Wednesday, May 20, 2009

My garden can kep me cool during the summer??

Yup, it sure can. Here's a quick "green" tip to keep cool during the summer.

Plant trees around your house to provide a shade buffer between the sun and your walls. Use deciduous trees on the northern or southern side (depending on the hemisphere you live in) so you can still take advantage of passive solar warming in winter.

Our first Green Cottage homeowner will have her very own rain garden in her yard. Not only will the trees she will plant help keep her house cool, but by using a rain barrel to divert storm water into the garden from her roof, she is also helping improve the water quality of our local streams. The water that is stored in the rain barrel is then used for watering the garden or lawn.

For more info on rain gardens and barrels, check out http://www.raingardennetwork.com/

Diana
www.ccLandTrust.org

Thursday, May 14, 2009

Who's LEEDing the way?

Hey everyone,

In the United States and in a number of other countries around the world, LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) certification is the recognized standard for measuring building sustainability. Achieving LEED certification is the best way for you to demonstrate that your building project is truly "green."

The Green Cottages will be the first affordable single family homes in Northeast Ohio certified by the LEED for Homes program of the US Green Building Council, which promotes the design and construction of high performance green homes. The LEED rating system measures, among other things, the ability to reduce the negative environmental impacts of the building, as well as improve occupant health and well-being.

Our preliminary LEED for Homes rating indicated the first house will qualify at the LEED Gold standard with a possibility of the highest overall rating, Platinum. The house will also exceed Energy Star standards, the City of Cleveland's 2009 green housing construction standards, and the Enterprise Green Communities standards. Most importantly, all the Green Cottages will be long-term assets for the community and provide an energy-efficient, accessible, durable, healthy home for many decades to come.

Pretty cool, huh? For information on how someone could qualify to purchase a Green Cottage, please contact the Land Trust, 216-334-1620.

Diana
www.ccLandTrust.org

See what's so special!!

Hello again,

Let’s get right to it. In my last post I mentioned the three key features of the Green Cottages; energy efficiency, affordability and accessibility.

Energy efficient: The Green Cottages utilize some of the latest green building techniques that will sharply reduce utility bills for the homeowner and also minimize the homes impact on the environment. Most of the energy efficiency is behind the walls in the Green Cottage; we paid lots of attention to insulating behind the walls, below the roof and under the basement floor. This well insulated building envelope will give the 2-bdrm home an estimated $36 per month heating bill! We’ve also used low-flow toilets, sinks and showers, low-compact lighting fixtures, and energy star windows and kitchen appliances that are sure to keep utility bills drastically lower than the norm. Also, the Green Cottages will provide a healthier indoor air quality because we used low-VOC (volatile organic compounds) for all the painting, sealants and finishes.

Affordability: Until now, a newly built green home with features like the Green Cottage was only available in high priced or custom homes. Thanks to the Land Trust mechanism of homeownership and generous funding, these homes are now affordable to our clients at $126,000 for a 2-bdrm and $136,000 for a 3-bdrm. Moreover, our funding agreement states that no more than 35% of the homebuyers income can go towards the total monthly housing payment – so that leaves at least 65% of the homebuyers income to take care of other needs.

Accessibility: This term refers to the accessible design of the house. The Green Cottages will be first floor visitable so that persons who utilize a wheelchair or walker will be able to maneuver throughout with ease. Each Green Cottage will have a zero step entry, wider doors and hallways, windows and cabinets at chair height, and wider turning radiuses in each room. This design can also be referred to as a universal design, meaning these are design elements that are suitable for all and, generally, just making getting around the home easier.

So what do these elements look like together? See how we built this house from the ground up by looking through our construction and ribbon cutting photos via our FLICKR account.
http://www.flickr.com/photos/38110226@N02/

Talk to you later,
Diana
http://www.cclandtrust.org/

All about the Green Cottages

Hello all,

So it may take more than one post to get you updated with all that has been happening with the Green Cottages! A project a few years in the making, we recently took a huge step by having a ribbon cutting ceremony to celebrate the completion of our first Green Cottage home. Just what are the Green Cottages and how did they come about?? Well...

