Tips:

1. Cleaner, greener, meaner
   As the health and environmental impacts of conventional cleaning products become more thoroughly understood, more and more brands of healthy, green, and effective cleaning products have started hitting the market and competing for that coveted place of honor under your sink. Many of these products are non-toxic, biodegradable, and made from renewable resources (not petroleum). But if designer labels aren’t for you, home-mixed cleaners can get the job done and then some. Vinegar and baking soda can be used to clean almost anything. Mix in a little warm water with either of these and you’ve got yourself an all-purpose cleaner.
2. Healthy airflow
   It is not uncommon for the air inside a home or office to be more toxic than the air outside. This is because of the presence of toxic materials and substances and the fact that homes and buildings are better insulated than ever before (which is a good thing from an energy standpoint). Keeping windows open as often as possible allows fresh air in and keeps toxins flowing out. This is especially important when cleaning your home.
3. Help your home smell soda-licious
   Baking soda not only removes those strange smells coming from your fridge, it’s also a great odor-eliminator for your carpet. Just sprinkle on a little baking soda to soak up some of those odors and then vacuum it up.
4. Clean peace
   Skip the store-bought air fresheners and instead try boiling cinnamon, cloves, or any other herbs you have a fondness for. Fresh chocolate chip cookies also have been known to create a friendly aroma. Also, plants may not make your house smell different but are good for filtering interior air–pretty much any broad green leaf plant will do. Peace Lilies are a favorite choice.
5. The toxic toss
   When replacing your cleaning products, don’t just throw the old ones in the trash. If they’re too toxic for your home, they won’t be good for the drain or the landfill either. Many communities hold toxics & electronics recycling days and will take all of these off your hands. Throwing chemicals in the trash or down the drain means they might end up back in your water supply and come back to haunt you (see How to Green Your Water for more).

For more clean green tips and tools, visit http://planetgreen.discovery.com/go-green/green-cleaning. To find your next home to clean green, view the available floorplans at www.landinglifestyle.com.

Entry:  Every day the concept of going green becomes more and more popular.  Americans are beginning to discover the importance of using green materials and the benefits that come with this movement.  One of the most important financial and personal investments in a person’s life is their home, so why not make it as environmentally healthy as possible, not to mention economically smart?    Living in a green home integrates certain technologies, design, construction and maintenance elements that reduce the negative impacts that homes have on the environment while also improving the health of the people who live inside.   Communities like The Landing at Southpoint are grasping this concept completely, sequentially constructing green homes suitable for any home-owner.  According to the U.S. Green Building Council’s Green Home Guide, green homes are expected to make up 10% of new home construction by 2010, increasing from 2% in 2005.  To be clear, here are some specific advantages of buying a green home:

1.        Healthier building materials

The building materials used in the construction of green homes are toxin-free- helping combat indoor pollution that can result in even more harm than outdoor pollution.  When residents are exposed to this unhealthy air inside, they are in jeopardy of some serious health risks.  In green homes, natural and some mechanical ventilation systems are installed to filter unhealthy air outside and bring in fresh air, which maintains safe and easy breathing for the residents.

2.        Wallet-friendly prices

The net cost of green homes has been proven to be equivalent, and possibly cheaper, than the net cost of standard homes.  Professional builders that are familiar with green-building will be able to save you money while guaranteeing safer, more quality homes.  The high-quality materials used have been verified as being more durable which will save you money on household repairs.  Not only are you saving money on the design and build of the home, but your monthly costs of energy and water are less than those of standard homes.  While mentioning the saving of money on household bills, owning a green home could potentially be helping you save money on doctors’ bills by improving the overall health of you and your family.

3.        Environmentally smart

As previously mentioned, Green homes use less energy than standard homes—40% less.  This is important to acknowledge considering that residential heating and cooling alone make up 20% of the United States’ energy use yearly.  Green homes use less water, helping in the effort to conserve our planets’ water sources.  Not only does the construction of green homes generate much less waste, they use much less natural resources than standard homes– allowing us to be less dependent on these conventional energy sources and helping improve our planets environment, overall. 

Green homes are overall better for your health, your wallet, and our environment.  For more information on the advantages of owning a green home visit www.greenhomeguide.com.  To see how The Landing at Southpoint incorporates these green-friendly features, view available floor plans at www.landinglifestyle.com. 

