01/08/09

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Biggest-ever green homes set for South Florida

Rendering of a $29 million home in Palm Beach County that is being built to green specifications.

Is it possible to combine luxury with green? That's what one South Florida builder is about to find out.

After 20 years of building mansions that sell for as much as $135 million, Frank McKinney, a developer in South Florida's Delray Beach, is betting on the fact that he'll be able to find just one buyer who can afford an ultra-luxury home, but will want it to be green.

In July, McKinney started construction on a speculative 15,000-square-foot, ocean-to-Intracoastal mansion in Manalapan in Palm Beach County; he claims the home will be the largest and most expensive certified environmentally friendly house ever built. The asking price: $29 million.

While it may be hard to believe that a 15,000-square-foot home could even be considered green, McKinney is building the house to the standards of the U.S. Green Building Council and the Florida Green Building Council. He claimed that he's seen "the green light" and is already planning to build a second green house for which he plans to seek LEED Platinum certification — the highest green classification.

"We want to set the standard for environmentally responsible luxury construction practices," said McKinney.

McKinney calls the $29 million home, which has seven bedrooms and 11 bathrooms, Acqua Liana, the Tahitian phrase for "water flower." The design is inspired by his trips to Bali, Fiji, Tahiti and Hawaii.

The three-story home will feature thatched roofs, meandering water gardens, an interior acrylic floor with moving water below, a 24-foot water wall with a fog/smoke screen on which moving images will be projected, a suspended double-helix glass staircase and a guesthouse constructed out of palm and bamboo that is partially submerged in a lagoon.

In addition to those showy green touches, the home will have an impressive environmentally efficient infrastructure.

It will have enough solar panels to cover a regulation basketball court (and generate enough energy for two average-size homes); a water system that collects an amount of "gray" runoff water that would fill an average swimming pool every 14 days; enough reclaimed wood to save 7.5 acres of Brazilian rainforest; and pools, water gardens and spray misters to lower the temperature in the home by 3 to 5 degrees. During the building, crews will recycle 340,000 pounds of debris.

According to Rob Hink, president of the South Florida chapter of the U.S. Green Building Council, former vice president Al Gore's environmental crusade has raised awareness about global warming and created more demand for homes that don't pollute. That demand, Hink said, has led to an increase in the number of builders interested in constructing green homes.

For some developers, building green is also a tool to help give them a leg up on the competition in the tanking Florida market.

"I think green features can be used as a marketing tool," said Tedd Gatteau, a real estate agent with Regency Realty Services in Boca Raton. Gatteau said those who are interested in owning green homes won't be turned off if developers also exploit those features in their advertising and marketing.

And on top of the bragging rights they get for being socially conscious, buyers also reap health and financial benefits when their homes are efficient. The resultant properties will have lower energy and water bills and reduced greenhouse gas emissions.

"I'm not the kind of guy who is going to go out on my lunch break, hug a tree and then eat granola," said McKinney. "I'm a businessman first. But when you dovetail responsible environment stewardship with a smart business approach — I've never seen two things that come together like this."