17 April 2012

Eddie Fort and his custom home building business, PD&M, Inc., recently won a statewide award for a “green” home he constructed.

– By ROB LYON Smith Mountain Eagle — Efforts to build “sustainable green homes” and more energy efficient buildings appear to be growing and a Smith Mountain Lake company is a leader in that trend.

PD&M, Inc. General Contractors of Moneta, a builder of custom homes at SML for the past 29 years, was recently recognized for building one of the 10 most energy efficient homes in Virginia in 2011.

The 4,800-square-foot home, owned by Andrew and Cindy Rountree, is located in the Wirtz area of Smith Mountain Lake.

The award was presented by EarthCraft Virginia, the administrator for one of the country’s largest sustainable (green) building programs.

Eddie Fort is president of PD&M. “I have a team of dedicated subcontractors and suppliers who have embraced my vision of building beautiful sustainable homes,” he said. He also thanked the Rountrees “for sharing my vision and allowing PD&M to build their home.”

EarthCraft was developed in Atlanta and has adapted the building standards to fit homes built in the southeastern part of the U.S., Fort explained. The concept is also coupled with the Energy Star program “that lends a lot of credence and credibility” to the idea, he said.

“The (Rountree) home was the fourth most efficient overall out of more than 1,000 homes considered,” Fort added.

Fort said the beauty of building green/sustainable homes is that most all of the features that make it that type of structure are not seen or are very subtle. From special insulating material to the use of low VOC (Volatile Organic Compound) products to air tight window frames to strict standards for heating and air conditioning units, the homes are designed for comfort and savings.

“This elite level of construction provides clients with significantly lower utility bills, enhanced indoor air quality and a more comfortable, lower maintenance, longer lasting home,” said Fort.
Industry experts say homeowners can recover the added costs of green features within 3 to 5 years, Fort said.

Fort said the market for green/sustainable homes is growing and the clients he works with are educated about many of the practices used.

Fort said since joining the EarthCraft program in 2009 all of their homes have been awarded either Gold or Platinum status. “We have been one of the leaders in sustainable building here at the lake and this award validates our vision.”

To find out more about EarthCraft go to www.earthcraftvirginia.org or to find out more about PD&M, Inc. please visit www.PDandM.com.

The home of Andrew and Cindy Rountree, built by PD&M, Inc. of Moneta, was recently recognized as one of the 10 most energy efficient homes built in Virginia in 2011.

3 January 2012

– Moneta, VA — PD&M, Inc. today is announcing that it is committing to build and label its homes to meet the new and more rigorous ENERGY STAR requirements set by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency’s (EPA) for 2012.  PD&M has already built several new homes that have earned EPA’s ENERGY STAR to date; including the lake area’s first Platinum Certified home, representing savings of several thousand dollars on utility bills for their owners while significantly reducing greenhouse gas emissions.

“We’re proud to be making a commitment to continue building ENERGY STAR qualified homes in 2012, said president, Eddie Fort. “By stepping up to the new requirements, we’re going to be offering customers state-of-the-art performance in our homes with a comprehensive package of features that deliver greater value, quality, and comfort than ever before. In fact, we are the first to be building under these new standards.”

Homes built to the new, more rigorous requirements (referred to as “Version 3”) will be at least 15% more energy efficient than homes built to the 2009 International Energy Conservation Code (IECC), which will be taking effect next year in Virginia, and will include additional features to give them a performance edge of 20-30% compared to typical new homes and even more when measured against most re-sale homes on the market today.

ENERGY STAR qualified homes that earn the label in 2012 will be built with a comprehensive, building science-based approach that features:

•    A detailed package of home envelope air sealing, properly installed insulation, and high-performance windows to deliver comfort, durability, and lower utility bills.
•    A high-efficiency heating, cooling, and ventilation system designed and installed for optimal performance.
•    A complete water and moisture management package to protect roofs, walls, and foundations.
•    ENERGY STAR certified lighting and appliances that help reduce monthly utility bills.
•    Third-party verification, with independent inspections and testing by a certified Home Energy Rater.

“EPA has raised the bar for what families can expect when they buy a new home that has earned the ENERGY STAR,” said Jonathan Passe, Acting Chief of EPA’s ENERGY STAR Residential Branch. “Builders who meet the new ENERGY STAR requirements are making a strong statement about their leadership and commitment to providing American homebuyers with truly energy-efficient homes that offer lower utility bills and greater benefits for the environment.”

About PD&M, General Contractors
PD&M has been constructing custom homes around the greater Smith Mountain Lake area for 28 years. We are a leader in the construction of high performance custom homes. Let us show you how comfortable and cost effective living in a PD&M home can be. Visit us at www.PDandM.com to find out more.

