Paving a way to a greener future.
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From coast to coast, we’re getting our hands dirty with our partners at the Arbor Day Foundation. Through planting and distribution events, we’re making a difference in the cities and towns where we build. Many neighborhoods and preservation areas in these communities are in need of trees for a variety of reasons ranging from climate and biodiversity initiatives to neighborhood beautification, and we’re happy to support this important work.
Helping where we can.
When the development team was ready to start rough grading at Meadow Run, a pair of red-tailed hawks nesting just off-site of the property in a neighbor’s eucalyptus tree was identified. Since red-tailed hawks’ nests require a large buffer zone from a construction operation, we delayed the site development work until the three eyas, or baby red-tailed hawks, had time to develop.
Although the land development was delayed two and a half months, Meritage played a role in maintaining the local ecosystem and had a once-in-a lifetime front seat to monitoring the maturation of the eyas before they flew off.
Solena at The Vineyards, one of the first all-electric communities in North Carolina, was designed with EPRI to understand and demonstrate how to build energy-efficient homes that are also electric grid-friendly. This all-electric community is designed to avoid pulling electricity from the grid during the peak hour needs of the overall marketplace and optimize Duke Energy’s electric load. The energy-efficient homes we are building require less incremental electric utility infrastructure to support this community.
And by reducing potential power grid failures or rolling brownout scenarios in the future, Solena at The Vineyards will help demonstrate a large-scale proof-of-concept community’s impact on more efficient use of energy and ultimately reducing energy consumption overall.
During the entitlement phase of Sumac Ridge, we discovered the existence of a riparian wetland habitat (land surrounding rivers and streams) and a vernal pool (a seasonal water habitat) on-site. We hired an independent expert biologist who determined four acres of land contained federally protected species and drainage paths. In addition to designating this acreage as preserved lands, we decided to reduce the community by 40 homes and establish a natural open-space buffer between the riparian habitat and the vernal pool. With walking trails and community signage to educate residents about the native species and wetland habitat, homeowners will coexist with the local biodiversity.
In collaboration with regulatory agencies and city government, we further commissioned a third-party analysis and testing of our civil engineer’s drainage plan to ensure the community’s irrigation would not alter the natural drainage plane or impact the native habitat.
Upon the completion of Sumac Ridge, the 175-home community will have an enhanced landscaping design, including preserved land that promotes the beauty of native flora and fauna.
