2022 Built Green Hammer Award Winners

As per tradition, at the 2022 Built Green Conference we recognized Built Green’s outstanding builders and advocates during our annual Built Green Hammer Award ceremony. The best projects from the past year were highlighted and Built Green supporters were recognized for their contributions to the program. This year the award plaques were made from sallvaged madrona planks that were cut from sustainable, urban-harvested logs from the Pacific Northwest.

Award Plaque

Award Category: Builder, Custom or Small Speculative, less than 10 homes

Winner: Krekow Jennings

Project: Lakeshore NZE Residence

Description: Krekow Jennings built a nearly 10,000SF net positive energy luxury lakeshore home. Hoedemaker Pfeiffer LLC’s design combined high performance building, meticulous craftsmanship, materials, and architecture of the PNW. Passive House Standards for air tightness were achieved with an astounding 0.057 CFM/SF at 50 pascals. Environmentally sustainable materials and practices were prioritized across its design and construction. Resulting in a home that attained net positive energy production, Built Green 5-star, LEED Platinum, and a HERS rating of -27. This project contradicts the perception that luxury homes and sustainability are mutually exclusive.

Award Category: Builder, Small Production, 10 to 100 homes

Winner: Homestead Community Land Trust

Project: The Village Gardens

Description: The Village Gardens project brought affordability and environmental sustainability together to expand homeownership opportunities in the Central District to income-qualified households. Developed through a partnership of Homestead Community Land Trust and Edge Developers on surplus land provided by the City of Seattle, sixteen three-bedroom, energy-efficient homes were certified to Built Green 4-Star and Evergreen Sustainable Development standards.

Hammer Award Winners - Homestead Community Land Trust

Award Category: Builder, Large Production, over 100 homes

Winner: Isola Homes

Description: Isola Homes is a locally owned company dedicated to building homes that embody the evolving needs of homeowners and communities. They are committed to providing quality contributions to Seattle’s neighborhoods by embracing sustainable design and focusing on environmental stewardship. Over the past year, they have continued to focus on maximizing the sustainability of their homes by including amenities like EV conduits for future charging capability, community bike racks, AeroBarrier technology, drought-tolerant landscaping, and energy efficient lighting.

Award Category: Builder, Small Multifamily, less than 50 units

Winner: Lake Gardens

Project: Lake Gardens Apartments

Description: Lake Gardens built a airy and elegant ten unit building in Seattle’s Greenlake neighborhood were new to Built Green certification, but embraced the process with their verifier and earned their first 4-star project. They enhanced Lake Gardens Apartments’ environmental sustainability through natural and man-made strategies. Integrated gardens include underground drip systems, large bio-planters and varieties of blooming plants. The building utilized high efficiency windows, solar panels on the roof, recirculating hot water system, heat pump water heaters, air penetration sealing, and insulation.

Award Category: Builder, Large Multifamily, 50 to 150 Units

Winner: Kamiak Real Estate

Project: Sora Apartments

Description: Kamiak Real Estate develops multifamily assets in Seattle's urban neighborhoods. By concentrating on neighborhoods with existing transportation, walkability, and a strong community fabric they decrease the impact of development. Sora Apartments features a modern 54-unit boutique multifamily building located in Seattle’s University District. The project replaced a former single-family home, achieving a density of nearly 500 units per acre with no parking, adding to the inherent sustainability attributable to high density development.

Award Category: Builder, Large Multifamily, over 150 Units

Winner: Emerald Bay Equity

Project: Iron Flats Apartments

Description: Emerald Bay Equity constructed a 289-unit development in the Roosevelt neighborhood of Seattle, easily visible from I-5 north. The three-building development was completed in the summer of 2021. Iron Flats offers an abundance of public and private green spaces in addition to curated amenity spaces ranging from rooftop gardens to fully equipped fitness facilities.

Award Category: Builder, Remodel

Winner: The Cottage Company

Project: Ida Pearl House

Description: The Cottage Company’s latest remodel took inspiration from the home’s original 1928 construction and by the 19th century farmhouse ‘compounds’ of clustered worker cottages. The 4-star certified Ida Pearl House is located in the Olympic Hills neighborhood of Seattle. In addition to the remodel the builder also increased density by adding a brand-new Built Green 4-star certified DADU.

During the remodel the project team sought to preserve as much of the existing cottage as possible including elements like the clear fir and oak flooring with inlay, mouldings, arched doorways, divided light windows, stone fireplace, and ‘Dutch’ front door. Finishing the existing basement and built-up portions of the roof increased its total livable area. Read the Built Green case study.

