Greensboro, Ga. (April 2, 2008) – Nearly a century of commitment to responsible energy use and land stewardship makes Reynolds Plantation the ideal location for the first LINKS Magazine Green House, the initial design in a program intended to establish green building guidelines with the golf industry.
 
The final plans for the home are being completed. It will be constructed by Linger Longer Homes as part of the Reynolds Plantation 2009 Signature Home Model Program.
 
“We are very excited to be partnering with Reynolds Plantation for LINKS Magazine’s first Green House. The Reynolds family has been committed to energy efficiency for quite some time, so they certainly are the ideal candidate,” said Jack Purcell, president and publisher of LINKS.

Although standards are demanding, for years the Reynolds Plantation master-planned golf community on Georgia’s Lake Oconee has been meeting and exceeding guidelines set by the National Association of Home Builders. Also, the five golf courses at Reynolds Plantation are Audubon certified.
 
Reynolds Plantation has been a favorite choice for numerous national golf magazine “dream home” projects in recent years, including the first-ever Golf Magazine Dream House (2004), the first-ever Golf Digest/Golf For Women Signature Home (2007) and the first-ever Travel + Leisure Golf Cottage (2008).
 
The LINKS Magazine Green House is particularly appealing to the Linger Longer Communities and its ownership, the Reynolds family.
 
“Linger Longer Homes and the Reynolds family, as industry leaders, feel it’s their responsibility to take on the tough job,” said Tom Allhoff, Vice President of Linger Longer Homes.  “They understand the need to be out in front. If we build a home with energy efficiency in mind, we can educate buyers, fellow builders and the trades.”
 
That education is precisely what LINKS Green Houses are meant to stimulate — and communities like Reynolds Plantation have the experience to make it a reality.
 
“We have found that when we’ve done our first-ever showcase homes, elements of those houses get adopted by people down the line,” said Rabun Neal, president of Reynolds Plantation.
 
The Reynolds family’s lineage of sustainable design dates back to the 1920s, when Mercer Reynolds built the original hunting and fishing lodge along the river, on property that became Reynolds Plantation and Lake Oconee. To power his retreat, Reynolds capitalized on a renewable energy source by constructing a small hydro-electric generator on the stream. That resourcefulness has been carried on by generations of the Reynolds family, whose legacy is built upon strict environmental standards at Reynolds Plantation.
 
The LINKS Green House program will monitor the progress of the Reynolds Plantation showcase home, reporting on the struggles and successes that are encountered, and the impact the Green House will have on the environment.
 
Part of the Green House program is to establish a green building ratings system that will promote energy-efficient construction that makes use of renewable resources, healthy building materials and adheres to environmentally friendly building guidelines.
 
For more details about the Green House program, visit www.reynoldsplantation.com or www.linksmagazine.com/greenhouse.