‘Green’ builder claims award

Firm’s laurels a first for state

— The builders of Eco Modern Flats, the state’s only apartment complex with a LEED platinum rating, have won the U.S. Green Building Council’s 2012 LEED for Homes Award for Outstanding Multifamily Project, the first such award for any Arkansas project.

LEED, or Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is a voluntary program that establishes and verifies “green” building standards such as reduction in water and energy use.

The U.S. Green Building Council handed out seven awards last month recognizing projects, homebuilders and developers in the green building segment.

Linda Smith, executive director of the Arkansas chapter of the building council, said in an e-mail that no other Arkansas project in any category has ever been recognized at the national level by the council. She said only 5 percent of all LEED projects are certified platinum in any given year.

According to the building council’s website, there are more than 50,000 commercial projects participating in LEED certification in the U.S. and 141 other countries.

“This is the Academy Award of ‘green’ building,” said Michele W. Halsell, director of the Applied Sustainability Center at the Sam M. Walton College of Business at the University of Arkansas at Fayetteville.

She said LEED standards help businesses rethink their building options, providing opportunities for cost savings. Halsell said much of the LEED philosophy would have been familiar to folks born a few generations ago.

“None of this is new. Waste not, want not,” she said. “LEED brings us back to this thinking.”

Specialized Real Estate Group of Fayetteville began the Eco Modern Flats project in July 2010 by gutting the 40-year-old, four-building Glendale Apartments in the 100 block of South Hill Avenue, aiming to create an energy-efficient and modern complex.

Smith, of the building council, wrote that the project was a good example of how an extensive renovation of an older apartment complex can make it both modern and more environmentally efficient. LEED projects get more credit for renovating existing structures than from new construction.

Jeremy Hudson, partner and chief executive officer of Specialized Real Estate Group, said the old apartment complex had good bones, being built primarily of concrete. The location was perfect from an environmental standpoint, being a short walk to the University of Arkansas, the public library and the city’s entertainment district on Dickson Street.

Today, the four buildings house 96 apartments. Each unit has 600 square feet and blends the studio and one bedroom concepts with the living area divided by a builtin media center/bookshelf arrangement.

Each apartment comes with energy-saving features such as a ductless heat and air system; insulation by Springdale-based BioBased Insulation, made in part with soybean oil; and hot water heated in part by thermal solar panels on the roof.

Other sustainable features include community gardens where residents can grow vegetables; a rainwater harvesting system that diverts water from the roof for use on the grounds; and a trellis arrangement allowing fastgrowing vegetation to shield parts of the building during the spring and summer heat.

Smith said platinum standard buildings are designed to save at least 30 percent in monthly water and utility costs.

Keeping utility costs low is important, since Eco Modern Lofts is master-metered, meaning the landlord pays the utilities. Hudson said it would have been too costly to shift the apartments to individual meters.

“We spent the money to make the complex energy efficient,” he said.

Apartments rent from $795 to $990 a month, including basic cable and Internet access. While all the apartments have the same interior size, some units rent for more because they have additional private patio space.

Hudson said his tenant mix is about 50 percent UA students, while others are older residents including some executives who work for either Wal-Mart Stores Inc. in Bentonville or for its vendors.

Corey Runnells, vice president of Specialized Real Estate Group, said the occupancy rate is 100 percent and that there is a waiting list for apartments. He said leases are for a minimum of one year.

“This is an advantage for us,” Runnells said. “Turnover is expensive.”

Halsell of the UA sustainability center said properties such as Eco Modern Flats are also an advantage for Fayetteville, making the city attractive to younger, more cosmopolitan job seekers who want to live a lifestyle consistent with their values.

“This is where they want to live,” Halsell said, “places like this.”

Business, Pages 25 on 12/14/2012

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