“We are very excited that a member of Boylan Companies has been chosen to serve in this capacity,” said Mr. Field, CEO of Boylan Companies. “Without a doubt, Ben will help to spur greater interest and participation from the real estate development and brokerage industry in matters relating to sustainable development practices and policy.”

Yorker boasts over ten years of professional real estate experience throughout the Southeast and Mid-Atlantic regions. To date, he has developed multi-family, mixed-used and commercial projects with a combined construction value of over $300M. As development manager of Boylan Development Company, Yorker directs staff and consultants in the analysis, design and construction for multi-family and mixed-use projects as well as spearheads multiple green initiatives for the company. He is also an active member of the Urban Land Institute.

“As an industry professional, serving on the Triangle’s Chapter of the US Green Building Council affords me the opportunity to launch a collaborate effort between developers and policy-makers to craft new construction policies that will promote sustainable building practices through a careful balance of incentive and mandate,” said Ben Yorker, development manager of Boylan Companies’ development team. “It is a both a pleasure and honor to serve on this board.”

The USGBC North Carolina Triangle Chapter envisions a healthy future through the promotion and application of sustainable strategies to the built environment. The chapter is comprised of architects, engineers, interior, designers, landscape architects, government officials, developers, business owners, product manufacturers, individuals and students. The North Carolina Triangle Chapter aims to be the regional point of contact to promote construction practices and buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work. For more information about the Triangle Chapter of the USGBC, please visit http://chapters.usgbc.org/nctriangle. For complete information about all the many facets of Boylan Companies, please visit www.boylancompanies.com.

Call to make an appointment today (800) 811-3226

“As a Pirate alumni, I can’t think of a better way to contribute to my alma mater,” said Mr. Field, CEO of Boylan Companies. “As I serve alongside fellow leaders in the community, I look forward to drawing from my experiences as a former student and businessman to advance the goals of both the ECU Foundation and East Carolina University.”

Dusty Field is a graduate of East Carolina University and was one of nine new directors named to serve on the 2009 ECU Foundation board.  As an entrepreneur for almost two decades, he brings valuable insight, inspiration, energy and guidance into each new business venture. He has founded a number of different ventures, including the country’s fifth largest ATM service provider, along with Tobacco Road Cellars winery in California, Boylan Companies and Openmyvideo.com; each has resulted in success. During 2005, Mr. Field was awarded the Top 40 under 40 Award, a prestigious award that honors the most promising young business people in the Triangle.

About ECU Foundation
The East Carolina University Foundation Inc., is a dynamic, forward-looking, volunteer led, tax exempt organization that plays a critical role in advancing East Carolina University. This body cultivates friends, raises, manages and distributes private resources to benefit the university, its students and its academic and research programs; provides positive public advocacy for the university; and ensures funding for the “Margin of Excellence” that defines East Carolina University today and in the future. For more information about the foundation, please call (252) 328-9550 or visit www.ecu.edu/ecuf.

About Boylan Companies

Established in 2003, Boylan Companies is a multi-faceted real estate organization providing commercial and residential development, construction, property management and brokerage services. With the ability to look beyond the ordinary in business, the intellect to formulate a powerful strategy and the confidence to lead others in the pursuit, Boylan Companies successfully adapts to market trends to create and seize powerful real estate opportunities.  For complete information all the many facets of Boylan Companies, please call (919) 256-3600 or visit www.boylancompanies.com.

Best wishes for a happy and healthy 2009!!!

Boylan Development Company announced today its intention to pursue LEED Certification for the Windsor Manor upon Six Forks apartment project and the Landing at Southpoint Condominium. Company president, Tyler Morris, announced this decision after conducting a series of consultations with an environmental-design expert and the project design teams.

Says Morris, “We realized that with many of the design features and site considerations that had already been incorporated into the Windsor Manor project, we couldn’t be that far off from earning [LEED] Certification. It seemed like a value-add, both for our investors and the community as a whole, to attempt to go the extra distance.”

Morris explains that after putting in the effort to register Windsor Manor for certification, Boylan decided to place The Landing, which is at a similar stage in design, on the same track.

The LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System is a voluntary building certification program that defines high-performance green design. The LEED website explains that the intention is to promote construction that is “more environmentally responsible, healthier, and more profitable”. LEED establishes a common standard of measurement for what constitutes a “green” building and serves as a design guideline for designers, contractors and owners. To the community at large, it represents a third-party confirmation of a building’s environmentally friendly features.

[ read the article ] or [ visit landing lifestyle .com ]