Green Builder Magazine names Oak Terrace Preserve one of nation’s leading green residential projects

The December issue of Green Builder Magazine, a publication of the Cincinnati, Ohio-based Green Builder Media Company, has named the City of North Charleston’s Oak Terrace Preserve green neighborhood as one of its first annual “Home of the Year Awards” (www.greenbuildermag.com). Oak Terrace Preserve is the only neighborhood named among 12 winners located throughout North America, and one of only two projects in the Southeastern United States to receive the prestigious honor. The December Green Builder is being distributed to members of the National Association of Home Builders.

According to Green Builder Editor in Chief Cati O’Keefe, the selection process focused on factors like homes built to the regional climate, in addition to sustainable approaches to storm water management, public spaces, the use of recycled materials, energy savings, conservation of the natural environment and water resources, and other ‘green’ building approaches. Marketing of the respective projects does not play a role in the selection process, which included three leading national building industry professionals. Several honorees were located on the West Coast of the United States and Canada. In the Southeast, only the Vedic Green Home in Vero Beach, Florida, made the Green Builder list along with Oak Terrace Preserve. Throughout North America, 57 projects were considered by the panel, with 12 winners selected.

“This honor clearly illustrates that North Charleston is evolving into a sustainable city,” says Mayor R. Keith Summey. “Along with other national and regional honors the City has received for its efforts to promote sustainable communities this year, this is a sign that the city is fast becoming a place where younger families are moving to, something you would have not seen just five years ago.”

Oak Terrace Preserve is owned by the City of North Charleston, and managed by the Noisette Company, LLC. Upon build-out, the 55-acre Oak Terrace Preserve will have 300 single family residences and 74 town homes. All homes are built to EarthCraft® standards of the Atlanta, Georgia-based Southface Energy Institute, and contain recycled building materials, in addition to major water and energy conservation features and appliances. The neighborhood’s storm water management system, which extensively uses bioswales, has been praised as the first of its type in South Carolina by environmentalists and building industry experts.

In 2008, Oak Terrace Preserve has received unprecedented recognition for the City of North Charleston. International ‘green’ consultant Jerry Yudelson’s book,

Choosing Green: A Homebuyer’s Guide to Good, Green Homes, named Oak Terrace Preserve as one of the nation’s top green residential developments.

Last July, Cottage Living magazine, a sister publication of Southern Living which Time, Inc. has since ceased publication during the current economic downturn, named OTP as one of the nation’s leading communities for adaptive reuse and infill development.

Earlier, in the fall, Mayor Summey was awarded the “Leadership in the Public Sector” award for 2008 by the South Carolina Chapter of the US Green Building Council, due largely for his leadership in the 3,000-acre master planned Noisette Community revitalization project, which includes a number of projects like Oak Terrace Preserve, the I’on Group’s Mixson development, GARCO, Horizon Village, the East Montague Business Corridor redevelopment, and the Navy Yard at Noisette.

Currently, Oak Terrace Preserve has approximately 30 homes occupied, 10 under contract, and 16 available for sale. The neighborhood’s first phase of infrastructure is complete, including bioswales, pocket parks, native landscaping, signage, pervious-paver alleys and a flexi-pave perimeter path.

More information on the Green Builder selections for 2008 can be accessed online at greenbuildermag.com. For more background information on Oak Terrace Preserve, go to oakterracepreservesc.com .