Have you ever dreamed of owning a spectacular beach home that was also environmentally sustainable? That is exactly what the Hassler family was looking for when they created Windswept, a beautiful oceanfront home nestled into Seabrook’s Northwest Glen Neighborhood.

This stunning property was carefully planned to not only be an incredible beach retreat, but was also designed to be energy efficient, use less water than a traditional home, provide a healthy indoor environment, and protect the outdoor environment both during the construction process and for the life of the home. With all this in mind, Windswept was recently awarded LEED Certification at the Silver level – becoming the second home at Seabrook with LEED certification!

LEED is an acronym that stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design and is the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction, and operation of high performance “green” buildings. Developed by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), LEED provides homeowners and contractors with three different levels of concise framework used to identify and implement practical and measurable green building design, construction, operations, and maintenance solutions.

Here in Washington, there are less than 150 homes that have attained either the Silver, Gold, or Platinum level LEED Certification. Until recently, only one of these LEED Certified homes was located on the Olympic Peninsula; Seabrook’s very own, Evergreen Cabin. Now, Windswept has joined the Evergreen Cabin to become the second home at Seabrook and the first oceanfront home to attain LEED Certification!

Windswept is a relaxing and sophisticated beach home that is committed to environmental stewardship and social responsibility. It is also a vacation rental property available to rent for your next beach vacation!

Visit Windswept’s Cottage Rentals website to find out more information on the home amenities, pictures, availability, and more!

The Evergreen Cabin, proud member of our recently completed Beach Camp Neighborhood, has recently become the first LEED© Platinum certified home at Seabrook!

The Evergreen Cabin is now one of only 125 LEED© certified homes in Washington State, and the only one in Seabrook, the city of Pacific Beach, and Grays Harbor County.

LEED© Certification is an internationally accepted standard that measures the sustainability of a building. There are two types of LEED© certification – residential and commercial. For each type of LEED© certification, there are multiple levels that a building can achieve: silver, gold, and the highest one – platinum. The Evergreen Cabin has reached the highest sustainability level for a residential home, which is quite outstanding!

As Seabrook’s most energy-efficient beach house, the Evergreen Cabin is a prime example of Seabrook’s commitment towards sustainable real estate development in the Pacific Northwest. Our homeowners are passionate about preserving the nature and truly believe in real-estate sustainability – which is what Seabrook has been about since its beginning.

For all the information on how the Evergreen Cabin achieved their Platinum LEED© Certification, read the press release featured in the rest of this article.

For 40 years, Earth Day has been an important day for raising people’s awareness and appreciation of our environment. Many of us think of preserving Mother Earth in our daily actions and more people are catching on the green fever that surrounds the Pacific Northwest.

Seabrook’s town design was in fact based on the belief that any sort of activity, even a real estate development, should first and foremost preserve the environment around it. Since its establishment, Seabrook has emerged as one of the leaders of sustainable development nationwide, with recognition coming from all corners of the country. We compiled a list of some of our sustainable efforts we think you will find interesting.

1. Walk-able Town Plan

From the beginning, Seabrook has been designed to provide beach lovers with easy, walkable access to all amenities one would require at the beach. Everything at Seabrook is within a 5 minute walk, and cars are stowed away nicely in garages and allies to gather some dust while you stroll around Seabrook in your flip flops. Find out more about the town master plan right here.

2. Very Low Light Pollution

Every light bulb in Seabrook is energy-efficient and every light post uses the minimum amount of wattage to save on electricity. In addition, every street light is subtly located on corners and pathways looking downwards instead of upwards. This way your view of the star struck sky from our town and the beach isn’t hindered by the lights that surround you.

3. Recycling = Less is More

Seabrook has implemented its own recycling system and every house is provided with a bin for general and glass recycling. If you walk around town, you will notice our employees and residents with reusable, ceramic or aluminum water bottles and cups; plastic water bottles are a foreign object to many at our beach town. Even our sales office will offer you water or coffee in a ceramic cup. Everything starts with the little things right?

4. Sustainable Design

One thing we can learn from the past is that traditional architecture is timeless. We have focused on this type of architecture that has stood the test of time and are creating a public beach resort for the ages.

5. Green Building

Everyone talks about green building, we actually do it. We build our homes to last hundreds of years, and we already have many homes with a LEED certification. 70% of the trees fallen on site for development are used for cedar shingles, picket fences, and landscaping features throughout Seabrook.

There are many more facets of Seabrook that make it a leader in environmentally friendly real estate developments we can dwell on further. Our sustainability pledge keeps us on course in everything we do, and we keep adding new ways in which we can preserve the beautiful nature around us and around the world.

If you have any suggestions or ideas in which you see Seabrook being more environmentally friendly, please share in the comment box below.

Happy Earth Day!

Shown below are the footings of Seabrook’s NW Glen’s lot 159. DO NOT be fooled, these are no ordinary footings! 40% of these foundation footings are made up of fly ash rather than concrete.

What exactly is fly ash and why do I want incinerated insects in my foundation, you may ask?

Don’t worry, here is the technical scoop:

Fly Ash

Power plants fueled by coal produce more than half of the electricity we consume in the United States today. But in addition to electricity, these plants produce a material that is fast becoming a vital ingredient for improving the performance of a wide range of concrete products. That material is fly ash. Fly ash is comprised of the non-combustible mineral portion of coal. When coal is consumed in a power plant, it is first ground to the fineness of powder. Blown into the power plant’s boiler, the carbon is consumed — leaving molten particles rich in silica, alumina and calcium. These particles solidify as microscopic, glassy spheres that are collected from the power plant’s exhaust before they can “fly” away — hence the product’s name: Fly Ash.

Chemically, fly ash is a pozzolan. When mixed with lime (calcium hydroxide), pozzolans combine to form cementitious compounds. Concrete containing fly ash becomes stronger, more durable, and more resistant to chemical attack. Mechanically, fly ash also pays dividends for concrete production. Because fly ash particles are small, they effectively fill voids. Because fly ash particles are hard and round, they have a “ball bearing” effect that allows concrete to be produced using less water. Both characteristics contribute to enhanced concrete workability and durability. Finally, fly ash use creates significant benefits for our environment. Fly ash use conserves natural resources and avoids landfill disposal of ash products. By making concrete more durable, life cycle costs of roads and structures are reduced. Furthermore, fly ash use partially displaces production of other concrete ingredients, resulting in significant energy savings and reductions in greenhouse gas emissions.

That, my friends is how you earn one LEED point toward LEED certification!