB NATION BLOG - Posted by Tracy Anna Bader

Sustainability is a concept sprouting up everywhere, defining much of what is associated with today’s cutting edge culture. Shedding a stereotype of an idealistic grass-roots environmental movement, today the concept of sustainability is ultra-cool, hip and hot across age and gender groups, a driving force in sales and marketing, taking the lead in shaping modern design and influencing business—using state-of-the-art technology as a foremost ally.
 
Leading the way in the concept of attractive, affordable, practical solutions for sustainable living in the United States is the new Grow Community on Bainbridge Island, Washington taking root near the heart of the Island’s commercial center in Winslow located only 35 minutes by ferry, directly west across from Seattle in Puget Sound.


As a designer, and University of California Davis Design Department alumni, I am always on the lookout for new trends—especially in environmental design. So, when I stumbled upon Grow Community being built this summer during my initial visit to the Island, I must say, it was love at first sight!  Warm colors and an array of interesting visuals drew my friend and me inside. Other passerby’s stopped in awe, generating a steady stream of pedestrian traffic with a positive vibe of satisfied intrigue…a collective sigh of relief was felt in the air of content excitement to see dreams and concepts actually being turned into a reality we could experience firsthand, and even purchase.

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There Grows the Neighborhood - BI Review

By HENRI GENDREAU
Bainbridge Island Review Staff Writer
August 24, 2012 · Updated 9:02 AM  

Something is growing in Winslow.

Grow Community — one of a few green communities in the United States — is sprouting at the corner of Wyatt Way and Grow Avenue.

So far, three homes are open to the public as models of the additional single-family dwellings to come in what will be a 131-residential unit complex when complete.

Grow Community is the first residential community in the country endorsed by One Planet Living, a model outlined by BioRegional to make “sustainable living easy and affordable for all,” according to its website.

The idea is to create a way of life where resources from one planet are enough for the world — rather than the estimated five planets necessary, if every person on the planet used resources as Americans do.

Leading the development team at Asani, the Bainbridge development company spearheading the project, is Marja Preston, senior director of development for Grow Community.

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Save The Date! Model Home Tours Begin at Grow Community; But You Can Get a Sneak Peek

 

On Friday, August  10th, public tours of model homes begin at Grow Community. Join us! 

The wait is over. Grow Community will begin public tours on Friday, August 10th. This project has been designed, with the help of community volunteers and sustainability experts, as an intentional urban community meeting the 10 Sustainability Principles of the One Planet Living framework. We want to thank everyone who has been involved in the project and who has helped us reach this point, and we invite all of you to schedule an appointment to visit our three model homes. 

[Interested in getting a sneak peek at the model homes? Join us for Grow Drinks, August 9th!]

You can visit and learn more about Grow Community’s solar-powered, net zero energy homes, the net zero car share program and the community garden at www.growbainbridge.com. 

Want to make an appointment?

The model homes will be available for walk-ins daily from 9-5. If those times don’t work for you, call us and schedule an appointment. We’re happy to accommodate you. Please call Joie Olson at: 206-452-6755. 

Where to find us: 

Grow Community Bainbridge
450 Grow Avenue NW,
Bainbridge Island, WA 98110
T: 206.452.6755
Email: live@growbainbridge.com

Are you coming from the ferry? Here’s the ferry schedule.

Directions: 

Off the ferry, turn left onto Winslow Way E. 

Turn right onto Madison Ave N. 

Turn left onto Wyatt Way NW.

Turn left onto Grow Avenue. 

We’re on the left at 450 Grow Avenue. You can’t miss us! 

We can’t wait to meet you and walk through the model homes with all of you! Make sure to check out our Facebook, Twitter and Pinterest page for regular updates on our progress and for pictures of Grow Community. 
  

Grow Team

Rio+20: BioRegional endorses the Grow Community as a One Planet Community.

