WHITE SULPHUR SPRINGS — Living “green” at this upscale, billion-dollar gated community will cost homeowners a little bit more at first, but developers pushing the last 56 home sites at the famed Greenbrier Sporting Club say the investment will pay off in the long run through energy savings, local economic development and “being part of the global climate change solution.”

Dan Paquette, director of development for the South Carolina-based DPS Sporting Club Development, regaled the new high-end “green homes at The Greenbrier” as being “40 percent more efficient” than traditionally built homes. The Greenbrier Sporting Club is a joint venture of Paquette’s company and railroad giant CSX Corp., which owns The Greenbrier.

As reported in June by The Register-Herald, the new green homes will be built high atop Greenbrier Mountain at the sporting club’s Summit Village on sites of less than one acre to over six acres. Breathtaking views of the Greenbrier Valley at about 3,330 feet from any of these front porches will range from $1.4 million to $1.9 million per home, Paquette said, and the first home buyers are already looking at sites.

These exclusive green homes will be built using a set of building guidelines from the National Association of Homebuilders as part of its National Green Building Program. Renowned architect Campion Platt has designed two prototype green homes called The Wright and The Huntington, and was also on hand during last week’s media event about the sporting club’s latest venture.

“The changes made to the homes will contribute to a 2 to 3 percent increase in additional building costs, but our clients will easily recover these costs because the homes are 40 percent more energy efficient,” Paquette said.

Paquette said he and Platt completely dismantled a home into about 600 pieces and carefully reviewed each component as they formed their plans for the new green homes. These include:

- Construction limits to minimize the disturbance of existing flora and fauna.

- Reuse of materials found on site such as stones for retaining walls and timber milled from fallen trees.

- Pre-fabricated, insulated foundations which provide a minimal amount of concrete.

- Post and frame beams made from timber harvested from sustainable, planned forests that are wrapped in efficient thermal insulation, creating a “thermal blanket” for the home.

- Use of local and recycled products in many aspects, such as flooring and tiles.

Platt, who considers himself a “modernist” and is one of the world’s top 100 architects and designers, according to Architectural Digest, has developed “a palette of healthy green interior finishes and complementary eco-friendly green furniture packages for the green homes.”

Other added benefits include an increase in the local economy by constructing the homes with local labor and materials to the extent possible. Paquette said some of the fabrics being used in the new green homes were constructed from companies that use wind power as their source of electrical energy.

“Green is here to stay and there’s no reason not to be green,” Paquette said. “The green homes at The Greenbrier are a completely integrated process of energy efficiency and awareness.”

For more information about the new green homes, visit on the Web at www.thegreenbriersportingclub.com.

— E-mail:

cgiggenbach@register-herald.com