In a suburb most Minneapolitans and St. Paulites associate with freeways lined with big-box retail, shopping malls, and nondescript cul-de-sacs, there’s a neighborhood called Eden Gardens. Built by JMS Custom Homes, the single-family development is a “green” community and winner of the Minnesota Green Path Leadership Award. The neighborhood is, in part, why Eden Prairie was chosen by Money as #2 in its Best Places to Live 2016 survey.
According to Maddie McGinty, sales and marketing coordinator for JMS, Eden Gardens is a “new home community and all of its 36 homes are being built to Minnesota Green Path Advanced Certification Standards,” a program of the Builders Association of the Twin Cities. Click here for a video about Green Path.
Materials used in Eden Gardens’ homes include recycled insulation, LED lighting, and high-efficiency heating and cooling equipment. Also included in the neighborhood are rain gardens, low-mow grass and drought-resistant landscaping. In the community area are a shelter with solar lighting and a green roof; community garden plots; and a garden tool shed with a green roof and rain barrels for water to be used in the gardens. The walkable community also uses permeable pavers.
Several Green Path homes are on this year’s Parade of Homes, which includes information on Green Path on its website. “MN Green Path is designed for avid environmentalists. But it’s also designed for everyone else who wants to build a little greener or simply save energy dollars,” according to the webpage. “With MN Green Path, not every home will be radically green, but, every home will be radically transparent when it comes to its energy and environmental features.”
By Camille LeFevre