About ENERGY STAR
ENERGY STAR was introduced by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency in 1992 as a voluntary, market-based partnership to reduce greenhouse gas emissions through increased energy efficiency. Today, ENERGY STAR offers businesses and consumers energy-efficient solutions to save energy, save money, and help protect the environment for future generations.

– A Gold-Rated Green Home –

Built upon a very steep lot our challenge was to place the home as close to the water as possible. With a little extra concrete and a few retaining walls we were able to obtain the view the Nocera’s wanted. And provide them with a terraced yard that is usable and inviting. This home was the first home built in our area under the ENERGY STAR 3.0 guidelines and is expected to earn a Gold Rating from them and EarthCraft.

Our new home at Smith Mountain Lake − completed in March 2012 – has exceeded our expectations by every measure. What’s not to like? Every morning we wake up to picturesque views of the lake in our gorgeous new home! Bringing our dreams to reality was the singular focus of our general contractor, Eddie Fort with PD&M, who brings together all the right resources to build high-quality homes at reasonable prices. That includes extensive knowledge, 25 years of experience, top-notch subcontractors and outstanding communications skills.  Our property was challenging due to its elevation, but Eddie kept a friendly, can-do attitude that put us at ease. He even recommended an excellent architect, Eric Buck, to draw up the plans.

Again, we couldn’t be happier with our new home – it turned out even better than we had envisioned. If you are considering building or renovating a home at SML, walk through some of the homes built by PD&M and you will understand the Eddie Fort difference – well built, beautiful homes down to the smallest detail!

Will and Barbara Nocera

– A Platinum-Rated Green Home –

The Rountree’s have been our most environmentally conscious clients to date. They completely understood the benefits and were even willing to go the extra mile to make the home as energy efficient as possible. This 4800 SF home feature reclaimed hardwood flooring and a geothermal heat pump system as well as a host of other features. The HERS Rating for this home was only 46. PD&M recently received a prestigious award from EarthCraft for building this home which was one of the top 10 most energy efficient homes in the state of Virginia (out of over 1000 considered). This home is a great example that you can have a beautiful home that is very energy efficient as well.

– A Gold-Rated Green Home –

After a busy career with a major oil company and raising their family the McCloskey’s were ready for a slower pace of life. They wanted a home with fantastic views and found some property on one of the highest areas near SML. To take advantage of the property’s views our architect designed the home “upside down” similar to a beach home where the main living quarters were on the second floor. The views from the great room and screened in porch are some of the best around. From the onset the McCloskey’s were interested in having an energy efficient home. They became sold on the EarthCraft model and have been very happy with the results. This home earned a Gold Rating from EarthCraft. We also built a separate 4 car garage with a one bedroom apartment when family comes over.

When we chose the Smith Mountain Lake area to build our retirement ‘dream’ home, we approached the prospect of custom building with some fear and trepidation. We had never built before but rather always purchased re-sales or new tract homes over a long work life during which we relocated many times. Our construction requirements were somewhat technically complex in that we wanted a state-of-the-art, sustainably constructed, ‘green’ home which would meet our lifelong concern for the environment while providing us with energy savings into the future. We were also looking for a builder who understood our needs even if, at times, we didn’t!

Let us say at the outset that Mr. Fort (or Eddie as we know him), has exceeded our expectations in every way in connection with performance, product and his personal concern for our welfare during a personally challenging year. Without embarrassing him with too many superlatives, suffice to say that the process from the planning stage through the punch list (which was amazingly short) went along virtually without a hitch. If there were problems, they were remedied in most cases before we were even aware. If there were opportunities to ‘value-engineer’ our project to save us money, Eddie always discussed options with us. If we had a special requirement (such as installing my ham radio antenna tower), he worked with us to make it a reality.

We spoke almost every day about progress prior to our move or when we were not able to be at the Lake. He is adept at communicating with photographs and one picture is worth a thousand words! We interviewed many regional general contractors to work with us on our project but none came close to Eddie’s technical and managerial reputation for excellence over the long term. After working closely with him over these past months, we can confidently say that his reputation is well deserved. His subcontractors and service providers are first rate. Without reservation, we highly recommend him and his PD&M team of craftsmen to anyone.

We have been in our EarthCraft Gold certified home on our beautiful (but windy) ridge for four months now and we are living our dream. All of our requirements have been met and we are already enjoying the energy savings that Eddie promised. We are proud to show it to our friends and family. That pride starts with a builder who builds a home as if it were his own and treats his customers as friends. Thanks, Eddie! You have two more very happy clients!

John & Dawn McCloskey -- Huddleston, VA

The Ervin’s are two busy professionals with several adult children and grand children. They wanted a place where the whole extended family could gather and enjoy each other and water skiing. This large home features extensive woodwork including a cherry planked vaulted ceiling, beautiful stone work and a large kitchen for entertaining the crew! We are proud to sponsor this home in the 2012 Smith Mountain Lake Charity Home Tour.

