Triangle’s largest development where all homebuilders comply with stringent green building initiatives

Chapel Hill, N.C. (April 30, 2008) – Newland Communities hosted a pre-event opening reception for the Third Annual Green Home Tour, a joint project of the Home Builders Association of Durham, Orange and Chatham Counties and the Home Builders Association of Raleigh-Wake County. The event was held at the Briar Chapel green-built information center. The Green Home Tour is a free, self-guided tour of 40 green homes in the Triangle that takes place on May 3-4.

Guest speaker Michelle Moore, senior vice president of the U.S. Green Building Council, discussed Newland’s partnership as a founding sponsor of the U.S. Green Building Council’s Green Home Guide, www.greenhomeguide.org, a Web site that gives homeowners, homebuyers, renters, landlords and others the tools they need to ensure their homes are as healthy and environmentally friendly as possible.

Briar Chapel is a new 1589 acre mixed-use community with more than 900 acres of open space just south of Chapel Hill. It is the first community in the Triangle to require homebuilders to comply with the rigorous new home construction requirements and third party testing of the North Carolina Green Building Initiative, creating high performance, healthier homes with measurable cost savings for residents and contributing to an improved quality of life. Here are a few benefits of green home construction at Briar Chapel:

· 30 percent of the homes face south to increase efficiencies and solar capabilities

· Highest energy efficiency and quality standards

· Superior indoor air quality control

· Increased water conservation when high efficiency appliances and fixtures are installed

Newland Communities has selected four area builders to comprise the builder team for its new diverse neighborhood that features parks, schools, acres of open space, miles of nature

trails and healthy homes constructed with green building principles. The builder team consists of Chatham Builder Guild, LLC; M/I Homes, Inc.; McNeill Burbank; and Vanguard Homes.

“We are proud of the established and high quality builder team at Briar Chapel. We were diligent in our selection of builders with high standards and a focus on building sustainable, environmentally responsible homes,” said Mitch Barron, vice president of operations for Newland Communities. “These builders will help us realize our responsibility to make Briar Chapel an enduring and healthy community and ensure Briar Chapel is on the forefront of the Triangle’s green communities.”

Newland Communities also unveiled an entranceway sculpture which is a stainless steel replica of Carolina smilax leaves. Newland Communities commissioned Jim Gallucci, a local sculptor for more than 25 years, to create Briar Chapel’s entranceway sculpture. Gallucci currently designs and fabricates sculptures in his Greensboro, N.C. studio and has worked as an art instructor at the University of North Carolina at Greensboro and an exhibit designer for the North Carolina Zoological Park in Asheboro, N.C.