Creekstone Franklin Tennessee
Creekstone is the first neighborhood in Tennessee where all 263 homes will receive the following energy efficiency and green building certifications:• ENERGY STAR Qualification
• U.S. Dept. of Energy's Builders Challenge Program
• Middle Tennessee Electric's Green Homes Plus Program
• EPA ENERGY STAR Indoor Air Package
• Certified by the NAHB Research Center as part of the National Green Building Program of the National Association of Home Builders
"If you can save $100 a month in your energy bills it's worth $15,000 of a mortgage," said developer Don Shepherd
"We wanted to try to create a product that truly has a differentiated benefit. And that would hopefully drive, we want it to be beautiful outside, beautiful inside, but also behind the walls," he said.
Don Shepard also said heating, cooling, and hot water are the biggest contributers to the cost of energy bills. The Creekside model home has added insulation and a heat pump water heater which help conserve as much as 75 percent of energy.
The development also has the seal of approval of the officials of the City of Franklin, TN. "Developments such as this are going to be very important to the people of Franklin that are very energy efficient and good places to live, healthy places to live," said Franklin Alderman Ken Moore.
The growth of these energy efficient developments will have a long term impact on the resale values of older homes as people become more and more aware of the financial benefits of living in a home that reduces their energy costs and is also environmentally friendly. The energy costs for the national grid will also be reduced and will add to the reduction of the nations carbon foot print as a whole.
When more subdivisions go green, overall energy costs drop.
"And any time you can build a subdivision with the energy efficiency standards that you're talking about here, you're making a difference in terms of reducing that overall investment in the costs for equipment that's very expensive to provide power," said Tom Moreland, residential marketing supervisor for Middle Tennessee Electric Membership Cooperative.
The Creekstone developers said that the homes will cost from around $200,000 and a maximum of $700,000
