Woodbury: Building with the environment in mind

Carole Griffith puts it this way: Forget the notion of an environmental "green" house as stodgy and odd. Think instead of a house that's built for health, energy and comfort.

"It can feel cottagey and warm and it doesn't have to be expensive," said Griffith, director of sales and marketing at McDonald Construction, one of six businesses to win Woodbury's first-ever Environmental Excellence Awards. "Building green is a way of building better."

McDonald Construction, an Apple Valley firm, has built the first house in Woodbury that will be certified as a "Minnesota GreenStar" home. The house features sustainable design elements including eucalyptus flooring in the kitchen, dual-flush toilets (that's one for liquids, one for solids), countertops made from remnants, high-efficiency heating and cooling, low-flow plumbing fixtures and extensive use of recycled products.

The four-bedroom, four-bathroom house at 1771 Deephaven Drive in the Dancing Waters neighborhood has a foundation of recycled concrete, paint and carpet that don't have the familiar chemical odors, natural stone tiles and a climate control system that the homeowner even can monitor from computers outside the house. And above the stove is a recycled-glass rendering of a woods and meadow, done by a Lakeville artist.

Griffith said that McDonald Construction wanted to build a "green" house to reduce construction waste and conserve energy and water. She thinks her company will build more green houses. "Without a doubt there are more questions, and more customers asking for it," she said.

In the first four months of 2007, in the midst of a tough housing market, the company sold five houses at an average price of $581,817 for total sales of $2.9 million. But the housing picture already looks better for McDonald Construction this year: sales of $6.8 million with 14 houses sold at an average price of $487,447.

The house in the Dancing Waters neighborhood is for sale for $699,000, about $12,000 more than if recycled materials weren't used, she said. However, since construction on the house began nine months ago, more products have become available and the price is dropping, she said.

The Woodbury house will be certified in the Minnesota GreenStar program once landscaping, including rain gardens to control storm-water runoff, is completed, Griffith said. McDonald Construction is owned by Bob McDonald.

The city encourages new businesses in Woodbury to be responsible stewards of resources, said Julie Lehr, the city's environmental education coordinator. Mayor Bill Hargis also awarded five other Environmental Excellence Awards:

• Kowalski's Market, for waste reduction and recycling. Kowalski's internal recycling programs result in 94.3 percent of the company's waste being recycled, including grease from the deli and food waste that is converted to animal feed. The store also offers reusable bags to reduce the use of paper and plastic. The store works with Second Harvest to donate meat, produce and baked goods to food pantries.

• P.M. Bedroom Gallery, for innovative storm-water management practices. The business installed one of the first underground infiltration systems in Woodbury, designed to manage storm-water runoff from the roof and front parking lot.

• Sam's Club, for electronics recycling. Sam's Club initiated two electronics recycling events at the Woodbury store in 2006 and 2007, collecting more than 27 tons of electronics that otherwise might have gone to landfills. This included computers, CPU cores, monitors, TVs, VCRs, DVD players, cell phones and printers.

• Slumberland Furniture, for innovative storm-water management practices, developing rain gardens, infiltration areas, pervious pavers and a storm-water pond.

• Opus Northwest LLC & Red Development LLC, for innovative storm-water management practices. The Woodbury Lakes development uses 18 rainwater gardens and eight infiltration basins to handle storm water, a white roof to reduce cooling needs, pedestrian access with bike racks, and extensive landscaping with more than 10,000 trees, shrubs and perennials.

Kevin Giles • 651-298-1554