Lansing-based green developer Gene Townsend and the Ingham County Land Bank are working together to build what will likely be Lansing’s first gold-certified LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) residential building.
The $123,000 development encompasses a piece of land in Old Town Lansing on the southwest corner of Maple and Chestnut.
Townsend say he expects to get most if the building’s LEED points from its energy efficient components.
The house will have a panelized insulation system and use SIPs, or structural insulated panels used in floors, walls and roofs on residential units.
“What [SIPs] gives you is a building envelope which is very energy efficient,” Townsend says, adding that the house will also include energy efficient mechanical equipment.
Eric Schertzing, chair of the Ingham County Land Bank, says Old Town is the perfect neighborhood for the project.
“This is a nice, beautiful parcel to being doing this on,” he says. “We want to do everything we can to reposition the image of the area."
The Land Bank generally renovates properties. This is its the sixth new construction project in the last two years.
“We certainly will, as time and financial restrictions allow, try to bring more LEED-certified houses to the market,” Schertzing says.
Townsend broke ground on the property in mid-September, and expects construction to be complete by December. He anticipates the finished home to sell for $140,000 to $150,000.
Source: Lisa Smith, Donovan & Smith
Ivy Hughes, development news editor, can be reached here.
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