Award Category: Built Green Advocate Private Sector

Winner: Dan Wildenhaus and BetterBuiltNW

Description: Dan Wildenhaus and BetterBuiltNW have been completely immersed in the discussion of what is required to create High Performance Buildings and the technologies that operate within them. They have contributed considerable hours to help answer the hard questions, create tools and resources for builders to accelerate adoption of high-performance building practices, partner on Washington State Energy code proposals, and explaining the energy code in practical terms. Built Green deeply appreciates this long-standing partnership.

Award Category: Built Green Advocate Public Sector

Winner: Greg Davenport, Mitsubishi Electric Trane HVAC US

Description: Greg has worked with high performance builders, Built Green, and the HVAC industry in the Pacific Northwest to help promote energy efficient VCHP systems to the high-performance residential construction market around the country. They are a routine ally for Built Green and its members to achieve cost-effective high performance and efficient mechanical designs, provide valuable education, and energy code guidance.

Award Category: Built Green Pioneer

Winner: Linda Pruitt, The Cottage Company

Description: Linda has championed diversity of housing types and the cottage community movement in our region for over 20 years. Using her historical-preservation lens she strives to honor a neighborhood’s character while increasing density with a yes-in-my-backyard attitude. She has continually contributed her expertise to city planning and community leadership groups as a resource for new housing choices, green building, and sustainable development. She currently serves as a member of the Cascade Land Conservancy Cascade Agenda Cities Advisory Board, and as an Executive Committee member of the Northwest Architectural League/ARCADE.

Award Category: Project of the Year

Winner: Salish Way III Co-Op Cottages

Builder: Lopez Community Land Trust

Description: To date, Lopez Community Land Trust has developed 54 permanently affordable cooperative cottage homes on this project. The latest phase provided 4 new homes and was constructed during the height of the 2020 pandemic with homeowners, volunteers, contractors, all working together. As lumber prices soared, increasing some construction materials by 200%, over 2,462 hours were contributed by homeowners and local volunteers. Each cottage is just under 700 square feet and cost the builder roughly $314/SF. The cottages utilized Structural Insulated Panels (SIPS) for ease of construction and to accommodate social distancing. Additional features include air sealing characteristics; passive solar and cooling design; induction ranges; Heat Pump for indoor heating/cooling; LED lighting; and Douglas Fir milled on site for reverse board and batten siding. The cottages are connected to a rainwater catchment system for irrigation and will soon be connected to a community solar system as part of our net-zero energy goal. To learn more about this community, read the Built Green case study.

Congratulations to all our 2022 Built Green Hammer Award Winners!! We can’t wait to see what exciting projects we get to review next year.

Vital Stats	Section	Points
Location: Seattle Star Level: 4-Star Checklist: 2018 Single Family Checklist Verifier: Evergreen Certified	Site and Water	134
Energy Efficiency	136
Health and Indoor Air Quality	101
Material Efficiency	71
	Total Score	531

Developed through a partnership of Homestead Community Land Trust and Edge Developers on surplus land provided by the City of Seattle, these award-winning three-bedroom townhomes are Built Green 4-Star certified. The development includes ten homes priced affordably, between $237,000 and $302,000, for income-qualified households and six market-rate units.

Accelerating home prices in the City of Seattle have pushed many of its residents to southern cities’ suburban neighborhoods like Renton’s Sunset neighborhood in search of lower rents and home prices. While run-away housing prices in King County affect most residents, it is especially hard-hitting on people who have experienced discrimination. Homestead’s work to provide income-appropriate homeownership opportunities to qualified households puts ownership within reach. Homestead has a 57% ownership rate by people of color compared to 28% in King County as a whole.

King County Homeownership

To address this disparity in homeownership rates Village Gardens was the first affordable homeownership project that utilized the City of Seattle’s Community Preference Policy as part of the buyer selection process for the affordable housing units. The Community Preference Policy gives preference in resident selection based on imminent or past displacement of residents from defined areas where displacement has occurred.

The Village Gardens’ partnership between the developers and Africatown Community Land Trust worked to assure the development benefits historic residents and leaders of the Central District including efforts to reach and support potential buyers and Black contractor participation. As a result, Black contractors secured $1 million in subcontracts on the project (20%). The total Women and Minority Owned Business participation in contracts was 40%.

