"Peak Community" Demonstrates Social Sustainability as Key to Creating Environmental Neighborhoods

WASHINGTON, DC; February 24, 2010 -- Mid Atlantic Cohousing, a non-profit consortium of cohousing neighborhoods in Maryland, Pennsylvania, Virginia, and Washington, DC, is sponsoring the
"Cohousing: Growing Smart Communities Conference" on Saturday, March 20, 8:30 am-6:30 pm with presentations on sustainable building and development, marketing and community building, and a seminar for "Aging in Place in Community." Cohousing is a planned neighborhood model where the future resident group participates in the marketing process typically achieving 75 percent pre-sales prior to construction.

Presentations include:

• "Peak Community and Sustainability" keynote address by Zev Paiss, Abraham Paiss & Associates;
• "The 4 C's of Cohousing: Conversions, Commissioning, Cash, and … Cows" by Stanley Sersen, LEED AP, CEO & Founder of The EnviroCenter and Founder & Board President of The Green Building Institute;
• "Professional Best Practices: Including Clients in the Development Process" by Jack Wilbern, AIA, Cohousing Collaborative, LLC;
• "Energy Master Planning for Cohousing-Scale Communities" by Bill Fleming, Sustainable Systems, LLC;
• and "Cohousing for ALL: Making Cohousing Green, Accessible, and Affordable" by Don Tucker, President, ECO Housing Corporation, and developer of the LEED ND Silver mixed-income cohousing neighborhood, Eastern Village Cohousing in Silver Spring, MD.

Speakers on the "Aging in Place in Community" panel include Dene Peterson, Purpose Prize winner and developer of the ElderSpirit Community in Abingdon, VA, which includes affordable and accessible homes that are half rental and half ownership; Joan King, a founding resident and elder at Eastern Village Cohousing, Silver Spring, MD; and Rita Kostiuk, Village Coordinator for Beacon Hill Village, Boston, MA.

Growing Smart Communities is being hosted by the University of Maryland (UMD), School of Architecture, Planning and Preservation. The seminar will take place at the UMD College Park Campus in Architecture Building #145, entrance at the intersection of Mowatt Lane and Campus Drive. Conference registration fee is $60 (UMD, USGBC, GBI, members register at discount rate), including workshops from 8:30 am – 6:30 pm, morning and afternoon refreshments, and a reception following the presentations. More info at www.MidAtlanticCohousing.org.
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