“We’re doing all that we can to accommodate the needs of home buyers,” said Lora Heramb, vice president of sales and marketing for Brookfield Homes. “By offering one of the lowest new home tax rates in Carlsbad, in addition to money-saving green features, we’re providing home buyers with the ultimate in savings and value.”

Rockrose is among the lowest tax rates for new homes in Carlsbad. The 1.21% rate is based on the Rockrose median sales price of $659,000. The tax rate will increase or decrease based upon the actual sales price of the home.

In addition to the new lower property tax levels, Rockrose continues to provide the most sustainable living available in San Diego County through our Eco-Savvy design program. Energy efficiency is one of six areas of Eco-Savvy concentration incorporated into every home at Rockrose. The others are: water conservation, waste reduction, indoor air quality, sustainable building materials / wood conservation, and renewable energy / solar power (optional).

Price, quality, Eco-Savvy and lower property tax rates, what more could you want from a new home? Stop by Rockrose to see for yourself just how much value is offered in a Brookfield Home.

Rockrose has been the most talked about new sustainable neighborhood in San Diego. This weekend, the Foothills community, the home of Rockrose, will open the Community Recreation and Swim Center for new residents. Brookfield took some of the same efficiency design concepts from Rockrose into the Community Center. The pool will be heated by a solar water heating system and backed up by high efficiency pool heaters. LED lighting will illuminate the site. Water efficient landscaping will adorn the Center and passive cooling systems will help the residents beat the summer heat.

The Community Center embodies the Eco-Savvy theme of Rockrose. And, the Eco-Savvy “…concept aims to create a community that reflects both today’s home buyers’ need for value and their preference for eco-conscious products. Think of it as cost efficient meets energy efficient – and then some,” according to Sarah Yaussi, News Editor for Big Builder Magazine.

We could not have said it better ourselves!

Rockrose is the first new home community in San Diego to offer every new home standard, with an energy efficiency rating of 35% better than the California Energy Efficiency Standards for Residential Construction (Title 24). But, that is just where Eco-Savvy starts. Rockrose offers water conservation through tankless water heaters, WaterSense faucets, low-flow shower heads, recirculating hot water systems, insulated hot water loop lines and water sensitive landscaping. Rockrose is waste sensitive, diverting 70-80% of the construction waste material away from local landfills by recycling. Rockrose is environmentally sensitive to indoor air quality by including Merv 8 air filters, low VOC carpets and paints, and formaldehyde free adhesives. Rockrose supports sustainable building through the use of Sustainable Forest Initiative Certified lumber and engineered wood products. Home buyers may also select recycled materials for their floor coverings. Rockrose supports renewable energy and solar power by providing photo voltaic options for all home buyers. Rockrose is Eco-Savvy.

And, Eco-Savvy is being ecologically and economically smart. It doesn’t have to cost a lot of money to be Eco-Savvy!

Eco-Savvy is also being a good neighbor and offering educational materials and displays about energy savings, water conservation, indoor air quality, native habitat landscaping and waste reduction programs. Even if you are not in the market for a new home, stop by and see how Eco-Savvy can be utilized in your home today. Saving the environment can also mean saving money in your home right now!

See you on the 27th of March!

A new report, prepared for the California Homebuilding Foundation by ConSol, a nationally recognized consultant on energy solutions for homebuilders, examined the historical standards for water usage by California home owners and then compared those findings to the usage under today’s building code requirements and also, the new California Green Building Standards Code requirements that will take effect in 2011.

Not surprisingly, the study found that homes built in 2009 reduced water use by 20% compared to home built in 1990. With the introduction of low flow shower heads and low flow toilets, water usage in new homes has been significantly reduced over the past 20 years.

The study also found that under the new regulations for 2011, new home construction would further reduce indoor water use by 21%. The study estimated the cost of these new regulations to be around $350 per home.

Landscaping accounts for more than half of a home’s water usage. 57% of a home’s water usage is outside the home. Irrigation of landscaping is the largest single water use at most homes. The new Model Water Efficiency Landscape Ordinance are part of the new regulations for 2011.

In terms of gallons of water saved, today’s new homes in California use 15,000 gallons less than homes built in 1990. A 2011 new home will use 12,000 gallons less than today’s new home inside the house and 26,000 gallons less water outside the home!

