The Cottages at Greenwood

This month, we’re proud to announce that E-Landscape has been selected to carry out commercial landscaping work for the Cottages at Greenwood, a new affordable living community in Howard County, Maryland. This project pairs us again with Hamel Builders, through their Hamel Green Construction division.

The Cottages at Greenwood feature super-insulated “Near Net Zero Energy” homes which harness inexpensive construction strategies to produce dramatically lower utility bills (up to 70% less than in standard homes). The community, and the homes within it, boast on-site storm water capture; permeable pavement for roads and driveways; recycled or recyclable building materials used in construction; and energy-efficient windows, doors, roofs and insulation in the homes.

This project is especially notable for its “green” features:

• The Craftsman-style cottages have been laid out in a site design that is integrated with the topography, minimizing vegetative clearing, erosion, vista and grading impacts.
• Individual homes are oriented to maximize solar benefits and energy conservation.
• Canopy shade trees will be planted along west and south sides of the homes not shaded by street trees to reduce energy use and increase comfort.
• Canopy shade trees along the drive shading south-facing homes will reduce pavement reflection of heat to reduce energy use and increase energy conservation.
• The most progressive storm water best-management practices have been incorporated into the site plan to maximize ground infiltration, including complete on-site storm water capture.
• All streets, drives and patios – including a central community court – will utilize asphault free, permeable paving.

Our scope of work on the project includes extensive reforestation, including planting shade trees on the hot side of buildings to increase energy efficiency, the installation of stepping stone walks, rain barrels, rain gardens, and driveway shading.