Fall 2007: Warmington Homes
The “Solar Advantage” Defines Vantage
By Scott Tiernan

In mid-2006, Cheryl O’Connor had a dilemma, one she reflected on for weeks. The Warmington Homes Vice President of Sales and Marketing was finalizing the list of features to be offered at Vantage, a new town home community in Palo Alto, Ca. The project had a list of “green” features that were already part of the community, but the City of Palo Alto had requested that the builder offer the homebuyers solar panels as an option.

O’Connor knew that homebuyers consider options to their new home very carefully. She was concerned that buyers would choose not to upgrade their homes with solar panels because of the additional up-front cost. O’Connor knew that this would be a huge benefit to the buyers over the next few years as they would spend fewer dollars on energy costs

O’Connor, a veteran of more than 25 years of homebuilding, knew that “going green” was a movement that was steadily gaining traction and momentum in the homebuilding industry, especially in Northern California. For several years, Warmington Homes had studied the impact of ramping up their efforts in integrating energy efficiency measures in their new home communities.

At an internal Warmington meeting in the fall of 2006, the decision was made and the city of Palo Alto was notified of the builder’s decision:

The builder would not offer the rooftop solar systems as an optional feature for Vantage homebuyers.

“No, we will go all-solar at Vantage,” said O’Connor. “The rooftop photovoltaic systems will be an included feature on every one of the homes here.”

And overnight, the largest solar-powered residential community ever built in Palo Alto (and the San Francisco Bay Area Peninsula for that matter) became a reality.

“We had studied our options and progress in going green for several years,” said O’Connor. “The fact is, going all-solar was an ideal choice for a new community in Palo Alto. There’s a very affluent, educated and environmentally focused pool of homebuyers here. It just came down to the fact that Vantage was the right neighborhood in the right city at the right time.” Page 2 The “Solar Advantage” Defines Vantage

Besides solar, Warmington integrated a host of additional energy efficient features at Vantage, including:

• tank less, on-demand water heaters
• dual-flush toilets
• energy efficient dishwasher, windows, air conditioning and heating
• drought resistant landscaping with drip irrigation
• motion sensors and climate control system to monitor lighting
• recycled fly ash in concrete
• engineered lumber
• formaldehyde-free fiberglass insulation
• low- or no-VOC paint and finishes

But the solar photovoltaic system is the most significant of Vantage’s green factors. Compared against the Green Points rating system developed by Alameda County (www.greenpointrated.org), Vantage scored 110 points, far exceeding the Green Points minimum of 50 points.

Buyer Andrew Yu, a director of engineering at nearby Yahoo, was attracted by both Vantage's Palo Alto address and its green features. "I definitely like the dual-flush toilet feature to save water," he said. "I think this is a really smart thing to do."

The Irvine, Calif.-based KTGY Group designed the 76-unit community in the inspired style of Joseph Eichler. In fact, Vantage is directly adjacent to a classic Eichler-built neighborhood in Palo Alto.

The Warmington Homes staff worked closely with the City of Palo Alto throughout the planning of the project. “Palo Alto was very enthusiastic about working with a homebuilder in putting in place a multi-faceted green building community,” said Lindsay Joye, a solar programs engineer with Palo Alto’s utility division.

“Warmington Homes went above and beyond what the city of Palo Alto suggested be included at Vantage from a solar energy perspective,” continued Joye. “This has really helped to call attention to Palo Alto’s efforts in encouraging our residents to consider going solar.”

O’Connor also recognized that homebuyers are increasingly aware of the impact of building practices on the health of the occupants and the environment. “There were a number of issues that impacted our decisions at Vantage,” said O’Connor. “We factored in health, quality of life, energy costs, building quality and dwindling natural resources.”

A fundamental goal of green building is to create “development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to meet their own needs” (The United Nations Commission on Sustainable Development)

One individual who recognizes that is Sam Zhou, a Vantage homeowner and Silicon Valley tech worker. Zhou was interested in the community’s green features - especially after experiencing the rolling blackouts in California during the summers of 2000 and 2001.

He is a big fan of the rooftop solar panel systems at Vantage. Zhou moved to the United States from China nearly twenty years ago. He said living in such an environmentally friendly home makes him feel good, especially after returning from China every year where he visits his parents.

"The pollution over there is so bad. When we were buying our home at Vantage, it's sort of all related," Zhou said. "You have to be conscious about the environment you're in so you can save it for the future generations."

Green homes are becoming more commonplace as homebuyers begin to recognize and appreciate the added value to the investment and the beneficial impact on the environment. With all the benefits to the homeowner it is easy to overlook the advantages green building offers to the environment.

Every Vantage home has a copy of a “Homeowner Manual of Green Features and Benefits” that helps homeowners to understand and maximize the performance of their new home.

Besides the standard green benefits incorporated into all the homes at Vantage, Warmington has offered an optional “Green Package of Interior Finishes.” The package includes products with low or no Volatile Organic Compounds (VOC’s), or formaldehyde, helping to improve indoor air quality.

Also featured are products made with recycled content and with materials that are naturally replenished in a shorter time span. Such environmentally friendly products provide superior comfort and performance while reducing stress on natural resources

Even in today’s challenging new home market, Vantage has proven to be very popular with Silicon Valley homebuyers. According to the Ryness Report, since opening in May 2007, Vantage has routinely attracted a large number of visitors, which in turn has translated into new home sales.

That fact has not gone un-noticed by other homebuilders in Silicon Valley who are now integrating similar green and sustainable features in their own new home neighborhoods.

Warmington’s O’Connor said the sales success at Vantage has led to a decision to incorporate green and sustainable elements to more of the builder’s new home communities in Northern California.

“We’re going to evaluate the use of solar and green elements on a community by community basis as we move forward. Vantage has been a tremendous experience for us. We were very pleased at how many homebuyers said going green was an important factor in their home buying decision. We now have great opportunities ahead of us to put into place on a larger scale all the best green building practices and features that are found at Vantage”