Pulte readies for green tomorrow

The Southern Nevada Green Building Partnership and Pulte Homes on Monday announced that Pulte Homes has signed as the first production home builder to participate in the partnership's program, which was established to help builders design and construct more environmentally sensitive, or "green" new homes in metropolitan Las Vegas.

The Green Building Partnership, a program of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association and the Green Building Initiative of Portland, Ore., will provide Pulte Homes, and other home-building companies that sign up for the program, the technical expertise to use the program's 10-page green building guidelines developed specifically for conditions in Southern Nevada. The partnership will administer an impartial, third-party inspection and verification that the program guidelines have been met in the design and construction of the home; and will issue certification that the home has been constructed to the program's green building requirements.

Pulte plans to launch its participation in the Green Building Partnership with the design and construction of its Villa Trieste at West Park community in the Summerlin Centre Village between Sahara Avenue and Charleston Boulevard. Presales are under way from a temporary sales office on the site and model homes will be available to buyers by late fall. Villa Trieste will have three-story home designs from 2,400 to more than 2,800 square feet.

The Southern Nevada Water Authority has also designed Villa Trieste as a Water Smart Home Community because of its water conservation and efficiency features. The community, with 185 home sites, will feature walker-friendly streetscapes. All homes have at least three bedrooms and two full baths and two half baths. Prices start in the $400,000s.

"Pulte prides itself on having set the standard for environmentally sensitive and technologically advanced home building in Las Vegas for many years. It is exciting to continue in this tradition by being the first production builder to join the Southern Nevada Green Building Partnership, and in doing so, add additional validation to our claim of being Southern Nevada's greenest national home builder," said Nat Hodgson, vice president of construction for Pulte Homes' Las Vegas Division.

Pulte Homes, including its Del Webb brand, ranks as the largest home builder in terms of sales in metropolitan Las Vegas. The company built and sold 4,519 new homes in 2006, according to Home Builders Research of Las Vegas.

Pulte Homes Inc., based in Bloomfield Hills, Mich., operates in 51 markets and 26 states. In 2006, it delivered 41,487 homes and generated consolidated revenues of $14.3 billion. During its 57-year history, the company has constructed nearly 500,000 homes. Under its Del Webb brand, Pulte is the nation's largest builder of age-qualified communities for people age 55 and older, Hodgson said.

Green building goes beyond energy conservation. The Green Building Partnership's goal is to direct the efficient use of resources, materials, energy and water; maximize the indoor environmental quality in new housing; and educate homeowners about the operation and maintenance of a green home.

Homeowners who buy a green home will benefit in several ways; lower operating costs because of the reduced use of water, electricity and gas; and a higher level of indoor air quality because of the guideline requirements for environmentally sensitive building materials and ventilation systems.

"The participation of Pulte Homes as one of the most successful and prominent home-building companies in the nation, in the Southern Nevada Green Building Partnership, raises the bar for this program," said Irene Porter, executive director of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association. "Pulte's involvement will certainly establish a protocol for designing and building green production homes in our community. Pulte's customers, who purchase green homes, will be assured that their new home was built to verifiable and certified green standards."

SNHBA, the largest and oldest trade association representing the Southern Nevada residential construction industry, and the GBI of Portland, Ore., formed the Southern Nevada Green Building Partnership in mid-2005. They developed program guidelines to serve the needs of production home building in Southern Nevada. Pulte Homes/Del Webb was a member of the SNHBA/GBI committee that developed the program and requirements.