Additional water savings can be created through retrofitting of the 7.5 million single family homes built before 1980, when the first plumbing standards went into effect. By replacing original shower fixtures alone in a pre-1980 home with the new 2011 standard shower fixture, the average home owner can save over 22,000 gallons of water. By replacing one pre-1980 toilet with a 2011 standard toilet, the home owner can save another 16,000 of water each year.

For more details and facts about water saving ideas, visit the San Diego County Water Authority web site or you local water agency. Remember, whiskey is for drinking and water is for saving!

Brookfield’s new “Eco-Savvy” product line of single family detached homes is receiving very positive reviews from new home shoppers. The information trailer for Rockrose opened on January 9th. Over 550 inquisitive parties have signed up on the new neighborhood’s Interest List. And, over 35 prospective purchasers have begun the loan qualification process!

Are you environmentally tuned in? Are you focused on eco-friendly homes, energy efficient homes, and sustainable homes? Are you looking for environmentally friendly homes, energy saving homes, and green house designs? Then you may be “Eco-Savvy”! If you want all these things in your new home, and you want your home in a great school district, a coastal city and a new master planned community, then you may be “Eco-Savvy”! If you want all these benefits and you want them at a great value, the you are “Eco-Savvy”!

“Eco-Savvy” means sustainable and smart! “Eco-Savvy” means energy conscious, water conscious, air quality conscious, habitat conscious, renewable resource conscious and smart! Every home in the Rockrose neighborhood will be a minimum of 35% more energy efficient than required by the current California’s Energy Efficiency Standards for Residential Construction (Title 24). No other builder in San Diego is offering this level of energy efficiency in its standard construction homes! That’s right “NO OTHER BUILDER IN SAN DIEGO IS OFFERING A STANDARD CONSTRUCTION HOME AT 35% MORE EFFICIENT THAN REQUIRED BY TITLE 24!” That is why “Eco-Savvy” in smart!

In Rockrose you will find … water efficient fixtures, low VOC paints, stains and adhesives for air quality, National Wildlife Federation certified habitat landscaping, sustainable forest certified lumber, xeriscape front yard landscaping, construction waste reduction programs, in-home recycling centers, and the list continues to grow … that is “Eco-Savvy” smart!

Have you been by to visit Rockrose? What’s holding you up? You can find us on Glen Avenue in Carlsbad. Take the I-5 to Cannon Road exit, go east. As you cross El Camino Real, you can see us ahead on the left. Turn left on Hilltop Street and go around the traffic circle to the Brookfield Information Center for Rockrose. Stop in and see Julie or Loretta, they will be happy to show you how “Eco-Savvy” means a smart buying decision.

The new homes at Rockrose will range from a single story home with 2,116 sf to a two story home with 3,167 sf. In all, four different floor plans will be offered, with multiple architectural elevations and color palates.

The Eco-Savvy design and construction techniques will be previewed this weekend as well. You will learn more about our plans for conserving water, conserving energy, reducing construction waste, drought tolerant landscaping and irrigation systems, improved internal air quality and other environmentally sensitive design and construction approaches being offered in these eco friendly new homes.

The Foothills community is conveniently located east of El Camino Real, along Cannon Road, in Carlsbad, California. The Foothills community is also situated on a southerly facing, gently sloping, hill side. This provides homes sites with view opportunities, good access to warm sunlight and cool ocean breezes. The recreation center at The Foothills will offer resort level amenities and a great gathering places for new friends and neighbors.

The Carlsbad Unified School District will provide educational facilities for the children of The Foothills and is planning a new high school, along Cannon Road, just east of College Avenue. The new high school is scheduled to open in the fall of 2013.

Pocket parks, a recreational vehicle storage facility and a future commercial office building will also be part of The Foothills master plan. A city neighborhood park has been designed and graded just west of The Foothills, along El Camino Real, and will be developed in the future by the City of Carlsbad.

Stop by our Sales Information Center and learn more about The Foothills and our new neighborhood, Rockrose. Find out what it means to be Eco-Savvy and how you can customize your new home to fit your lifestyle while providing for fewer impacts to our environment.

