Three Developers Honored with Building With Trees Awards of Excellence for Their Dedication to Preserving Trees During Construction

Nebraska City, Neb. (Aug. 11, 2009) -- Three conservation-minded developers have received a 2009 Award of Excellence in the Building With Trees recognition program. The program, sponsored by the Arbor Day Foundation in cooperation with the National Association of Home Builders, recognizes builders and developers who protect trees and the environment during land development and construction.

Autumn Hall, Inc., of Wilmington, N.C.; Country Construction and Greenbrier Development in Kirkland, Wash.; and Clark Realty Capital, LLC, and Park Village of Fairfax County, Va., were honored for promoting best tree preservation practices throughout the construction process.

"We commend the winners of the Building With Trees Awards of Excellence for going to great lengths to preserve mature trees and for planting new ones," said Dan Lambe, vice president of programs for the Arbor Day Foundation. "These developers recognize the importance of trees, and they provide an example of how builders can create neighborhoods and homes while protecting the abundant resources of the natural world."

The Building With Trees Awards of Excellence honors those projects that demonstrate exemplary effort in working in concert with nature and protecting the environment. Projects were judged by a panel of industry and urban forest professionals on their use of a tree conservation plan along with concepts endorsed by the Building With Trees program.

Autumn Hall, Inc., was honored for converting a former golf course into a large, single-family housing development while preserving many large trees. Autumn Hall built public spaces and parks around the best tree resources in the development, and took advantage of the natural layout of the golf course to preserve trees. The developer utilized large stands of loblolly pines to act as a natural barrier within the housing development, and built roads around existing trees.

Greenbrier was created by Country Construction and took advantage of a small, wooded area to create an eight-lot residential development. Country Construction worked with the City of Kirkland to help preserve trees while creating roads and access to the development. The developer transplanted many large trees, and built sidewalks and the area's main road around existing trees.

Park Village is a new housing development located at Fort Belvoir in Virginia. Clark Realty Capital, LLC, developed Park Village on a 13-acre plot to construct additional family housing for military personnel who are stationed on the base. During construction, Clark Realty Capital preserved 76 mature trees, and planted an additional 336 trees throughout the residential area. The developer took great precaution to protect the root zones of existing large trees during the construction process.

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About the Arbor Day Foundation: The Arbor Day Foundation is a nonprofit conservation and education organization of nearly one million members, with a mission to inspire people to plant, nurture, and celebrate trees. More information on the Foundation and its programs can be found at arborday.org.