SaltAire to use its Ecoimagination to cut water, energy use

Originally Published by The Mobile Press Register

Sunday, September 28, 2008

By KATHY JUMPER
Real Estate Editor

All the homes built in the town of SaltAire on Alabama 193 on the western shore of Mobile Bay will be designed to reduce water and energy use by at least 20 percent.

The developers and builders are participating in General Electric's Ecoimagination program and will be one of 11 communities in the country to build under the GE guidelines, according to Nick Noel, a spokesman for GE who is based in St. Louis, Mo.

"We wanted to be on the leading edge," said George Jones, president of SaltAire Development Group. "We went after something that was quantifiable and achievable."

The 500-acre mixed-use community will have up to 1,250 residences, single-family and multifamily. The amenities include frontage on the bay, a nature center with kayak launch on Fowl River, a fitness center, two fish-stocked lakes, parks, shops and restaurants.

Ecoimagination homes feature a dashboard installed on the wall that allows homeowners to monitor their energy and indoor water use on a daily, weekly or monthly basis. The cost of installing the dashboard and the wiring averages about $1,700, according to Jim Wilkie, general manager of SaltAire.

Other features in the SaltAire houses will include GE Energy Star appliance and an indoor and outdoor lighting package that uses up to 75 percent less electricity.

Masco Contractor Services has partnered with GE to review the home plans and incorporate its Environments for Living certified green standards in each house. The standards dictate tight construction, fresh-air ventilation, improved insulation and efficient heating and cooling equipment.

Custom builder Bobby Martina's 2,200-square-foot river cottage house in SaltAire's Lake District will be the first house to be finished, and the first to get the Ecoimagination package.

"I'm going with the whole system," Martina said, adding that his house has upscale GE appliances. The house is priced at $499,000.

"These houses rival Watercolor and Watersound," residential communities in northwest Florida, Martina said. "Those are priced at $1,000 a foot and we're under $250 a foot with the lot."

Seven of the 10 or 11 homes under construction in SaltAire will be featured in the Parade of Homes held by the Home Builders Association of Metro Mobile on Oct. 18, 19, 25 and 26. The furnished showcase house, built by David Rowe, is also in SaltAire.

All the homes in SaltAire on Alabama 193 on Mobile Bay will be designed to reduce water and energy use by at least 20 percent as part of General Electric's Eco-

imagination program. A dashboard installed in each home will monitor energy and water use. Left: Builder David Rowe's home in SaltAire features solar panels on the roof for added savings.