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Shea Homes and Built Green: The beginning of something "better"Renowned builder sees value in green messageBy: Ken Slattery Shea Homes has earned a reputation as one of the premier builders in the area, winning accolades from J.D. Power and other consumer outlets and the respect of competitors for their proven ability to provide stylish, high-quality homes and superior customer service. Shea's recent decision to join ranks with the Built Green program is the most convincing among many recent indicators that the perceived equivalence of green building and quality building is becoming better established for homebuilders and homebuyers across the state. "As an environmentally-conscious company, we've been building green for years," says Chester T. "Chetter" Latcham, president of Shea Homes Colorado, describing his decision to partner with the nation's largest green building program. "We're pleased to be part of this nationally recognized pro-gram, and know that our homeowners will recognize and appreciate owning a Built Green home." THE PROOF IS IN THE PERFORMANCEOften, bringing on a new builder of Shea Homes' size requires a certain amount of hand-holding on the program's part, a process of gradually ramping up builders' standards until they attain a level of consistent, worry-free compliance with the Built Green checklist. Not so with Shea Homes. Preliminary performance testing from Melissa Shaughnessy, a rater with Energy Smiths Inc., returned ratings that were suggestive of a builder long steeped in the exacting trial and error of energy efficient design. Steve Byers is the principal at Energy Smiths, and has worked with dozens of builders in various markets around the country. He was impressed with the performance of the Shea product, finding it "... remarkable that a builder without a long history of energy testing can achieve at this level; they're at nearly an 89 HERS, which places them squarely in line with the most efficient production homes in the state." Shea has for some time touted the value of an energy-efficient product line in an era of rocketing utility rates but has not until now had either the benefit of comparative feed-back (their scores represent roughly a 35 percent improvement over code) or the on-site presence of a Built Green rater/consultant to guide them toward even higher levels of overall performance and customer satisfaction. "CARE," CONTINUEDShea Homes has actively adopted a philosophy of "caring" - for families, neighborhoods, and for the larger community - in its pursuit of providing the best possible value to customers. The participation with Built Green is a logical expansion of that circle of concern, a clear message to their prospective customers that quality of life ex-tends beyond the building envelope to encompass the protection of the natural wonders that bring people to the Front Range in the first place. Built Green is honored by Shea's decision to co-brand with the program - the first partner-ship of its kind for the builder. Shea and the entire roster of Built Green builders can rest assured that Built Green will continue to earn their loyalty by heightening the awareness among Coloradans that a Built Green home is better built and better for the environment. |
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2008 Built Green Colorado
Home Builders Association of Metro Denver, 9033 E. Easter Place, Suite 200,
Centennial, CO 80112 Last Updated: 01/14/2005 |