Dec 26 - McClatchy-Tribune Regional News - Julie B. Hairston The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

When Mary Frances Callis went hunting for her first home, buying "green" was a no-brainer.

But the selection of certified environmentally sound condos in the price range of a young lawyer was limited. She started at the Glenwood condos in southeast Atlanta's hip Glenwood Park, and her heart never left.

"From there on out, everything else was just second-rate," said Callis, the nine-unit Glenwood's first resident.

Her condo is certified through metro Atlanta's growing EarthCraft program, which inspects and scores homes on a point scale designed to promote conscientious construction practices, energy efficiency and sustainable materials.

Glenwood Park was Georgia's first condo complex to heat and cool units with geothermal systems. These systems, using heat-transfer tubes that run deep into the ground below the building, cut energy costs up to 50 percent.

With EarthCraft certification on single-family homes gaining popularity, condos are following suit.

Gray Kelly, director of sustainable development at the nonprofit Southface Energy Institute, which coordinates inspections, said the program has recently added multifamily inspectors to keep up with demand.

"It's growing very rapidly," Kelly said.

Kelly estimates some 1,600 multifamily units with EarthCraft certification are being built in metro Atlanta. Within three years, the area will have as many as 4,000 EarthCraft multifamily units, he said.

Gigi Giannoni, president of Evolv, the company in charge of marketing Eon at Lindbergh, an EarthCraft condo, said increasing awareness of the program and the benefits of green building are creating buzz among buyers.

"When we first started advertising [EarthCraft certification], people didn't get it. Now, they think it's cool," Giannoni said.

The program is gaining ground, even in the rental market.

Gables Residential is building three metro Atlanta projects with a total of 1,029 units to EarthCraft standards. All three are intown developments, Sheridan in Executive Park near North Druid Hills and Briarcliff roads, Century Center off Clairmont Road at I-85 and on Monroe Drive near Piedmont Road.

Dave Skelton, vice president for investments operations at Gables, said environmental consciousness is high among the young professionals who make up the bulk of their residents. That makes the certification a marketing tool.

"We just think this is going to continue to have momentum," Skelton said. "As more people learn about it and talk about it ... more and more people coming out of college are going to be looking at it."

In addition to attracting the eco-conscious, Skelton said green building through EarthCraft also should help the communities hold their value through lower maintenance costs.

The company also is building green communities in Austin, Texas, and Washington.

On Memorial Drive not far from Glenwood Park, a new 65-unit development overlooking historic Oakland Cemetery has taken green aspirations even higher.

Oakland Park, which moved its first residents in a month ago, has attained silver LEED certification, the nationally accepted benchmark for green design, construction and operation. LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

Because LEED design standards were crafted for midrise and high-rise buildings, using those standards for its green certification made the most sense, said Tommy Lindstroth, head of sustainable initiatives for Melaver Inc., one of Oakland Park's development partners.

"We really hope it differentiates our product. There are thousands of condos being built in metro Atlanta," Lindstroth said. "It certainly has piqued a lot of people's interest."

Lindstroth also predicted programs such as EarthCraft and LEED will increasingly guide residential design. Clients are requesting it.

Some government programs promote it with tax incentives, and a few U.S. cities have even begun to require it for new buildings.

The U.S. Green Building Council says green building practices add little if any cost to the overall price of development, typically under 2 percent.

"As developers are realizing that, it becomes a much more attractive alternative," Lindstroth said.