Sloan Ritchie's LEED Platinum Home in Seattle's Madison Valley neighborhood. Photo by John Wiley.

A Tale of Two Green Developers

Joshua McNichols
05/06/2009

Sustainable development comes in all shades of green. Some developers achieve maximum sustainability, but sell their homes at a high price. Other developers crank out inexpensive green homes that take only baby steps towards sustainability. So which kind of developer creates the biggest impact?

A little fluorescent light flickers on in a closet full of equipment. Developer Sloan Ritchie leans inside and points to the thermostat on his water tank. It says 130 degrees. Warm enough for a long, hot shower. And all heated by solar power.

Ritchie: "This tank is capturing the sun's rays from outside and heating water in tubes outside. And it's putting that hot water down in this tank to store it for later use."

Ritchie's Madison Valley house achieved a sustainability rating known as LEED Platinum. Ritchie says term LEED means the project has been audited by an independent party.

Ritchie: "It's a lot like when you go to the store and buy organic. There's 'organic' and there's 'all natural.' And 'all natural' means virtually nothing. And 'organic' means whoever it is has inspected the facility, and made sure they're not using pesticides."

The platinum rating means Ritchie's home is one of the most sustainable homes in the country. To make the grade, Ritchie had to rethink just about every component of this building.

Ritchie: "So, out front where the cars are parking, this is Grasscrete. So, basically it's a web of concrete with grass growing out of it. I'm not a big fan of grass, for a number of reasons, but at least in this case you don't have to mow it. You just have to drive on it once in awhile."

His roof is covered with dirt and plants. Ritchie says they keep the house cool. His walls are built with super efficient panels. They're custom made in a Tacoma factory.

Ritchie: "It's built like the wall of a cooler. There's the exterior skin, the interior skin, and mostly it's just foam every where."

Ritchie: "Dual flush toilets."

McNichols: "Oh, you've got dual flush?"

Ritchie: "Yeah, dual flush."

McNichols: "What does that mean?"

Ritchie: "What's a good way to put this? Solids and liquids. You don't always have to use the maximum amount of water, depending on your purposes."

But Ritchie couldn't sell his house. Not for what he considered a reasonable price. He hoped to get well over $700,000. And that's the problem, these homes are expensive. That puts them out of reach for some first–time home buyers. And realtors say first–time home buyers are driving the real estate market right now.

On the other end of town, another developer hopes to snag those first–time home buyers with the promise of an affordable green home.

Howland: "My name's Matt Howland, and I'm the owner of Howland Homes."

Howland shows off one of his townhomes in a project next to Bitter Lake. This one's listed for $299,000. That's less than half the price of Ritchie's place.

Howland: "So in the bedroom here, you can see although it's a very small space, it does have its own thermostat to control the heat in here, just like all the bedrooms."

The thermostats are on timers. They're programmed to heat only the rooms you need, when you need them. That way you don't heat empty rooms. The walls have extra insulation. The dishwashers are energy efficient.

Those touches are typical of Howland's townhomes. They're not flashy. But they're more efficient than most of what's out there.

At these townhomes, you won't find a green roof, or even a dual flush toilet. You won't find a solar–powered water heater, just a plain old Energy Star water heater. Some argue these homes don't go far enough.

Howland: "I can appreciate that view. But I also know that most of our buyers are stretched to the limit of what they can afford."

Howland admits his homes aren't as sustainable as Ritchie's. But he argues he's doing more for the planet.

Howland: "I don't think it's gonna be one or two homes, or 100 homes in the city of Seattle that, you know, change the world. But I do think it'll be 10,000 homes, where people are making small changes to the way they live every day."

Howland's project is certified under the Built Green 3–star program. That's kind of an entry level certification. For a home to qualify, a builder first takes a class, then fills out a sustainability checklist for each home. No one comes by to check the builder's claims. The program's director says that could change next year, but for now, the rating system lacks accountability.

There are huge differences between Sloan Ritchie and Matt Howland. Ritchie's homes push sustainability farther, but few can afford them. Howland reaches more people, but uses a troubled rating system.

So which developer has the bigger impact?

Mallory: "I would say both. You need the extremes."

That's Sandra Mallory. She runs Seattle's green building program. Her job is to encourage more developers to go green.

Mallory: "You need one end that's really pushing the envelope and showing how far you can go. And on the other hand, you have just your average builders who aren't going to take any risks. And the fact that they're building three stars is great. So if it gets them into the game, that's great."

Mallory hopes builders who see success in the Built–Green 3–star program will move on up to more stringent rating systems. She says every year, sustainability becomes more and more affordable.

Maybe in a few years, developers like Howland and Ritchie won't seem so far apart.

For KUOW, I'm Joshua McNichols.

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