Golf Course Architects Tripp Davis and Justin Leonard, Landscape Architects and Home Builders Promote Conservation and Cost Savings Via Sustainable Practices
(THE COLONY, Tex.) – The Tribute – a Matthews Southwest, Wynne/Jackson masterplanned golf course community on the shores of LakeLewisville – has established a “Green Alliance” with its development partners to ensure the highest levels of environmental quality and energy efficiency.
The consortium includes Tripp Davis and Associates (“TDA”), and PGA TOUR star Justin Leonard -designers of the under construction New Course at The Tribute – TBG Partners, landscape architecture and planning firm, and homebuilders Coventry Homes, Drees Custom Homes, Highland Homes and K. Hovnanian Homes.
The Tribute Green Alliance employs sustainable development practices and green products in minimizing environmental impact and resource usage on the course, community grounds and residences. For example, well and surface water feeds into canals used for all common area irrigation; sustainable planning principals minimize paved surfaces while preserving and utilizing natural drainage areas; and limited planting of manicured turfgrass decreases the use of air-polluting maintenance equipment.
Green Alliance home builders promote energy and water efficiency, recycling and indoor air quality. Home owners enjoy more comfortable living environments, long-term savings and enhanced resale value while guarding against rising energy costs with high-efficiency heating and air-conditioning units, cellulose attic insulation, Energy Star appliances, low-emissivity (“Low-E”) windows, and paints with minimal Volatile Organic Compounds (“VOC”), or toxins.
Other Tribute Green Alliance highlights include:
· The use of well and surface water (instead of city water) for irrigation, saving the HOA approximately $200,000 to $225,000 per year in a year with normal weather patterns.
· Designated wildflower and planting areas on 18 acres of the golf course site utilize native and adaptive plants that require minimal irrigation saving approximately 12,600,000 gallons of water per year.
· A 100-year old train trestle and other pedestrian and cart bridges that would have been slated for the scrap heap that were relocated to the site.
· Over 300 preserved trees relocated from golf course land and transplanted to roadways and parks. New trees in from sizeable tree farms would have required the expenditure of more than 1,020 gallons of gasoline.
· All stone materials quarried from a location within a 500-mile radius of the project, as required by Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED), a third-party certification program.
· Permeable golf cart paths made from decomposed granite.
· Use of no-emissions electric golf carts (rather than gas), saving thousands of dollars of fuel, annually.
· 1.2 mile running trail surface made from recycled materials.
“The Tribute is proud to stand at the leading edge of environmental protection and energy efficiency, which carry benefits well beyond our community,” says Michael C. Jackson, Principal, Wynne/Jackson. “The Green Alliance works to make The Tribute a model of innovative solutions to 21st century issues such as declining natural resources, increasing energy costs, pollution and global warming. Really it is just smart planning along with responsible development and construction practices.”
Each Tribute Green Alliance partner boasts a track record of environmental stewardship. TDA is nationally recognized for golf course designs that minimize impact on natural resources. TBG Partners is an industry leader in sustainable design and planning practices, developing comprehensive designs that integrate economic, social and environmental considerations to enhance and preserve both built and natural environments. Coventry, Drees, Highland and K. Hovnanian home builders have each received the Energy Star Excellence in Efficient Homes Award on at least one occasion.
About The Tribute
A joint venture between Matthews Southwest and Wynne/Jackson, The Tribute is a master-planned golf resort style community offering first-class amenity centers, pools, parks, playgrounds, on-site schools, hike-and-bike trails, landscaped canals, and hundreds of acres of accessible open space reminiscent of the Scottish Highlands. A total of 1,150 single family lots, 160 golf villas, 183 townhomes, and 700 European condominium units will overlook the Tribute’s two world-class golf courses and Lake Lewisville, just 23 miles from Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport.
About The New Course
The New Course is PGA Tour/Ryder Cup star Justin Leonard’s first Texas-based design project and the culmination of a long-time relationship with Davis, who he teamed with to design Shorefox Golf Club in Granby, Colorado. Scheduled to open in the summer of 2009, the New Course will captivate students of classic architecture, featuring holes inspired by masters Donald Ross, C.B. MacDonald, Alister MacKenzie, A.W. Tillinghast and other legends.
It will join the Scottish-inspired “Old Course,” also designed by Davis’ Oklahoma-based firm and featuring holes from famous British Open venues, to create one of the truly unique and inspiring 36-hole golf experiences in the U.S. Collectively via the New and Old Courses, golfers will be able to sample actual holes and design treatments from far-away and extremely-private golf clubs they may otherwise not be able to access in their lifetimes.
Davis and Leonard’s layout conjures the natural contours, hazard styles and green shapes of masterpieces such as Shinnecock Hills, National Golf Links, Prairie Dunes and Crystal Downs. Large, flowing bunkers, native grasses and subtle elevation changes will challenge players and mark the New Course as a wholly unique test of golf. Eight holes front Lake Lewisville, which provides a stirring backdrop to the 36-hole facility located just 23 miles from Dallas-Ft. Worth International Airport.
For more information about The New Course and current real estate offerings, visit www.thetribute.com.
Contact:
Shane Sharp
Buffalo Communications
704.519.8381 (cell)
ssharp@billycaspergolf.com
www.buffalocommunications.com
