Boylan Development Company Intends to Pursue LEED Certification for
    Two Prominent Local Projects

Boylan Development Company announced today its intention to pursue LEED Certification for the Windsor Manor upon Six Forks apartment project and the Landing at Southpoint Condominium. Company president, Tyler Morris, announced this decision after conducting a series of consultations with an environmental-design expert and the project design teams.

Says Morris, "We realized that with many of the design features and site considerations that had already been incorporated into the Windsor Manor project, we couldn’t be that far off from earning [LEED] Certification. It seemed like a value-add, both for our investors and the community as a whole, to attempt to go the extra distance."

Morris explains that after putting in the effort to register Windsor Manor for certification, Boylan decided to place The Landing, which is at a similar stage in design, on the same track.

The LEED® (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Green Building Rating System is a voluntary building certification program that defines high-performance green design. The LEED website explains that the intention is to promote construction that is "more environmentally responsible, healthier, and more profitable". LEED establishes a common standard of measurement for what constitutes a "green" building and serves as a design guideline for designers, contractors and owners. To the community at large, it represents a third-party confirmation of a building’s environmentally friendly features.

The LEED Certification program is administered by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a non-profit composed of leaders from across the building industry. Since its founding in 1993, USGBC has been focused on leading the building and construction industry toward high-performance green building.

Though the LEED process is often considered to be the gold-standard for green-design certification, Morris explains that applying the process as a developer can be complicated: "This program has become a wonderful institution, yet it has not necessarily been designed with the developer in mind. For example, there is not yet a LEED process specifically intended for multi-family residential development".

Boylan is working around these difficulties by contracting with Daryl Carrington, Director of Sustainable Design with Raleigh-based JDavis Architects. Carrington explains, "For the most part, you see government and institutional projects seeking LEED Certification. Right or wrong, environmentally-friendly design is often perceived to be too expensive for the private sector, and therefore, emphasis has not yet been placed on these types of projects." Carrington points out that very few market rate or rental residential developers have sought, let alone earned, this kind of Certification.

Morris agrees and hastily adds, "It certainly isn’t inexpensive; however, it represents an investment that we are committed to. This is where this industry needs to head, and we are eager to take a leadership role in this movement."

Windsor Manor upon Six Forks is a mid-rise 298-unit apartment project offering secure structured parking as well as luxury finishes and amenities. Design is complete and construction is likely to commence early 2008. Windsor Manor will be located on Six Forks Road near the intersection with Atlantic Avenue.

The Landing at Southpoint will be a 160-home condominium community with upscale clubhouse and resort-style pool facilities. Phase I, consisting of the first 54 homes and the amenities area, is expected to begin in the first quarter of 2008. Homes for this project, which is located just north of the Southpoint Mall in Durham on NC Highway 751, are being marketed by Boylan Realty. Those interested in a home at the Landing call Sabrina Field at (919)669-3321.