Photo by Kansas Sebastian
We often think of “green” housing as costing a lot of green, too; the perception is that environmentally-friendly accommodations fetch a prettier penny than the standard fare.
That’s why we were interested to read this interview with Jonathan Rose, founder and president of his eponymous company which creates both non-profit and for-profit sustainable housing. Their affordable green project in Stamford, Metro Green, has already leased 100% of the units in the first phase.
So how does he do it? Why isn’t building green, with the low-VOC paints and water-saving devices, seriously expensive? “We spend about 1 percent more to make a building between LEED silver and gold,” he says. And “we can typically reduce energy use by about 30 percent simply by very inexpensive ways, and in some ways by paying better attention. Typically we’re focusing on four- to five-year paybacks.”
A little delayed gratification goes along way, apparently, but so dol ow-V.O.C. paints and ceiling fans. It turns out that building green isn’t always technically advanced. It can be as simple as a few energy-saving tweaks and some air-cleaning ingredients, which is inspiring for those aiming to build green and dream big.