We’re excited to announce that Pooran Desai, founder of BioRegional and champion of the One Planet Living framework, announced at Rio+20 today the official endorsement of the Grow Community as a One Planet Community. Calling it, ‘the best place to live in the USA’, Pooran introduced the Grow Community, and Asani, to a diverse group of international leaders and business leaders as a turning point in North American sustainable development.

From BioRegional: In July 2005, CNN/Money and Money magazine named Bainbridge Island the second-best place to live in the United States. Even Brad and Jennifer (when they were married) were spotted looking at potential real estate on the island.  Well, there is a community now being constructed on Bainbridge Island which might push Bainbridge Island into that top spot.   

[Related: Rio+20, and the future we want (Video)]

Interested in learning more about One Planet Living, and what it means for our future? Check out this video with Grow Architect, Jonathan Davis, of DavisStudioAD:

Weekly construction update! Learn how the Grow Community is building energy efficiency (and savings) right into the walls.

A lot has been happening at the Grow Community construction site this week and we want to make sure you’re kept in the loop! Last week we talked about the air barrier being put up on the Aria which left some residents wondering if we were painting all of the homes at Grow black. We know that with a project this size there will be lots of questions and general curiosity from the community, so read on for your weekly digest of construction updates at the Grow Community and please let us know in the comments if you have any feedback or if there’s anything specific you would like us to address in a future blog post. 

Energy is the Name of the Game at Grow this Week 

Energy efficiency is about more than turning down the heat.  And we have always said that living at Grow isn't all about warm beers and cold showers.  While residents will need to be mindful of their energy use in order to achieve net-zero energy in their homes, we have put an incredible amount of thought into how we can design homes that will be inherently energy efficient, and even more than that, homes that will be comfortable. You won't be chilly in these homes. We promise.   

In order to achieve this, it’s necessary to build the savings right into the walls. Creating enough solar energy to power an entire home with the amount of space available on most roofs’ is very difficult, so the goal is to eliminate enough heat loss (during the winter), control heat gain (during the summer) and to tighten up the energy systems within the home to keep power needs to a minimum. The cheapest energy in the world is that which is not used.

After much exploration of different types of wall systems, we settled on double-stud walls, which you can see a cross-sectional view of in the picture to the left.  Most homes are built with a layer of insulation within a single 6-inch wall. The homes at Grow are using a double wall system of two, 2x4 walls. This wall system creates insulated areas with a 1" thermal break between them which greatly reduces heat loss and gain, keeping the home warm during the winter and cool during the summer. Combining the efficiency of the walls with the waterproof air barrier system we have put on the outside, the home is essentially given a shell with an R-Value more efficient the Washington State Energy Code requires. Greg Lotakis, our Project Manager on the Grow Community construction site, described it as being as if the home were, “wearing a thicker jacket, but in this case, it’s not just about keeping you warm, but also about keeping you cool in the Summer months”. 

Grow Drinks Was a Huge Success! Thank You all For Participating!

Our second Grow Drinks was a huge success! We really enjoyed meeting with everybody and being able to share our vision and ideas for the Grow Community and to hear all of your feedback and listen to your thoughts.

We had expected to give a simple presentation and then mingle with the crowd, but instead, an amazing thing happened: 

Our simple presentation turned into a lively round-table style discussion that felt truly unique and collaborative. We felt very connected to the community and everyone who's interested in the project in that moment. It's extremely important for us to be able to enter into conversations about the Grow Community and One Planet Living so we can design a better community for all.

We were honored to have Geof Syphers, an early proponent of the One Planet Living framework in North America, and lead on the Sonoma Mountain Village project, join our discussion and to be able to provide his insight and experience with One Planet Living and sustainable development.

So, in the spirit of last night's event, we invite you to keep the conversation moving forward with us and to please send us your thoughts here on the blog, on Facebook and Twitter or to join our mailing list for news and updates. 

Don't forget to mark your calendars for our next Grow Drinks, on July 12th! But don't worry, we'll send you an update to remind you. 

Thank you!

The Grow Team