What’s got a 4 person electric powered jacuzzi, 95% impervious site (that recycles water for landscaping), garages, large expanses of storefront windows, and a gas burning fireplace? A green townhome development in Atlanta, GA of course! Inman Green is the latest and greatest iteration of what Atlanta developers’ see as ‘going green’ in a city where the main newspaper (The AJC) apparently has difficulty understanding what LEED stands for.
Located near downtown Atlanta, Inman Green is a 12 unit townhome development designed by Rutledge Alcock Architects and developed by Pelle Development Group, who are also known for their Marble Lofts project (which apparently is also green because they didn’t tear down the structure). Inman Green makes claims to be a ‘green’ development and also espouses to being an Energy Star and LEED Gold certified project. Be that as it may, looking at the supposed green features of this project, it becomes fairly obvious that Pelle Development may be more eligble for a greenwash certification more than a green building certification as many of the LEED rating points seem to have been of the ‘easier-achievable’ ‘less environmentally beneficial’ variety.
Some of their ‘greener’ features include:
- rooftop deck (w/ vegetation)
- recycled (they mean reclaimed) storm water for landscaping
- recycled glass countertops
- tankless water heaters
- close to mass transit
The rest of the ‘green’ features can be found here on their website.
Green Fundamentals
Inman Green does have Energy Star appliances, a supposedly efficient HVAC (though no SEER rating is given) and has addressed some water conservation features with the implementation of low flow fixtures and rainwater recycling (even though almost the entire development is impervious and has very little landscaping). While these features could be considered ‘green’, many would say that they are more commonplace now in homes that are not even marketed as such. One could say that features and finishes such as these constitute the bare bones building blocks of a green building and not some super green structure that’s breaking the boundaries of sustainability as the developers of Inman Green would lead you to believe.
Climate change isn’t going to be solved by outfitting kitchens with recycled glass countertops and polished concrete floors (other ‘green’ features found at Inman Green). Any structure that touts sustainability today, needs to address energy consumption in a very real and effective way. Inman Green does almost nothing in this regard. In fact, many of the ‘features’ in this project are some of the most energy intensive and unnecessary features you can have in a home. An electrically powered Jacuzzi tub and a gas burning fireplace aren’t exactly the greenest most energy efficient features you can have in an eco-home.
Greening the Greenwash
It becomes clear very quickly, to anyone with a general ‘green’ knowledge, that the developer of these projects, as well as their other development Marble Lofts, is either ignorant to what real green building/design is, or is intentionally misleading with their severely over-inflated claims of eco-friendliness and responsibility. Sadly, in this case, it appears to be both. The below is a quote from Pelle Development’s own website about why their loft project (which are almost always renovations of an existing structure) is so green:
“Marble Lofts is the poster child for waste not, want not. Nothing was torn down to build it and the remodeled structure uses recycled insulation to keep hipster residents toasty and peaceful. The recycled tile pavers on the rooftop deck are handy cocktail party conversation starters in and of themselves. Smaller homes, created from an existing structure, close to MARTA, and concrete floors – these are all eco-conscious features Marble Lofts is proud to flaunt. Showing off the chic kitchens, glass tile baths and California style architecture is up to you.”
I think their own words pretty much sum up Pelle Development’s level of knowledge regarding sustainability; or even modern (“California”) architecture for that matter. I mean after all, “you sure don’t see buildins like that nowhere else but Cal-ee-four-nee-ya!”
While many may make the claim, as they often do, that developers who build marginally ‘greener’ buildings, should still be applauded for their efforts, others, such as this author, believe such widespread back-patting and knee-jerk cheerleading actually precipitates an already growing adoption of counterproductive trends and methods in field of sustainable development and design. The real sustainable designs and developments, that objectively and independently on their own, have an actual, substantial, and positive environmental benefit, need to be the real models to which people follow and give their money, attention and focus. Using a comparative argument as the main determinate of a structure’s environmental benefit is equivalent to someone saying their environmentally conscious because they don’t dump their used motor oil into the sewer like the neighbor does.
In more simple terms, the argument that developments should be considered as being ‘green’ simply because they are ‘not as bad’ as other developments, is fundamentally ridiculous, and harmful to the environment considering in most cases these projects are not environmentally beneficial at all, nor are they gleaming examples of sustainability that deserve emulation or accolades from those who are truly wanting to make a positive environmental difference. The “less bad must be good” metric for any and all things regarding sustainability has to end before the entire movement itself becomes diluted and watered down to the point that the distinction itself ceases to be perceptible.
The Good: Inman Green is a high density residential development making more efficient use of an intown building lot and creating awareness about green development.
The Bad: It’s marginally green at best. Energy efficiency is minimally addressed and energy production isn’t even an afterthought. Many of the features in the homes simply are not environmentally beneficial, while some are actually detrimental. The marketing, and the project itself, are misleading to the buying public who are looking to live in a truly green structure.
The Bottom-line: Inman Green, and its developers, are clearly clueless when it comes to developing a sustainable structure or even grasping the entire aim of sustainability and environmental responsibility. Intentionally, or not, their over-inflated green claims are disingenuous and misleading. Paying a premium for the ‘green’ features here is a waste of money considering most of them don’t really exist.
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