When Asani Development was looking to create the concept for a new residential development on Bainbridge Island several y
ears ago — in the midst of a slow real estate market — the development team knew they would have to come up with something unique. As they were exploring ideas for sustainable living including energy efficiency, Washington state adopted a new program to incentivize use of solar energy.
“Solar incentives were adopted (by the state) so it made economic sense. We decided it would be a very interesting challenge,” said Marja Preston, president of Asani and the lead of the team that developed what is known as the Grow Community.
The goal was to make the entire neighborhood a net-zero energy community and follow the principles of the One Planet Living program.
There were multiple challenges but one in particular was a question of economics. “For solar, there was only one manufacturer in the state and it was expensive,” said Kelly Samson, one of the original Asani developers of Grow. read more »