Dwell is an award-winning sustainable residential builder in Seattle. They consider Built Green 5-Star their minimum certification level and exclusively build net zero energy-ready homes featuring high performance properties and sleek modern designs. As a leader in high performance home design, Dwell certified eight homes as 5-Star (four in Seattle and four in Kirkland) during the judging period. Their biggest accomplishment this year is their Genesee Park Net Zero project, which features a 9 kW rooftop solar array and solar thermal hot water system—a first for Dwell Development.
Denizen was founded in 2012 and their focus is on infill development that meets the need for high-quality, fee-simple townhomes, rowhouses, and cottage communities in neighborhoods near transit corridors and major employment centers. Denizen focuses on producing smart, efficient designs that are both aesthetically appealing and functional by working with architects and designers. They utilize the highest quality components available and apply construction best practices to create communities that are built to last. Over the past year, they certified 44 homes with Built Green at the 4-Star level.
Village Builders are committed to sustainable construction practices. They won this Hammer Award for their 4-Star project LIV Wallingford, which consists of 30 efficiency studios, retail space, and a rooftop deck in an ideal, walkable location near transit. The project is ideally located in Seattle, close to Fremont, Greenlake, and UW, and boasts a walk score of 89. Built Green also recently featured this project in our newsletter as a case study.
Johnson & Carr LLC are a Seattle developer of multi-family and mixed-use projects. They specialize in creative applications of urban infill with a focus on providing affordable and sustainable housing. They are being recognized this year for a 4-Star project in Eastlake. This 110-unit multi-family building in Seattle is 22% above the 2012 Washington State Energy Code and uses high-efficacy gas tank water heaters. The project also provides shared common space areas, including a patio and bike storage.
Hadley Improvements Owner LLC is under the umbrella of Legacy Partners, a privately held real estate firm that owns, develops, and manages multifamily communities throughout the United States. They won this award by constructing a 209-unit transit-oriented 3-Star development that is within short walking distance of Mercer Island’s future light rail station. It features a rooftop amenity space with casual seating, a barbecue, and a “living” green wall, all created to take advantage of the sweeping views of Lake Washington to the north and east.
Batt + Lear is focused on green remodels and they are an active member of many cutting-edge building and trade associations. They believe in sharing information, lessons learned, and best practices with other designers, builders, manufacturers, and policy makers. Batt + Lear have certified seven different projects with Built Green; they won this award for their most recently certified project—a 5-Star remodel in Northeast Seattle. The project had a modeled savings of about 52% over the 2012 energy code and retained 100% of healthy trees on site, including fig and apple trees!
Habitat for Humanity has been certifying homes with Built Green for over a decade because they feel that the sustainability efforts provide the most benefit for their families. In the past year, they certified ten homes to Built Green 4-Star, including a nineplex at their LaFortuna development in Redmond and a single-family home at their veterans' development in Pacific. As an organization, Habitat provides a “next step” for families currently in low income rental housing, which provides them with ownership and stability and opens units for others who need them. About 80% of the labor for Habitat developments is done by volunteers; homebuyers put in at least 250 hours of sweat equity into their homes.
The Project of the Year goes to PHC Construction for their work on the Grow Community, an innovative sustainable 5-Star Built Green neighborhood on Bainbridge Island! Specifically, Built Green is recognizing the 13 condos that were certified over the summer as 5-Star, but PHC has also certified four single-family homes in the community in the past year alone. In fact, all the buildings in the community are or will be 5-Star. It is a beautiful community with solar-designed homes, transit options right nearby, shared gardens and other community spaces, and different types of housing options.
Miranda Redinger is a senior planner for the City of Shoreline. She worked tirelessly with Built Green’s Program Manager, Leah Missik, during commission and council hearings, long conversations over the phone, and many hours of hard work on policy research, outreach, and presentations to further sustainable building. The cumulation of this effort was a new Deep Green Building Incentive Program in the City of Shoreline. A huge congratulations to Miranda for all of her hard work!