With so many great places in Central Park, I struggled when asked to name my favorite. The Central Park Recreation Center. The Farmers’ Market. The Community-Wide Garage Sale. Central Park. But then it hit me. My favorite place in Central Park is up on the roof (and inside the walls).
Central Park homes have always been held to a higher standard for sustainability and energy efficiency. First Built Green, then Energy Star, and now we are seeing some LEED-certified homes. We are in our third Central Park home and we’ve seen the progression first hand. Homes here are more comfortable to live in and cost less to maintain. I don’t mind sending a smaller check to Xcel each month.
I love seeing solar panels atop homes in our neighborhood, and at our home the sun produces the majority of our electricity. That’s a far cry from our pre-Central Park home, where we had to turn off other appliances if we wanted to use the printer! When we moved into our current home we had an energy audit from Xcel, and they struggled to come up with recommendations because our house was so efficient.
Earning the GREEN certification from the National Association of Realtors seemed a natural step for someone who lives and works in Central Park. Living here made the classes easier since I already knew about HERS ratings, CFLs, xeriscaping, etc. I admit, I’m a geek when it comes to sustainable building practices and our 7-year old thinks making electricity from the sun is cool.
In some neighborhoods every home is beige, but in Central Park, they are all Green!
