ANAHEIM, CA (September 16, 2008) - The historic “Colony District” of downtown Anaheim is the location for Southern California’s first “GreenPoint Rated” single-family detached home. The home, which was built by Colony Developers LLC, recently received the prestigious GreenPoint Rating by Build It Green, a non-profit membership organization whose mission is to promote healthy, energy- and resource-efficient building practices in California.

This unique home, located at 1122 W. Santa Ana St., was constructed with the cooperation and guidance of Anaheim Public Utilities and the Anaheim Redevelopment Agency. It is the first of 10 such “GreenPoint Rated” single-family detached homes being planned in Anaheim by Colony Developers. Click here to view or download a photograph of the GreenPoint Rated home.

“The City of Anaheim is making it easy for developers to build green by promoting and offering incentives for this type of environmentally conscious development,” said Roy Ward, a principal for Colony Developers. “We are pleased to be working with Anaheim and some of the area’s top green architects and consultants on this project. They represent the leading edge for incorporating sustainable technology and green practices into single-family residential construction.”

“Because we have a city that works together, builders with projects of all sizes find it easier to go green in Anaheim,” said Marcie Edwards, Anaheim Public Utilities general manager, “from bigger projects like Brookfield Homes’ Colony Park townhomes to this single-family detached residence by Colony Developers. We currently have 11 green projects in our pipeline, making Anaheim one of the ‘centers’ for new green building in Southern California.”

The Santa Ana Street’s home performance was rated above California code in all five of the measurement categories, with the highest marks coming in the energy and water categories, where Anaheim Public Utilities assisted the builder through rebates and incentives worth thousands of dollars

“Through our Plan Check Fee Waiver Program alone, the builder saved nearly $4,000,” Edwards said. “And, there were additional savings with rebates on high-efficiency toilets, a SmarTimer irrigation system, ENERGY STAR appliances, high-performance windows, plus GreenPoint Rater and design consulting services.”

Landscaping improvements included free shade trees from the City’s TreePower Program, as well as an abundance of California friendly drought-tolerant plants.

While landscaping the 18,000-square-foot lot, special care was taken by the developers to preserve a 150-year-old oak tree in the back yard. The tree is believed to be one of the oldest oak trees in Anaheim.

“Our added costs to get this home’s performance ratings above California code did not exceed 5 percent above normal construction costs,” Ward said. “And, the estimated carbon footprint reduction is 30 percent or nearly 12,000 pounds of carbon emissions being saved annually. That’s equivalent of the amount of carbon dioxide released into the air annually by a standard car driven 12,000 miles.”

Other principals of Colony Developers are James Tran and Jeff Leeper. In addition to Anaheim Public Utilities and the Anaheim Redevelopment Agency, other project partners included: architects Corcoran, Botich, and Associates, Newport Beach; green consultants Andrea Taber and Elaine Hsieh from Kema Services, Oakland; and licensed Build It Green rater Nathan Krantz from CTG Energetics, Irvine.

Earlier this year, Brookfield Homes’ Colony Park became the first residential community in Southern California to receive a GreenPoint Rating from Build It Green. Both Colony Developers and Brookfield Homes were recently honored with Green Connection Leadership Awards at Anaheim City Council meetings.

For more information on Anaheim’s Green Building Program, click here.