Diamondhead Resort Community - Hot Springs, Arkansas

Green Home, Great Cause

Tue Apr 13, 2010

Diamondhead Resort Community’s Green Home is open for tours to benefit the March of Dimes foundation.

Article in Life & Home Hot Springs, March 2010
by Denise Parkinson

Just in time for Spring, a green and innovative place offers a message of hope and healing: thanks to a timely partnership between Diamondhead and the March of Dimes, visitors can experience the livability of The Natural State’s most energy-efficient home.  This modern, stylish house is well worth a visit, especially since all the proceeds from the tours (which last through July) go to a worthy cause.

On a recent trip to Diamondhead’s forested hills, the mid-February weather was spitting ice and snow on a fierce North wind.  But inside the community’s newly constructed “secure energy home,” all was cozy and warm-even though the fireplace was not in use!  In fact, two “green homes” sit side-by-side on this woodsy cul-de-sac; the second one is still in the process of completion by Cooper Creek Development.  “We consulted with home energy expert Doug Rye and built to his specifications,” explains Suzzi Combs, Diamondhead’s public relations director.  Rye, the host of radio programs such as “Home Remedies,” and Caulk and Talk,” provided guidelines that were actually exceeded in this marvel of modern construction.

Several of Arkansas’ most popular interior decorators participated to make each room in the Green Home beautiful and functional-including re-purposing older furniture in a vibrant new color palette and utilizing natural elements such as seashells and coral.
    

Denise Marshall, Division Director of the Arkansas Chapter of the March of Dimes, describes how the Green Home is a perfect fit for the national volunteer health agency’s mission to improve infant health.  “When you tour this home, you learn about how to make life better for future generations by securing energy efficiency,” Denise explains.  “on our ticket, it says ‘help secure my future by going green.’”  The March of Dimes was created in 1938 by President Franklin Roosevelt to combat polio.  With the eradication of that feared disease, the agency promotes research, advocacy, and programs to improve infant health.  Arkansas consistently ranks slightly higher than the national average in terms of premature births and infant mortality, with regional differences that indicate our state must continually confront issues of poverty and health.  “The Delta area has slightly higher rates of birth defects and prematurity,” Denise says, adding, “Every week [on average] there are 788 babies born in Arkansas, with 114 born to teen mothers; 260 delivered by Caesarean section; 108 born pre-term; and 72 born low birth weight-less than 5 and a half pounds.”  The saddest statistic of all relates in cold numbers a heartbreaking fact: of the numbers cited above, six babies will die before reaching their first birthday.

Denise brings a positive outlook and total commitment to the overwhelming task of ensuring healthy births and thriving babies.  As Arkansas’ March of Dimes’ spokesperson and fundraiser, she travels the state to inform and energize around a common goal: infant and maternal health.  “In the past, we did annual walks in Hot Springs; then these were centralized and moved to Little Rock,” she says.  “But last year, I was approached by a young woman named Misty Erickson who organized Hot Springs’ Walk for Babies, which raised over $4,000.  This year’s walk is in the planning stages right now.”

One of the most successful annual March of Dimes fundraisers is Little Rock’s Signature Chefs Auction, wherein 20 top chefs prepare their signature dishes in tasting portions and over 650 guests gather to taste the wares and bid on a variety of donated auction items.  “It’s fabulous-Glazers’ Distributing donates wine; we have live classical music; and we name the March of Dimes Citizen of the Year,” Denise recounts, adding that the current March of Dimes Citizen of the Year is Dr. Debra Fiser, Dean of the College of Medicine and Vice Chancellor of the University of Arkansas Medical Sciences.  This year’s Signature Chefs fundraiser featured an item that sparked a robust bidding war: Arrow Motor Coach Lines donated a 50-passenger bus for a trip to the races at Oaklawn, complete with a tailgate party brunch and dinner before and after the ride!”  Jim Leinhart of Arrow Motor Coaches signed up to do this-we had a ball working with Arrow and the response to this item was phenomenal,” says Denise.  “They even donated a billboard and 10 cents a mile went to the March of Dimes as well!” Upcoming March of Dimes events include the annual March for Babies walk in Little Rock on April 24 and the popular Bikers for Babies motorcycle ride at the end of the summer.  The 50-mile event begins in Conway’s Toad Suck Park and ends at the Clinton Library.  Denise is proud of the successful collaboration with Diamondhead, which has already raised over $1,000 from tours during February-the shortest month of the year!  The Green Home partnership marks a historic first for the March of Dimes, as well as a crucial link to a healthier future for families and indeed the entire planet: when wellness includes an energy-efficient lifestyle, the big picture suddenly becomes greener and that much closer to home.

