Some of you may be in Park City for the Sundance Film Festival this week, and while you're in town, you might want to go check out some green projects.  Probably the greenest building in Utah is located near Kimball Junction — Swaner EcoCenter — it's a must tour facility and nature preserve.  Another project worth checking out, and maybe worth buying, is a three townhouse community called Tahoma.  With Tahoma, a local developer took a dive into green development waters and ended up achieving the first Built Green Utah certified residential development in Park City.  Tahoma was developed by Baker Street Properties, and based upon my communications with the developer, they're ready to build even greener for future projects. 

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Last month, Heyday Partnership began construction on a slick small lot development called Rock Row.  Located in the Eagle Rock area, which is north of downtown LA, Rock Row will feature town home-esque (no party wall) properties at affordable-ish ($475k-$550k) prices.  Believe it or not — those of you outside of New York and California, Rock Row is considered one of the first, reasonably-priced, green housing projects in Los Angeles.  The development team includes an architect, developer, and builder working in collaboration, so Heyday is able to pass on affordability to future home buyers.

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Check out these modern green town homes being developed by Yolande Nicholson called Nzinga Town Homes.  Designed by Garrison Architects (the same firm that brought you the Tread Lightly House), each Nzinga Town Home residence consists of 2900 total square feet with 2000 sf of living space and 900 sf for a separate apartment space.  The homes are open, airy, and abundant with natural light, but if you’re looking for a little privacy, the vertical trellis work seems just right for a green wall and some natural shading. 

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This is The Union by architect and developer Jonathan Segal Architect.  The project gets its name from its prior life as the union hall for San Diego’s textile manufacturing business.  When the textile union moved away, the building fell into disrepair, and rather than demolish it, Jonathan Segal decided to adaptively reuse the structure to create sustainable live/work units and his own architectural office.  The Union now includes additional buildings that, in total, comprise 13 residential loft units, of which some are market-rate and some are affordable.  Also, the rooftop solar panels provide ~50% of the units’ energy needs.

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Every now and then, Michelle Kaufmann gives us a rendering or a glimpse of a development she’s working on in Colorado.  Part of the development involves the design of new housing for the Sisters of St. Francis.  The other part is a private, multifamily townhouse development adjacent to the Sisters’ housing.  The townhouse community called Aria Denver promises to bring clean, green, and pure living to northwest Denver starting in 2009.

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