Brick Avenue Lofts has earned LEED Gold certification! LEED, which stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is based on standards developed by the US Green Building Council and is the leading system for rating green buildings. Qualifying projects meet the highest standards in categories including sustainable site development, water savings, energy efficiency, materials selection and indoor environmental quality.
“The project conserves land by providing density on an urban lot,” says Meredith Hendricks, Director of Sustainability Operations for Entegrity, “This means that per acre of land area developed, there are more housing units than normal. Brick Avenue Lofts has 32 dwelling units per acre of land which means it’s saving our valuable resource of open space and protecting farmland and other natural resource areas from development.”
In keeping with the Specialized Real Estate Group Indoor Air Quality Pledge, the apartments’ design prioritizes indoor air quality, including a fresh air system that brings in filtered outdoor air, indoor materials that emit less volatile organic compounds, and careful separation from unit to unit.
Units are all designed to be energy efficient including carefully detailed and sealed building envelopes, energy-efficient appliances and energy-efficient lighting. All of these things add up to produce an average HERS Index Score of 49 – meaning that the apartments are 51% more energy efficient than the typical reference home.
“I’m really proud of our team for bringing the place to life,” said Specialized CEO Jeremy Hudson. “In addition to green design and construction, our operations team has designed and implemented a recycling program including food waste composting, and has created an urban farm and programs to encourage active transportation.”
Brick Avenue Lofts is the sixth project by Specialized Real Estate Group to attain LEED certification, with a total of 1.5 million square feet of LEED-certified buildings in Washington and Benton Counties.
