SARASOTA, Fla., Feb. 06, 2019 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Pearl Homes, a developer of sustainable smart home communities and leader in LEED residential development, today announced that its president, Marshall Gobuty, was awarded the 2018 LEED Visionary Award from the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC). The honor recognizes innovative projects, architects, developers and homebuilders leading the residential green building market, and comes as Gobuty prepares to break ground on almost 1,500 Zero Energy homes in Manatee County.
“I’m humbled and honored to be selected for this award and to be recognized alongside other dedicated members of the sustainable home building community,” said Gobuty. “The LEED Visionary Award is a testament to our mission of building the most eco-friendly smart homes on the planet using a combination of advanced technologies and sustainable materials. Since we’re building on a production scale, we’re also cutting costs and increasing access to green living for all -- an objective necessary to achieve a sustainable and healthy future.”
Gobuty will soon achieve a key milestone, breaking ground on almost 1,500 Zero Energy Pearl Homes across the county. The Pearl Home is capable of achieving true energy independence as it produces more energy than it consumes and shares excess solar energy throughout the community and with the power grid. In this way, Pearl Homes become virtual power plants of clean energy, using Google Home automation and solar + storage technology enabled by the global market leader in energy storage, sonnen, to create completely self-sufficient homes and communities.
In 2017, Gobuty built Mirabella, Bradenton’s award-winning 55+ sustainable home community. All 158 homes at Mirabella achieved LEED Platinum certification, the USGBC’s highest benchmark for sustainable design and construction. The homes reduce energy use and utility costs up to 40 percent and prices are comparable to conventional Florida homes, starting at $400,000.
In Spring 2019, Pearl Homes will offer its first official Community, Hunters Point Pearl Homes & Marina, with 86 LEED platinum solar powered and Zero Energy rated smart homes available in the seaside fishing village of Cortez. Features include:
- 600 square feet of room under roof with an additional 2,400 square feet of exterior living space including a sky deck and wraparound decks
- Complete Google Home automation
- State-of-the-art NEST Hello video security
- Elevator and private indoor/outdoor pool
- sonnen residential energy storage technology
- NEST Learning Thermostats
- ENERGYSTAR and WaterSense fixtures and appliances
- Category 5 hurricane-proof construction
Pearl Homes will also soon announce its second largest community to date, 720 single- and multifamily Zero Energy Pearl Homes for lease. The development will feature an eco-friendly community, available for all generations, with flexible leases and independent, co-living, and co-working spaces.
According to Bradenton Mayor Wayne Poston, Pearl Homes are part of a larger vision for the city. “Marshall and his team are transforming our proud city into a beacon for green living,” said Poston. “We couldn’t be more proud to welcome folks from around the country to Pearl Homes Communities and our dynamic seaside hub.”
For the USGBC, Pearl Homes are part of a global solution to climate change. “We believe that all buildings, especially homes, should be green,” said Mahesh Ramanujam, president and CEO of the USGBC. “Marshall and his team are bringing energy-neutral living to the mainstream, and his mission is directly aligned with the vision of the USGBC.”
To learn more about Pearl Homes, please visit www.PearlHomesFL.com and www.HuntersPointFL.com
About Marshall Gobuty, Founder
Marshall is nationally recognized as a pioneer in the green building industry. In 2015, he broke the sustainability barrier with Mirabella, a 55+ community of 158 sustainable homes located in Bradenton, Florida. The community is one of the first to achieve LEED Platinum certification - the U.S. Green Building Council’s highest mark of sustainability - on a production scale. USGBC named Gobuty "Power Builder of the Year" for 2018, in recognition of Mirabella's award-winning, eco-friendly design and construction.
About Pearl Homes:
Marshall Gobuty founded Pearl Homes in 2015, when he broke ground on the award-winning Mirabella, a 55+ community of 158 LEED Platinum certified homes in Bradenton, FL. The development was one of the first in the U.S. to achieve LEED PLATINUM certification on a production scale, lowering the cost of Mirabella’s single- family homes to within 5 percent of a conventional new home. The breakthrough earned Mirabella the honor of being one of the USGBC’s 2016 and 2017 Power Builder of the Year Award. Mirabella also earned the 2018 55 Places.com’s Most Innovative Communities Award; the National Association of Homebuilders (NAHB) award for Best 55+ Active Adult Communities of 2016; the 2017 Manatee-Sarasota Building Industry Association Parade of Homes Green Award for Eco-Conscious Design; the 2016 & 2017 Southeast Building Conference (SEBC) Aurora Awards for Energy-Efficient Design, Water-Wise Home, and Green Construction; and is presently nominated for best 55+ Green Community Nationally by the NAHB. Last month, Marshall Gobuty was honored with the USGBC's 2018 LEED Visionary Award.
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