Thank you very much for helping us build our dream house at the lake. We absolutely love it! We were there with some of our family over Memorial Day weekend and all the plans that we discussed with you and your team actually worked out perfectly. You never know how a plan on paper is actually going to work, but this house is everything we hoped for and more.

We wanted a house to accommodate our fairly large family but one that would also work for just the two of us most of the time. And you helped us create that dream. You were a delight to work with – always returned our calls, made valuable, intelligent suggestions, met us constantly to walk through the various stages of the construction and sent us pictures. And the sub-contractors that you used were so accommodating and helpful, even discovering a few design flaws that were corrected at their suggestion.

But, most importantly, you listened. You heard what we were trying to accomplish and you made it happen. The house was finished on time. The price was what we expected it to be. There were no surprises. Of course there were glitches – no project of that magnitude is glitch-free. But you worked with us to solve the problems and it turned out just the way we wanted it. Although I’m glad the house is done, I really enjoyed the process of planning, choosing and building. You helped make it fun.

Thanks again for doing a great job for us. Please feel free to use us as a reference, and you are welcome to show our house to prospective clients any time.

Jane and Gene Ervin

– A Gold-Rated Green Home –

Dr. and Mrs. Schleupner moved back to the Roanoke area after living in North Carolina for several years. They enjoyed the home they lived in and wanted to have it rebuilt on their new property (with some minor changes). They were also very interested in building a sustainable, energy efficient home. This was our first attempt at building a Green Home and with the help of the technical staff at EarthCraft we were able to earn a Gold Rating on our first home. We have gone back and reviewed their utility expenses and over a 14 month period their total utility expenses (electricity and propane) have averaged only $104 per month.

John and Susan brought the plans for their dream house to us. Upon review we found several errors in the structural design of the home. Fortunately, we were able to correct the mistakes and actually improve the design by making the kitchen a little larger and opening up the great room vaulted ceiling. The result is a home with an airy comfortable feel to it…Just what the Martin’s wanted.

We had never considered building a home. It seemed overwhelming to us – so many decisions to make!  But when we purchased a lot at Smith Mountain Lake,  we knew that we were going to need a builder who understood that we were novices and who was willing to be patient and flexible.  We found that builder in Eddie Fort.  When interviewing builders, he was the first to get back to us with ideas and estimates. It was this ability to communicate that won us over immediately.  Throughout our build, Eddie contacted us on the phone or through email, even sending us pictures of the progress.  When there were problems with the plans, Eddie made sure they were corrected.  His subs were pleasant and helpful.  Everyone contributed ideas to tweak the plans so that it fit our needs and our dreams.

Our home was finished on time and Eddie continues to be available as both a resource and a friend.  Each time we walk into our lake home, we are amazed that this beautiful place is ours!  We would absolutely recommend Eddie and PD&M to build your next home.

John and Susan Martin

This is one of our absolute favorite homes! Doctor and Mrs. Lonon already had a second home here at SML but wanted to sell it and their home in Greensboro, NC and build the home of their dreams. We worked closely with their architect to bring their dreams to fruition. Some of the outstanding features of this home include a pottery room, gourmet kitchen and a covered porch on the lakeside with Ipe decking. Also the design of the home allowed us to finish a second floor in the roof rafters for an additional bathroom, bedroom with balcony and a large game room.

The Baker home may look like a deceptively small cottage from the front. This was due to the rather narrow point of land we had to work with. However, once inside the size will surprise you. Jean brought in some interior design professionals from Washington DC and we worked closely with them to bring their dreams to reality. This home was recently featured on the cover of the prestigious DuPont REGISTRY of Fine Homes.

As we developed the design of our new home at Smith Mountain Lake we realized that for our dreams to come true we would need a builder who understood how to capture the quality and details that were important to us.  We selected Eddie Fort at PD&M.

Eddie worked with us throughout the construction of our home to ensure what we wanted became a reality.  As our raw land became transformed into a home, we were amazed by the attention to detail by Eddie and all the subcontractors involved. From the foundation to the electrical, to the plumbing to the finish and stonework, it was obvious that pride of workmanship was important to all that were involved.  Unique features such as our fireplace mantle lighting and design brought together impressive ideas from Eddie, Dom our Electrician, and Ed the finisher – the result, a masterpiece exceeding our expectations.

As Eddie would give us progress reports, we told him that we trusted the result but needed to verify for ourself the quality of his work. “Trust and verify” became the phrase we used between us.  We entrusted our dreams with Eddie and he treated that trust with the greatest importance.  We never found a variance when we verified progress – it was always as Eddie reported. The greatest compliment someone can get is what others say – from our friends, neighbors, and even our banker, we heard repeatedly “You found a great builder in Eddie.”  Thanks to PD&M, our dreams came true!

David and Jean Baker