Preserves at Campton going green

LAUREL HILL - When a realtor tells you about a home deal that sounds too good to be true, it probably is. Some real estate deals come with more catches than Yogi Berra.

But not only are the Preserves at Campton going to be modestly priced, according to their builder they are also going to be cheaper to live in.

Located off State Road 85 and Senterfitt Road between Crestview and Laurel Hill, preliminary site work began earlier this year.

Committed to producing a “green” community, the developers, Emerald Coast Partners, have been searching for just the right builder to meet their criterion of well-built, inexpensive-to-live-in yet affordable homes.

They found it in American Durahomes, an Atlanta-based company that has experience building affordable homes in South Africa, the Caribbean, and Asia. The Preserves will be one of their first domestic projects.

“What makes us different than the more traditional buildings you see in this part of Florida is we incorporate an actual concrete and steel superstructure for the house,” explained American Durahomes’ Barclay Burks.

Burks was quick to assure potential buyers “we are not a prefabricated building system. We actually construct our houses on site.”

From foundation to roof, the entire home is reinforced all around with steel “rebar,” making it one big, unified building system. “To use General Motors’ term, you have a ‘unibody’ construction all around,” Burks said.

The system “has a lot of ‘racking strength,’” or resistance to side-to-side motion, allowing the homes to stand up to severe weather, winds and even earthquakes.

There is a 10-inch cavity in the walls through which plumbing, ductwork and electrical systems are placed, “then a proprietary infill is poured in,” Burks said.

American Durahomes’ filler material provides such exceptional insulation that “you could put a blowtorch on the wall outside and never feel it inside,” Burks said. “Laboratory tests show between an R-35 and 40 value,” he said.

(As comparison, an efficient modern refrigerator has an R-value around 30.)

This results in heating and cooling bills expected to be less than $50 per month at current rates.

Though strong, the homes planned for the Preserves bear no resemblance to the military “pillbox” one may imagine.

“We finish the homes in a traditional method,” Burks said. Inside, wall finishes “look just like a sheetrock wall. You can hammer nails in it. You don’t have to do a lot of drilling to hang pictures.”

Roof decks will be finished in either concrete board, often known as Hardiplank, or plywood.

Fiberglas or vinyl windows that “look just like what you’re using now,” Burks said, will provide further thermal insulation while being resistant to breakage by anything from flying hurricane debris or the boy next door’s baseball.

Interior fixtures will include wooden cabinets, and wooden and tile flooring.

“From an appearance standpoint you would notice no difference from a regular house except it’s a lot prettier,” Burks said.

In addition to the energy efficiency of the homes, “we use about 85 percent recycled material in the wall system,” Burks said.

Another advantage is the houses’ soundness.

“The reason our name is American Durahomes is our homes are extremely durable,” Burks said proudly. “There’s no need to ever change the appearance of our homes unless you want to change the color. There’s no need to repaint, and no need to add a new roof after 12 years,” he boasted.

The construction method is also termite proof, mold and mildew resistant, has an extremely high sound coefficient (go ahead, blast that stereo!) and is extremely fire retardant.

There are more good reasons to welcome American Durahomes to the north end of Okaloosa County.

“We plan every single possible way to buy supplies locally,” Burks assured area contractors. “We also will endeavor to employ locally. The vast majority of our employment base does not need to have a trade skill” excepting plumbers and electricians.

“Beyond that we will train our own crews,” he said.

Preserves at Campton homes will sell for between $160,000 and $190,000 in first phase, said Ken Wright of Emerald Coast Partners and ReMax Southern, the development’s realtor.

The smallest home to be offered is 1,412 square feet; the largest is 1,857 square feet. While several “stock” home plans are available, “we have complete flexibility in terms of floor plans and designs,” Burks said. “We can build towers and round rooms, even mansions.”

But the Preserves’ “mission is to stay in a truly affordable market place,” Wright said.

Despite the brilliance of their revolutionary home construction method, Burks remained modest.

“It isn’t that we’re geniuses. We use a lot of very effective materials and we employ a management structure that lends itself to the low-income marketplace. We don’t have a huge overhead. It really is a basic industry,” he said.