See you on Saturday!

Great questions! And, we have great answers!

Rockrose, a new community brought to you by Brookfield is Eco-Savvy. Rockrose is a Carlsbad community in the new master plan of The Foothills. Rockrose takes green building, sustainable building and environmentally friendly building to a new level of awareness and implementation.

Today’s “green conscious” consumers are looking to reduce their personal and family impact on the earth’s health and well being. They are looking for environmentally friendly alternatives for every aspect of their lives. Eco-Savvy understands this desire and works with multiple aspects of new home construction and new community living to incorporate these goals into environmentally friendly living.

The recreation center of The Foothills master plan includes solar water heating and LED lighting to reduce the need for natural gas and electricity. You still get the same resort quality facilities, you just get them in a more Eco-Savvy delivery.

Rockrose will include many new Eco-Savvy features, starting with a whole house design system focused on increasing energy efficiency by 35% or more than current Title 24 requirements. Title 24 is the California state law that governs home design and energy efficiency in construction. California has one of the strictest energy efficiency standards in the United States, and every Eco-Savvy Rockrose home will exceed the minimum standards for energy efficiency by at least 35% (according to the current Title 24)!

Rockrose will also bring you other Eco-Savvy features, like water conservation measures and environmentally friendly building material selections. Many of these features will be standard in every Rockrose home. And, then for those “green conscious” buyers that desire to go even further …. well, we have some more surprises in store for you.

Visit our web site for more information on Rockrose and The Foothills. Then check back here regularly as we unveil more of the Eco-Savvy features and options you can find in this new home community.

Brookfield Homes has always prided itself on the quality of our home construction. We are known for our efforts to design and build quality homes. We view the Eco-Savvy homes by Brookfield to be that “next extension” of our quality construction program. Quality, value, design and now Eco-Savvy, Brookfield Homes continues to lead the way in new home and community construction.

What does all this mean in the real world? This is the first step in a public process that will eventually set the rules and guidelines for how the state will grow and how it will move its goods and people about, with an over-arching goal to reduce the production of GHG emissions to a 1990 level. These recommendations will be utilized by the CARB and CARB staff as they begin to analyze where the state air quality is and how they will reduce carbon emissions in the future. The next several steps look like this:

1. Between now and March 1, 2010, the CARB staff will work closely with the Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO’s) to gather regional specific information on such things as transportation plans, land use plans, housing needs, existing and projected vehicle miles traveled, existing and projected GHG emissions, economic constraints, environmental constraints and social equity issues. This information will then be utilized by CARB staff in the next step.

2. Between March 1, 2010 and June 30, 2010 staff will analyze the information collected above, along with other empirical data, studies and reports to determine preliminary GHG reduction targets per region and statewide. These preliminary targets will be shared with the MPO’s and further refinement of the base information will continue to be shared between the MPO’s and CARB staff.

3. On June 30, 2010, CARB staff will announce their Draft Targets for GHG emission reduction to its Board, the public and the MPO’s. CARB staff and the MPO’s will continue to share and refine their base and supplemental information regarding the draft targets.

4. On September 30, 2010, CARB staff will provide the Board with any final recommendations regarding the statewide and regional GHG emission reduction targets and the Board will hold a public hearing to take testimony and consider the evidence, then adopt a statewide and regional tergets for the reduction of GHG emissions created through transportation and land use decisions made at a local level.

The bulk of the work will be performed by the MPO’s. Input and direction will be sought from the local jurisdictions, in part because MPO’s do not have land use authority. Ultimately, the MPO’s will need to create and adopt a Sustainable Community Strategy (SCS) that identifies changes to land use and transportation infrastructure that meet the targets set by the California Air Resources Board. If the SCS does not meet the GHG targets, then the MPO must prepare and Alternative Planning Strategy (APS) that will meet the target.

Once the SCS or APS is approved by the Board of the MPO, then the local jurisdictions must work to amend their local General Plans and zoning to accommodate the approved SCS. Failure to do so will subject the local jurisdiction to regulatory and potentially judicial jeopardy for their Housing Element and Transportation funding. Compliance with the SCS will provide the local jurisdiction with CEQA relief for some forms of development and future incentives from the state for funding and regulatory relief.

