Pardee Homes is California's first production homebuilder to build an entire new-home project certified to NAHB Research Center's National Green Building Standard

Cindy Allen

LOS ANGELES , May 9, 2011 (press release) – Pardee Homes is California's first production homebuilder that is building an entire new home project certified to the National Green Building Standard™ (NGBS) by the NAHB Research Center, an internationally recognized, independent third party. Every home of Pardee's new LivingSmart® Homes in Santa Clarita's Fair Oaks Ranch® is being built to Gold-level criteria of the NGBS, inspected at least twice by an accredited green verifier, and Green Certified by the Research Center.

The LivingSmart® Homes neighborhood includes four floor plans with approximately 1,846 to 2,432 square feet of living space. Pricing is from the low $400,000s for these detached homes.

With this third-party certification of the green products, practices and systems incorporated into its LivingSmart homes in Fair Oaks Ranch, Pardee Homes is providing added assurance for its buyers that the homes meet or exceed both the NGBS criteria, and California's new CalGreen regulations. The NGBS is the world's only residential green rating system approved by the American National Standards Institute and is therefore the home building industry's "gold standard" definition of credible green construction.

Michael Luzier, president of the NAHB Research Center, announced Pardee's commitment to the Gold certification level for all homes of LivingSmart®Homes at Fair Oaks Ranch. He commented on what a strong message Pardee Homes' certification commitment conveys to homebuyers.

Joining him in the announcement was Pardee Homes President and CEO Michael McGee. Luzier and McGee made the announcement at the new LivingSmart® Homes neighborhood, at a news conference attended by state and local government officials.

Represented were: the Santa Clarita City Council; LA County Supervisor Michael Antonovich; California Assemblyman Cameron Smyth and California Senator Sharon Runner. Also attending were representatives from Pardee Homes; the Building Industry of California and ConSol, California verifier for NGBS.

McGee said that NGBS certification provides credible verification of a homebuilder's claims about green building. He noted that NGBS home certification goes beyond individual home performance to consider how the location adds to homebuyer's green lifestyle.

Among sustainable attributes that will help the designs of LivingSmart® Homes earn Gold certification are the walkable neighborhoods of Fair Oaks Ranch; its proximity to Metrolink, schools, shopping and recreation; its water-savings measures and its open space preservation. Also see www.pardeehomes.com/living-green/ and LivingSmart® Homes at Fair Oaks Ranch®.

News Conference/Speaker Comments:

"NGBS offers builders and product suppliers a nationally recognized standard definition of green building. It sets an important benchmark for our new home quality goals -- and it's a natural fit for the continuous evolution of our green building commitment, which began 13 years ago with our first energy-efficient homes in California and Nevada." Michael McGee, President and CEO, Pardee Homes

"Pardee Homes is really raising the bar for what consumers should come to expect when seeking their next new home. The NAHB Research Center doesn't take lightly the meaning conveyed by issuance of our Green Certified mark, and clearly Pardee doesn't take lightly its responsibility to the local environment and the comfort, health, and well-being of its homebuyers. They are 'walking the green walk' with the homes in this community and I applaud the company's commitment." Michael Luzier, President of the NAHB Research Center

"Protecting the environment is a high priority for the City of Santa Clarita. We are fortunate to have a great business partner in that effort with Pardee Homes. And, today, we are very pleased that Santa Clarita is the first community in California to receive new homes built to the highest green standards in the country." Bob Kellar, Santa Clarita City Councilman

"Homebuilders like Pardee are leading the transformation of California's new homes. By far, Pardee Homes has demonstrated its leadership in green building by introducing the latest technologies and features to meet ever-growing consumer demands. We applaud Pardee Homes for being the first to bring the National Green Building Standard to California." Holly Schroeder, Interim Chief Executive Officer of the Building Industry of Southern California.

"California has been a leader in developing standards and programs to promote green building and other sustainability initiatives that ensure a brighter future for our state. I applaud progressive builders such as Pardee Homes for providing green homes that not only exceed the state standards, but also deliver these homes far earlier than we can imagine. It is because of these efforts that California is being recognized for having the first production homebuilder to meet the new national standard." Assemblyman Cameron Smyth, R-38

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