R/S Development joins ‘green’ partnership team

The Southern Nevada Green Building Partnership and R/S Development LLC jointly announced Tuesday that R/S Development has signed on to participate in the partnership's program, which was established to help builders design and construct more environmentally sensitive, or "green," new homes in the Las Vegas area.

The Green Building Partnership, a program of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association and the Green Building Initiative of Portland, Ore., will provide R/S Development and other home-building companies that sign up for the program the technical expertise to use the program's 10-page green building guidelines, which were developed specifically for conditions in Southern Nevada. The partnership will administer a 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.

R/S Development has launched its participation in the Green Building Partnership with its Kingswood Crown Series in Summerlin at the junction of Interstate 215, the Las Vegas Beltway, and Charleston Boulevard; and at Alpian Meadows in Mountain's Edge at Blue Diamond Road and Buffalo Drive.

New-home construction and sales are under way at both subdivisions. Kingswood Crown Series will have 98 homes, and Alpian Meadows will have 84 homes. There's more about the communities at the company's Web site, rsdev.com.

"As a locally owned and operated builder for over 25 years, we recognize the importance of environmentally friendly construction in the Las Vegas community," said Randall T. Schaefer, founder and owner of R/S Development.

"We are proud to be one of the first to join this dynamic program and look forward to providing our homeowners and their families with the continual benefits that green building offers," he said.

Schaefer established R/S Development in the Las Vegas Valley in 1981. He serves as a member and chairman of the Nevada State Contractors Board, the state regulatory agency that oversees the construction industry statewide. R/S Development has built more than 2,000 homes in 18 neighborhoods.

An active member of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, Schaefer served as president of the association in 1992 and 1996. He accepted an award on behalf of the association in 1996 from the Clark County Health District for the association's work on dust-control at construction sites.

R/S Development is involved in the ComfortWise energy-efficiency program and also the Water Smart Home water conservation program.

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. They experience lower operating costs because of the reduced use of water, electricity and gas, and they also benefit from a higher level of indoor air quality because of the guideline requirements for environmentally sensitive building materials and ventilation systems.

"We are pleased to have R/S Development as a participant in the Southern Nevada Green Building Partnership," said Irene Porter, executive director of the Southern Nevada Home Builders Association, which administers the program.

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. Together, they developed the program guidelines to serve the needs of production home building in Southern Nevada.

The guidelines are based on the National Association of Home Builders' Model Green Home Building Guidelines, but were customized to meet the special conditions of the hot and dry Southern Nevada environment.

The NAHB guidelines were developed in 2004 by a group of nearly 60 builders, environmentalists, government agencies and product manufacturers to provide a baseline for practical green building approaches for the residential construction industry.