By Barbara Sherman and Steve Law
Pamplin Media Group, Apr 15, 2010, Updated Apr 19, 2010
Barbara Sherman / Pamplin Media Group
Legend Homes, one of the Portland area’s largest homebuilders, is incorporating solar panels into King City’s Edgewater on the Tualatin development as a standard feature.
In a sign that solar energy is coming of age here, one of the Portland area’s largest homebuilders is marketing an entire neighborhood of solar-powered homes.
Legend Homes is offering solar electricity and other environmentally friendly features in the latest 140-lot phase of its Edgewater on the Tualatin development in King City.
“It’s definitely leading the market; it’s leading by example,” says Duane Woik, builder outreach director for Earth Advantage Institute, a Portland nonprofit that sets standards for green construction and provides independent certification of homes’ green features.
Usually solar power is added onto existing homes or installed in custom homes one at a time. This is the first time in the Northwest that a large-scale homebuilder has committed to a solar-powered subdivision, Woik says.
Legend, which is slowly emerging from a 2008 bankruptcy filing, has long marketed homes with green features, using its own EarthSmart label. The King City project goes further, incorporating solar panels as a standard feature, along with green construction techniques, interiors and landscaping.
Legend is committed to doing solar in this phase of the development, says Legend Homes President Jim Chapman, except for about 25 of the lots that aren’t oriented properly to capture an optimal level of sunlight.
King City, located near Tigard, is mostly made up of senior citizens and retirees.
Legend did a market survey and found many older buyers and younger single buyers aren’t being served in this niche, Chapman says.
“We are making smaller houses that are cheaper to maintain and heat,” he says. “They are designed from the ground up and geared toward the longevity of the structure, with good air quality and low energy needs.”
Another innovative feature, Woik says, is duct work built inside the homes, between the first and second floors, instead of in the attic or crawl space. Many builders put air-conditioning ducts in attics, which can get up to 140 degrees in the summer, he says, requiring more energy to cool a home.
The Legend homes also feature green-certified carpet, paints with low volatile organic compounds, blown-in insulation and low-flow shower heads and faucets, Woik says.
Outside the homes, landscaping will include native plants that require no watering once they are established.
“There are no lawns and only drip irrigation systems,” says Vern Malen, Legend’s production manager. “We’re also offering rain barrels, small planters and an outlet in the garage to recharge electric cars.”
“Water is the new gold,” Chapman says. “This is great for the entire community and good for the people here.”
Legend purchased the property, at the base of Bull Mountain, after the land was brought into the urban growth boundary in 2002. Legend previewed two model homes in its latest phase of the development on Jan. 28, for media and environmental representatives.
Chapman’s roots in the area go back several decades. He attended nearby Durham Grade School in Tigard and had a paper route in King City.
“I have a loyalty to this community,” he says.
Legend is seeking to use local goods and services, Chapman says. It’s using SolarWorld photovoltaic solar panels made in Hillsboro and other solar products from LiveLight Energy, based in Beaverton.
“We feel we’ve spent money in the right places, putting it into the engineering of the houses and the insulation and solar panels,” Chapman says.
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