As we tour the Green Home, Suzzi explains that the needs of Baby Boomers were researched for the floor plan’s design.  For example, the home is on one level, with one of the bed-and bath areas adaptable as a separate living space to accommodate elderly parents or a college student saving for school.  From the outside, the home’s clean lines and arched picture window present a cheerful façade.  Indoors, an open floor plan featuring hardwoods and porcelain tile, along with 10-foot tray ceilings and multiple deep-set windows, all combine to create a special feel with abundant natural light-but no loss of heat.

“The windows are of triple-paned glass with krypton gas inside, which is more energy efficient than the standard double-paned, argon gas windows, “ explains Suzzi.  The master bedroom’s windows, built to withstand hurricane-force winds, are as secure as they are efficient.  In fact, the Green Home is proof positive that efficiency and style are eminently compatible-especially in the kitchen, where Suzzi demonstrates a space-age electromagnetic stove.  The dark glass touch-screen cook top heats instantly-but in such a magical way that only the vessel is warmed.  To illustrate, Suzzi places a page of paper between the heat source and a pan-the paper stays cool while the pan boils water in mere seconds!  Furniture style cabinetry, elegant tilework, polished granite surfaces and a bay-windowed breakfast nook provide an attractive setting, while appliances are Energy Star-qualified.    The home’s overall energy rating reveals that substantial savings can be charted, with monthly utility costs for this 3-bedroom, two-and-a-half bath home held to around $100 per month.

Tucked away and hidden in the construction are all sorts of top-of-the-line efficiency features, from a Marathon hot water heater to wood-to-wood joint caulking and cellulose-insulated “envelope” that ensures no loss of air distribution due to the home’s “ceiling within a ceiling.”  Water saving, low-flow plumbing fixtures; Tech Shield roof decking; LED lighting; a Geothermal heat system-these details combine to allow for the lowest carbon footprint possible.  Light fixtures-from eye catching pendants in the breakfast area to chandeliers throughout the home-present a warm glow unlike the cold glare one notices with some LED lights.  They use only 1/5 the electricity of standard bulbs while emitting only 1/10 the amount of heat.  Another fascinating modern touch concerns the home’s invisible surround sound speakers.  After searching the living area and the pleasant sunroom/office (complete with ec-friendly furniture fabrics and reinforced glass security door), I was confounded-where was the source of the music playing throughout the house?  Laughing, Suzzi explained that the music is coming from high-tech concealed flat panel speakers.  “They’re set into the ceiling,” she says with a grin.  “You cover them with a screen and paint over them-totally invisible!”

Equally hidden away, beyond the roomy master bedroom and luxuriant master bath, is another secret weapon in this home’s security/efficiency arsenal: a FEMA-approved storm room with a 14-gauge steel door and concrete ceiling with walls.  Designed as a huge walk-in closet, this room is far from my childhood memories of huddling in our family’s damp basement during tornado alerts.  “This home is generational family-friendly,” explains Suzzi as I prepare to leave the Green Home’s serene and cozy ambiance and head back out into the February chill.  “It makes sense to advocate a healthy future and lifestyle along with the March of Dimes-after all, Diamondhead is not a retirement community.  We have families and new generations living here.”