Eco-friendly townhouses rise in Tower Grove South









By Jim Merkel

Tuesday, June 5, 2007 3:24 PM CDT





Future residents of four townhouses now under construction at Gustine and McDonald avenues won't be complaining as much as their neighbors about the high price of gas and electricity.



The residences will be certified "green," which means they've met a set of standards meant to show that they have energy efficiency, water efficiency and minimize their impact on the earth.



Jason Stone, principal of Sage Homebuilders, builder of the townhouses, estimates the energy savings in the 1,800-square-foot homes in the Tower Grove South neighborhood will be 35 to 50 percent of a similar-size home.



Emily Andrews, coordinator of the St. Louis Regional Chapter of the Green Building Council, a nonprofit group with about 450 members in the building industry, said one survey puts potential energy savings at 35 to 50 percent in green buildings.



The Gustine Townhomes are among a handful of green homes now going up in the city. Sage Homebuilders is developing two homes in Dogtown.



But many more may be on the way.



"In the last six months to a year the interest is definitely growing," Andrews said. "Just based on the number of phone calls we get we know that people are interested."



A downside is that the extra insulation, super-efficient furnaces and air conditioners and other features of green homes can make them two to five percent more expensive, Andrews said. But she added, "Your mortgage might be a little more, but your energy bills are going to be less."



Stone maintains that the $299,900 base price of his Gustine Townhomes is competitive with similar homes in the area. The townhouses, with partial brick exteriors, each have three bedrooms, two and one-half baths and a two-car basement garage.



At the center of the buildings are highly efficient furnaces and air conditioners that are more efficient than those in other new homes and much more efficient than units in older homes.



A thick insulation surrounds the buildings and special windows keep out the heat in the summer and keep it in in the winter.



The plumbing system consists of cross-linked polyethylene hoses instead of copper pipes. That keeps water warmer and won't burst if the heat goes off. Since there are no soldered connections, the hoses won't leak.



To reduce the effect on forests, much of the lumber is chipped wood.



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Stellar, Thanks for posting the pics -they look wonderful. I tend to agree that when they have a common stair it begins to look like a duplex. However this is still an amazing project and will be an asset to the neighborhood.



In regards to the time they're taking, I think developers drag their feet through projects when they don't have a buyer. (I'm not in this business, this is only from what I've heard from other developers) They do that so if someone comes forward and wants to make changes they can be made, and there are probably some financial benefits to taking their time with the banks and contractors.



Once again thanks for the pics!!!

Those look really good, especially from the corner.