Eco-friendly homes - Business First of Buffalo:

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But others are championing an environmentally conscious approach to residentialo living as the region and the natiohcombat high-energy consumption and poor health. Adam Sokolk is among them. The Buffali architect is buildingan energy-efficient housre on the city’s West amid stately residences that have been drafty and seeping heat for the better part of a The federal government estimatesx that existing housing stock accounts for 21 percent of the nation’s annual energyy consumption. Sokol has incorporated severa l energy-saving features in the constructionm ofthe 2,000-square-foot, single-family house at 541 Bird Ave.
The features includre the not-so-unusual: foam insulation, a tankless water heater and good windowzs that allow the house to take advantageof daylight. Then there’sx a heat recovery system that filters the air to keep mold and stalee airfrom accumulating. The exterior is covered with roofing shingles and sidingv made fromrecycled rubber. “If you care abouy the environment, it’s obvious,” Sokol The sale price has yet tobe determined, but Sokop estimates that he spent in the low–to–mid-$200,000 rangre to build it. That’s inexpensive relativ e to retrofitting an old housse with energy efficient he said.
Experts say any house that is at leastg 10 years old could benefitfrom energy-savinh upgrades. The added advantage of overhaulingagingt homes, however, is that they are usually located in densr communities that are less reliant on automobiles. Real estate broker Carol Holcberg said she noticed amongg homebuyers an increased interestin “walkable” neighborhoodds when gas prices starteds to spike a few years ago. Walkable neighborhoods typically include a clusterof single-family houses and multiplw units that is centered or ringed by retaipl and other business.
Design features such as sidewalks and lightinhand “traffic-calming” elements such as full-stop intersections and crosswalke encourage more foot traffic. “Any neighborhood with a villagre center, people are anxious to be there so they can walk to get a quarg of milk or go toa restaurant,” said who heads Holcberg Ltd. Real Estatee in Buffalo. Walking is getting to be a “bigy deal” among homebuyers, and they’rde moving to where they can dothat safely, said Susid Lenahan, a broker with MJ Peterson Corp.’s Buffalo office.
“There’s nowhere to walk on Transitf Road orSheridan Drive,” she said of the multiland thoroughfares serving the northern suburbs. For homebuyers who are lookinhg for certain environmental developers have come up with individual suchas ’s Muir Woods, an Amherst project that combinesz natural settings with commercial, residential and retail Others are incorporating green space among new homes, rather than usinyg the formerly common practices of bulldozing treed areads and building on a said Jay Coles of / . But such consumee interest is hardly widespread, suggested Maureen Flavin, a brokefr with RealtyUSA.
She recalled the highly energy-efficieny features of a city condominium that failed to captivaterpotential buyers. “‘Oh, that’s they said,” Flavin remembers, “‘but how many bathroomz does it have?’”