"Too often we are given a forced choice to either build for affordability or sustainability. It's urgent that we build more affordable housing. It's urgent that we address climate change. We must reject this false choice. We must do both now. This project demonstrates how it is possible to do both." - Kathleen Hosfeld, Executive Director, Homestead Community Land Trust

Energy efficiency, on-site solar energy generation, proximity to large employers, and nearby bicycle routes and frequent public transportation are a model for sustainable urban living. The development was named through a community process which recognizes historic use of the property as an unofficial community garden that brought together the diverse cultures living together in the neighborhood.

Village Gardens by Homestead Community Land Trust and Edge Developers

Built Green Highlights

Site and Water

87% of stormwater mitigated onsite
33%+ permeable hardscaping
Drought-tolerant landscaping
Low-flow EPA WaterSense plumbing fixtures
Proximity to I-90 bike trail and transit stops

Energy Efficiency

69.6% improvement over 2015 WSEC
All electric
73.84 kW generated by solar PV over 16 units
Heat pump water heaters and ductless mini-split space conditioning
Full continuous rigid insulation beyond code beneath slab on grade
100% LED lighting
Energy Star appliances in all units

Health and Indoor Air Quality

Low VOC paints, adhesives, finishes
Greenguard Gold certified LVP flooring in units
Rainscreen installed under siding
Whole house timer and exhaust fans on humidistat
No gas-burning appliances inside house

Materials Efficiency

75% construction waste recycled and diverted from the landfill
Regionally made products used for doors, windows, cabinets, and millwork
Limited carpet using a CRI Green Label Plus certified wool carpet
Extensive engineered lumber
Recycled content included in fiber cement siding, carpet padding, roofing, insulation materials

Equity and Social Justice

62% of units are priced as workforce housing
Site selected, designed, and constructed to counter known disparities in homeownership and higher risk of displacement in the Central District and among black community members
Community partnerships and engagement to assure the development benefits historic residents and leaders of the Central District
Utilized an alternative development and ownership model (land trust) to create additional pathway to homeownership
40% Women and Minority Owned Business participation in contracts, Black contractors secured 20%, valued at $1 million, in subcontracts on the project
Built within a short walk of a transit stop, I-90 bike trail, and large city park
Landscaped with low maintenance outdoor spaces

Village Gardens by Homestead Community Land Trust and Edge Developers

village-gardens-delivering-4-star-climate-resilient-affordability

Built Green™

05/16/2017

Member Story: TC Legend Homes

By Sadie July Normoyle, Built Green Coordinator

Ted Clifton Jr. has been involved with Built Green since 2009 and has built three projects with us, in addition to other homes outside of King and Snohomish counties. All of the projects certified through us by his company, TC Legend Homes, are 5-Star Built Green.

Ted was awarded Project of the Year at the 2016 Built Green Conference for his two-home net zero energy project in the Victory Heights neighborhood of Seattle. These homes were constructed using Structural Insulated Panels (SIPs)—one of the trademarks of Ted’s work. The homes include many advanced energy efficiency measures, in addition to the 9.5 kW solar arrays on each roof. They also meet 100% rainwater infiltration on site, have continuous exhaust ventilation, and used salvaged materials from the previous home. These projects were featured in a past Built Green Case Study.

Ted first became involved with Built Green because his father and a client encouraged him. He had already been building 3-Star Built Green homes in Bellingham, which inspired him to do even better. He originally started building sustainable and Built Green homes because he wanted the most stout, durable homes and thought Built Green was a good representation of the “epitome of green.” With his first net zero home, however, he realized that he could drastically reduce the amount of energy needed to maintain a home, or even eliminate it, and actually provide extra energy to power an electric car or two.

This point is often how he communicates the advantages of his projects, as compared to code built homes, to buyers. He explains that the homes make their own power, with some to spare. Ted has also found that the demand for these types of über green homes has been increasing. As he explained, he frequently gets ten or more emails a week from people wanting TC Legend Homes to build them a home.

2016 Built Green Conference Project of the Year by TC Legend Homes

Currently, he is working on an Emerald Star project that is pushing the boundaries of his company’s process even further. The house will make its own power and collect its own water. When asked what his favorite project so far is, he replied, “my current project, because it is always a step better than the last.”

In terms of the future, Ted is excited to see increases in efficiency in envelope systems, windows, heat pumps, and solar technology. He also mentions lighting, appliances, and toilets that just keep getting better and better. When talking about his company, he states that they are making a company whose movement is focused towards education and innovation and just building enough houses to continue their research and development.

In parting, Ted shared “our crew works three days per week, I commute in an electric car, and have a mullet.”

Thank you, Ted (and your mullet), for all your work with Built Green! We look forward to the projects you have coming up and are eager to see the completion of your first Emerald Star project!

member-story-tc-legend-homes