Just ask the residents at SummerHill’s latest sustainable living community – Satake Estates in Mountain View.    Each home at the environmentally friendly Satake Estates showcases a beautiful Rain Garden in the front yard.  This is just one of the many features used to achieve the Build it Green’s GreenPoint Rating System.
The grading for each home is designed to drain the majority of the lot’s drainage into the Rain Garden, were low flow water will percolate into the ground system. This works as a Bio-Filtration System prior to the water being discharged into the City’s main storm water system.  The size, area and design of the Rain Garden is specifically designed for each individual home which allows for a pleasing variety of landscape and lush tropical plants.
“Incorporate a ‘green commitment’ as part of your company’s culture,” said Robert Freed, president and CEO of SummerHill Homes. “Green building is the right thing to do for the homebuilding industry, for the consumer and for the environment.  Today’s new homebuyer will see near-term benefits of the green building features in terms of lower energy costs and long-term benefits in terms of resale value.” (excerpted from recent Green Homebuilder article)
And sometimes there’s the added bonus of it being simply “Beautiful” too.