Back in the 1920s, the Reynolds family built a lodge at Linger Longer, their
hunting and fishing retreat on the property that is now Reynolds Plantation. To
power the lodge (pictured above), Mercer Reynolds took advantage of a renewable
energy source by constructing a small hydroelectric
generator.
“This is a family-owned company,” says Reynolds
Plantation’s President Rabun Neal. “Everything we do is long-term. Architectural
review ensures the natural look of the community; all of our golf courses are
Audubon certified. Preservation of land is something we do as a matter of
course. So, the concept of a LINKS Green House is very consistent with the
Reynolds family legacy.”
In fact, one of Reynolds Plantation’s
core values is the responsible stewardship of the environment. This commitment
shows clearly in the cornerstone of its parent company, Linger Longer Communities. The company is dedicated to leaving each property (and there are
currently two others, Reynolds Landing and Achasta, in addition to Reynolds
Plantation) better than they found it. One of the ways they achieve this is by
practicing “minimal disturbance.” According to Linger Longer Communities
Vice-Chairman Jamie Reynolds, a big strength for the company has been “our
respect for nature which has actually translated into increased demand for our
product—a textbook case of doing well by doing good by being concerned about the
environment.”
This master-planned community was also the first choice
of a number of national golf magazines to build golf dream houses. All of which
makes Reynolds Plantation a natural choice for the site of the first LINKS
Green House. Reynolds is still working on the final design of the home,
which will be built by Linger Longer Homes as part of Reynolds’ 2009 Signature
Home Model program. “Reynolds has a long tradition of taking the
environmental approach,” says Tom Allhoff, vice president of Linger Longer
Homes. “The homes we construct now meet or exceed the National Association of
Home Builders green building guidelines. We were doing it long before it became
fashionable.”
As a builder, Allhoff says building green is not
easy to do because the standards are demanding. “But Linger Longer and the
Reynolds family, as industry leaders, feel it’s their responsibility to take on
the tough job,” says Allhoff. “They understand the need to be out in
front. If we go out and build something, we can educate buyers, fellow builders
and the trades.” That knowledge is precisely what LINKS Green Houses are meant
to stimulate—and communities like Reynolds Plantation have the experience to
make it a reality.
“We have found that when we’ve done our first-ever
showcase homes, elements of those houses get adopted by people down the line,”
says Neal. “At any given time there are 200 homes under construction here. A lot
of those people are coming here to build their dream homes. We expect that now
those dream homes will adopt the green technology that LINKS Magazine’s
first-ever Green House will showcase.”
As we cover the progress of the
Reynolds Plantation Green House in the months ahead, the hope is that many more
people will find green elements to incorporate into their houses and their
lives.
