HomeTown – Neighborhood Development

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X. ENVIRONMENTAL SUSTAINABILITY OF THE COMMUNITY

HomeTown has the ability to be as environmentally sustainable as the entry-level market will accept and can afford. The specific following conservation components are currently included in the plan:

1. There will be 1100 homes in HomeTown on 150 acres. That's about 7.5 dua, and all of it is SFD. The average density for SFD in Chicago is 2.5 dua; i.e. we use only 1/3 the land that other builders use to build 1100 homes; i.e. we conserve and preserve about 300 acres that will remain farm land or woodlands.
2. Living Lanes and Living Courts have an east-west axis, so houses face north or south for optimum passive solar orientation. Only about 10% of the windows will face east or west, which are the worst solar orientations.
3. The typical single family detached community has three times as much street and utility improvement. The typical single family attached community has two times as much street and utility improvement. This community uses about ½ to 2/3 the "embodied energy" in the original installation of the improvements. There are comparable savings to the City in maintenance, repair, snow plowing, paving replacement, etc.
4. Exterior house lighting and some interior lighting is fluorescent, which is about four times more efficient than incandescent.
5. HomeTown is designed to encourage pedestrian and bicycle activity by providing the opportunity for commercial, retail, employment, child care, and recreational activities to be within walking distance of the homes in the Village Center.
6. PACE, the provider of public suburban transportation, has collaborated in the design so that HomeTown will be served on the inside with public bus transit with connections to RTA commuter trains, major employment centers, and major commercial centers.
7. HomeTown uses native grasses and landscape materials where possible to minimize maintenance, watering, fertilizer, pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides.
8. And at HomeTown all construction waste is recycled.

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