The Green Cottages started off as a unique collaborative of Cleveland non-profit organizations: the Cuyahoga Community Land Trust, Detroit Shoreway Community Development Organization, Cleveland Green Building Coalition and EcoCity Cleveland. The capacities of the different organizations allow the Green Cottages project to pursue sustainability in community development in multiple ways.

In addition to dealing with the frightening housing market, the Green Cottages project weathered numerous infrastructure changes. The Cleveland Green Building Coaltion experienced some staff changes and decided to wrap up its role i the project. Detroit Shoreway reorganized its housing department and, as a result, asked the Cuyahoga Community Land Trust to take on a more expansive role as the sole project developer. DSCDO continues its involvement with the project through the active participation of the EcoVillage coordinator. With support of funders, CCLT brought on The Project Alliance as a partner and hired Environmental Health Watch to assist with the green aspects of the project and to prepare the homeowners manuals.

The Green Cottages project emerged from the work of the Emerging Green Designers Symposium, a program of the Cleveland Green Building Coalition, which allows designers and architects to explore green-building techniques. The 2005-2006 Symposium challenged itself to develop an affordable green home, and the Emerging Green Designers produced the basic designs for the Green Cottages collaboratively. Jim Ptacek, who was a member of the original Emerging Designers team, and who had continued to volunteer his time with the project, moved into an official capacity as his firm, Larsen Architects, and came on board to oversee contract administration and design elements. Civic Builders patiently continued to serve on the design team and remained committed to the project.

The Green Cottages also respond to the EcoVillage neighborhood plan, in which residents of the neighborhood emphasized the need for new environmentally sustainable single-family construction that will remain affordable to typical neighborhood families in the long-term. The Cleveland EcoVillage is a demonstration of eco-friendly living, emphasizing green-building, transit-oriented design, walkable streets, greenspace amenities, and community involvement. The Green Cottages will build on the success of recent EcoVillage developments, including the West 58th Street EcoVillage Townhomes, the West 65th Street Rapid Station renovation and the West 54th Street Greenbuilt Homes.

Whew! I think that covers the roots of the Green Cottages project. My next post will give you a photographed view of the Green Cottages construction phase, as well as details on what truly makes this housing development one-of-a-kind. But here's a hint:
The Green Cottages incorporate three key features - energy efficiency, affordability and accessibility- in addition to a LEED status that puts us ahead of the curve in affordable housing development in Northeast Ohio.

Talk with you soon,
Diana
http://www.cclandtrust.org/

*Creating opportunities for homeownership now, securing affordability for the future.*

Blogging the Land Trust

Welcome everyone to the Land Trust's new blogging home! Here you will be able to find out the latest news around the Land Trust, as well as pick up some cool and useful housing tips and news.

For those who aren't too familiar with the Land Trust, here's a run down of what we're about:
  • The Land Trust is a non-profit membership organization that increases homeownership opportunities for low and moderate income families in Cleveland.
  • By using both private and public funds, the Land Trust lowers the price of new and substantially rehabbed homes for our clients.
  • With every Land Trust home, we work closely with the buyer providing extensive one-on-one pre-purchase support and making sure he/she receives a prime mortgage rate.
  • Through a land lease agreement, which does provide the homeowner with secure and private access to the property, our homes remain affordable for not only the first buyer, but subsequent buyers as well.
  • For more information on the Land Trusts' method of homeownership, please visit our website at www.ccLandTrust.org

As I get this blog up and running I'll get you up-to-date on all that's happened with The Green Cottages, our affordable, single family, green housing development in the Cleveland EcoVillage, shed some light on the Land Trusts' future plans, offer some green building tips and provide you with useful housing news.

So check in with me every week to hear what's going on and please encourage your friends, family and co-workers to follow as well!

Talk with you soon,
Diana Dawson
Outreach Coordinator
Cuyahoga Community Land Trust
http://www.cclandtrust.org/

*Creating opportunities for homeownership now, securing affordability for the future.*