PORTLAND, OR - That was a major finding of the approximately 13,000 public surveys compiled and released last year as part of VisionPDX, the community vision project championed by Mayor Tom Potter. Such results help explain why various city agencies and the Metro regional government are trying to create green housing for families with young children. Now a local nonprofit agency that builds and sells new homes is showing how it can be done. HOST Development Inc. is finishing work on the first homes in its Helensview Homes development, the first traditional single-family neighborhood project in town to receive LEED-ND (Neighborhood Development) certification. "Our goal is to prove that green living can be affordable," said HOST deputy director Ted Salter.
The development is located near Northeast 64th Avenue and Killingsworth Street. When completed, it will include 40 new homes and 12 flat-stacked condominiums, all designed to meet LEED and Energy Star standards. Environmentally friendly features range from nontoxic paint to low-flow water fixtures to native landscaping.
Prices will range from $196,000 for a two-bedroom home to $248,000 for a four-bedroom one. That is well below the current $339,900 median home price in Portland and even less than the $286,000 median home price for the metropolitan region, which includes Clark County. HOST is able to keep the prices low for several reasons. Among other things, it does not make a profit and has access to low-interest loans not available to conventional builders.
The organization also builds long-term partnerships with companies that provide goods and services at reduced costs. And it bought the land four years ago, when prices were lower."We wanted to show that with good planning, efficient building techniques and reasonable cost cutting, we could build sustainable homes at an affordable cost," HOST executive director John Miller said.
"It's a common misconception that green building has to be a luxury item," said Devin Culbertson, HOST assistant project manager. "People may choose to use bamboo flooring or expensive recycled materials to earn LEED points, but by switching to good insulation, efficient windows and low-flow fixtures you can get more substantial benefits with minimal cost increases.
"At HOST, we've been building to Earth Advantage Standards for years, which gave us a head start at Helensview. When we took additional steps to get LEED certification, we focused on functional solutions, even if they're not the most glamorous."
Source: Valley Times