Earth-friendly homes to sprout in Bloomfield Township
By Eric Czarnik
Birmingham-Bloomfield Eagle
June 11, 2008
BLOOMFIELD TOWNSHIP - Setting aside gloomy reports of the housing market, a metro Detroit builder is ready to construct new homes in Bloomfield Township using the latest in green technology. Clawson-based Gontina Building & Design plans to build two 3,700-square-foot houses in a neighborhood near Square Lake and Adams roads. The future homes will replace demolished ones in the neighborhood, according to the building company's coowner Woody Gontina.
Gontina, who grew up in Bloomfield Hills, said he started building the homes despite market forecasts because the buildings will be unique.
"They're going to be very well-received once they're up," he said." Our philosophy is not that there's zero buyers in the market anymore. … Our rationale is that we're getting our property in front of the people."
Green construction has gained more recognition as global warming has become a mainstay of the political debate. According to Gontina, U.S. homes are blamed for 8 percent of all carbon emissions worldwide.
Gontina said his company is building the homes in accordance with the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design for Homes Rating System. The system provides a popular benchmark for deciding what makes a house friendly to the environment.
The new Bloomfield homes would embrace enough new technologies to be 50 percent more energy efficient than normal, he said. He added that whatever cost premium that might exist by installing such technology is recovered in a few years due to savings in energy costs.
"From a pricing standpoint, the homes that we're building fall within the standard pricing of the area, but we're able to provide a much superior product for a competitive price," he added.
According to design plans, the Bloomfield homes will use more efficient materials like fiber cement siding and recycled glass countertops. Other concepts include using underground, geothermal energy for home heating and using natural light to brighten rooms.
Gontina said the construction on one home would begin this month and end by early spring 2009. The other project does not have a starting date yet, though it's expected to take six to eight months to complete, he said.
The building will occur during a tough time for the housing industry. According to Real Estate One's Oakland County Market Report for January-March 2008, Bloomfield Township had a buyer's market and a 19.4-month supply of homes.
But Ronna Feldman, manager of Max Broock Realtors of Bloomfield Hills, reported increased activity in the township's housing market recently. Sellers are setting more realistic prices to their homes, and buyers are beginning to believe that the chaos is close to bottoming out, she said.
"The giant fear wave has sort of ebbed, and people are taking advantage of the values that are out there now," she said." I don't know if the foreclosure fiasco is over yet, but buyers are taking advantage of those opportunities."
Timothy Risk, Gontina's business partner, said it's important to blend the new homes in with the neighborhood's existing ones.
"One of the reasons why is, we believe that in order for a building to be truly sustainable, it needs to be embraced and loved by the owners and the community," he said." That way, people will take care of it."