Even as Tradition Hilton Head is being built, Core’s track record, valuable real-world experience and commitment to environmentally sensitive development (click here) means we’re already well on our way to being a “green community” here in the Lowcountry.

In what will be a “first” anywhere in South Carolina, the same water treatment and re-use program that has performed so well in St. Lucie West, Florida, will be utilized here in Tradition. With it, treated reclaimed water will be used to irrigate not just the golf course but all community landscaping, as well, both in the common areas and around individual homes (a separate water line will be run to each home for just this purpose).

Tradition’s land use plan will collect storm water run-off and return it to our system of lakes, helping to sustain them and the plant and animal life they will support.

Of course, the fundamental design of Tradition will contribute to environmental responsibility. Parks, playgrounds and gardens will be just a short stroll away from home sites. Both the Fitness Center & Spa and the access to Tradition National Golf Course will be adjacent to Village Square. With the additional convenience of so much shopping and dining there, including our own major supermarket, you won’t need to drive for miles and struggle with traffic on the highway just to pick up a few “necessities.” Combine that with the clean, quiet golf cart that every home in Tradition will receive and, together, we will have made a significant reduction in auto traffic.

America’s home builders, too, are becoming equally focused on environmental concerns, with many exciting initiatives being developed through their own industry associations. You’ll see this on display here in Tradition…because Core Communities partners with home builders who reflect our own values and beliefs and this extends to responsible design and construction practices.

Core Communities is proud to have our own Leon Camarda as a LEED-Accredited Professional. This accreditation means that Leon has a thorough understanding of sustainable construction and can manage a project based on LEED standards.

Sounds exciting…and it is! But what, you ask, is LEED? And how will Leon’s LEED accreditation benefit Tradition residents?

LEED is an acronym you might not be familiar with just yet, but in commercial construction it’s been a major influence for the last few years – and it’s starting to shape the practices of residential construction.

LEED stands for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design. And it’s a program established by the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC), a non-profit group composed of 10,000 member organizations from every sector of the building industry. Through LEED’s Green Building Rating System, the members are working to promote buildings that are environmentally responsible, profitable and healthy places to live and work.

There are specific LEED “roadmaps” for every type of construction including new commercial buildings and interiors, renovations, schools, retail and, more recently, neighborhood development and homes. The LEED Rating System is continually being refined, in some cases to reflect regional needs (for instance, while water conservation is important everywhere, it’s extremely critical in the desert Southwest).

LEED also includes a Professional Accreditation program to encourage green building expertise and that’s what led to Leon’s credential. The process to register and LEED-certify a building or project is a complex one and Leon also manages the team that accomplishes this task.

But LEED isn't the only green building program. For example, the National Association of Home Builders has a green building initiative that’s working to establish requirements for their members. Many other green programs outside of LEED are already in place. What’s important is not so much the specific program but the growing, widespread awareness of the many benefits of green construction.

Core Communities enthusiastically supports all of these efforts and, with the help of professionals like Leon, will continue to make communities like Tradition environmentally sensitive places that enhance both our lives and our world.

It’s there in the numbers. Over 1500 loblolly and longleaf pines. More than 300 oaks of various varieties. And 362 palmetto trees…along with magnolias, crape myrtles, sweet gums, red maples, red buds, loblolly bays, sycamores and bald cypresses totaling 584 specimens. And that’s just the trees!

Indeed, the count for shrubs, bushes, grasses and ornamental flowers is staggering: over 700,000 individual plants.

That’s what has been installed in the first phase of landscaping at Tradition Hilton Head, including – but obviously not limited to – the newly paved Tradition Avenue.

But in addition to the strong visual appeal, the ambitious landscape design will carry an environmental benefit for the community through the low maintenance requirements. With the exception of some ornamentals to provide some color in every season, the plants and trees used here are native to this climate zone, adaptable to this soil and very drought tolerant as well.”

Subtleties abound in the landscape design. Rather than routing Tradition Avenue directly and then landscaping along it, the road follows contours that were created in the land plan. Clusters of trees and greenery that will appear to have occurred naturally were added. Within 8 or 10 years, when these areas have matured, it will look just like Tradition Avenue had to take the course it does in order to weave around trees and vegetation that was already there.

The water to sustain the landscaping in Tradition (including the golf course) will come from treated reclaimed water from the property and from the local water and sewer authority. That helps conserve the area’s supply of drinking water, especially important as the region experiences its impressive growth.

Enlightened golf course design and management addresses many public concerns often expressed about the impact of golf courses on the environment. The Golf Course Superintendents Association of America has corrected many misconceptions.

Along with the overall land plan and design for the Town of Tradition, Tradition National Golf Course also has a role to play in making the Town of Tradition an environmentally sensitive, “green” community.

The course is planted in hybrid bermuda grass, the most commonly used turf grass in course construction and the best choice for our warm, sunny climate. It’s a thick turf that’s very resilient and it’s great in heat and drought conditions. Bermuda grass needs only two inches of water per week to stay at its best. The irrigation water for Tradition National will come from a community source of treated reclaimed water and will place no demands on the drinking water supply.

Any fertilizing needed is applied through “fertigation,” the process of adding nutrients to the irrigation water rather than spreading them in granular form. This further reduces the potential for runoff or leaching into the groundwater.

Well-managed turf grass can be an effective filtration method for both rainfall and irrigation as it soaks into the ground. Actively growing turf is also highly effective in controlling environmental pollution, such as suppression of dust, glare, and noise, as well as heat dissipation through the oxygen it produces.

The lakes and ponds within the Tradition National Golf Course have had “littoral shelves” added to them. These are shallow sloping areas near the shore for rooted water plants that aid in erosion control, create a wildlife habitat and enhance water quality. Water plants that were removed from other locations on the Tradition property have been relocated to these shelves, where they can continue their contributions to the environment.

Tradition National is also a proud member of the Audubon Cooperative Sanctuary Program for Golf Courses and is currently working toward being certified as such. The ACSP focuses on enhancing the valuable natural areas and wildlife habitats that golf courses provide while preserving the unique natural heritage of the game of golf.