Future posts will include a detailed look at the features and incentives provided in SB 375 and how those programs were handled by the RTAC recommendations. Additionally, some issues still remain with regards to the implementation of SB 375 and the upcoming actions by the CARB may or may not deal with those issues. I will continue to follow this issue and bring back insights and decisions that may impact future land use and transportation decisions.

For now, step one is complete. The RTAC Recommendations have been delivered on time.

These two new requirements appear on pages 4 and 5 of Mortgagee Letter 2009-19, dated June 12, 2009. Now, to be honest, the letter also states that these new rules “…are effective for all case numbers assigned on or after October 1, 2009…”. That means, any projects currently under construction, with an approved FHA case number, will not be impacted by the proposed changes. Well, thank goodness for small favors.

Condominium homes are generally the first rung on the ladder to home ownership. They normally provide a more affordable product for move-down and first time home buyers. In addition, current land planning and greenhouse gas emission reduction initiatives focus on increasing density in urban areas to promote transit use and slow the impact of growth on the problems associated with global warming. It appears that HUD is trying to promote the reduction of condominium construction and decreased urban densities by making the provision of FHA financing for condos more difficult to achieve.

My plea is for HUD to reconsider their position stated in Mortgagee Letter 2009-19. Do not make affordable housing more difficult to build and sell. Do not take away the best product builders have to deliver housing affordable to the average citizen. Do not incentivize low density development because your new rules create such great hurdles for the construction and sale of higher density product.

Again, the pendulum has swung too far. The regulators are regulating for the appearance of control, while in reality, they do not understand the impacts they are creating.

The Framework discussion for the Committee’s recommendations focused primarily on Process and Procedure. In my opinion, the RTAC is focusing on a “bottoms up” approach for the CARB staff to process into a Board recommendation. That is, the Metropolitan Planning Organizations (MPO’s) desire to provide CARB staff with an initial analysis of the expected capabilities for GHG emissions reduction focused on the “aggressive and achievable” standard outlined in the statute. CARB staff would then use empirical data on the relationship between travel and land use, along with existing Regional Transportation Plans (RTP’s) and Blueprints (regional land use plans) and the GHG reduction benefits from fuels and fuel efficiency to evaluate the MPO proposals.

CARB staff would then respond to the MPO’s with preliminary targets using models, off-model tools and region specific characteristics for their analysis. The MPO’s would be encouraged to comment back to CARB staff and in fact, enter into collaborative analysis using all available data, empirical evidence and policies to create the CARB staff recommendation on the regional targets for the CARB consideration. These recommendations would be released for public comment prior to the Board’s meeting and action.

This Framework seems to be gaining support among RTAC members and CARB staff. The four largest MPO’s have offered to begin some preliminary off-model sketch planning to provide CARB staff with some initial data input. The preliminary timing for this initial work is December 2009.

On the Procedural side of the RTAC’s recommendations, the committee is coalescing around the use of existing transportation planning models for early years’ analysis, with augmentation by off-model tools, like sketch planning. Supplementing these early year models and off-model tools would be policies and programs to enhance the opportunity to capture a maximum percentage of the GHG reduction potential. The RTAC will likely recommend the continued growth of modeling capabilities through a coordinated effort by all MPO’s, CalTrans, the California Transportation Commission (CTC) and CARB, with a goal of a consistent and transparent modeling capability within a 5-10 year time frame. In the interim, the MPO’s will work together with CARB staff to maximize the opportunities for consistency between the existing modeling formats.

Policies to be considered in the creation of GHG Emission Reduction Targets will likely include Best Management Practices (BMP’s) that MPO’s can utilize to augment their transportation modeled, vehicle miles traveled (VMT) reduction strategies. Such BMP’s could include Smart Growth Strategies, Land Use Measures, Transportation Measures, and Pricing Strategies. These policies are still being discussed by the RTAC and recommendations of specific BMP’s have not yet been suggested.

The next meeting of the RTAC will be on August 18th, at the Cal/EPA Headquarters Building in the Coastal Hearing Room from 9:00 am – 4:00 pm. The Cal/EPA building is located at 1001 I Street in Sacramento. The meeting is open to the public and will be webcast.