Designed by Schemata Workshop and built by Green Canopy NODE, Sunnyside Village Cohousing is a multigenerational community intended to foster neighborly connection, sustainability, and healthy living.

The Sunnyside Village Cohousing team celebrates groundbreaking

Green Canopy NODE’s Sam Lai, Chief Development Officer and Justin Hooks, Vice President of Construction

SEATTLE, Washington (October 3, 2023) - Sunnyside Village Cohousing, Schemata Workshop, and Green Canopy NODE alongside community members and stakeholders celebrated the groundbreaking of Sunnyside Village this summer . This event marks a significant milestone in the journey towards creating a vibrant and sustainable intentional community located in Marysville, Washington.

Sunnyside Village Cohousing is dedicated to sustainability, intergenerational living, and organic gardening - fostering a more connected way of life. The community, designed by Schemata Workshop and built by Green Canopy NODE, will comprise four-star Built Green cottages, a shared common house, and organic community gardens. Sunnyside Village is currently accepting reservations for homes with a limited number of homes remaining available.

“After many years of effort and planning, it is exciting to see our dream becoming a reality. It is fulfilling our desire to live in a community where no one feels isolated or lonely, where people are friendly and neighborly with each other, and where parents have support for raising their children,” said Jennie Lindberg, co-founder of Sunnyside Village. “We love the skill, caring, attention to detail and professionalism of our team, Green Canopy NODE and Schemata Workshop.”

Embracing Connection Through Design

Sunnyside Village Cohousing is not just a residential development; it's a blueprint for a more connected way of life, thoughtfully intended to combat postmodern loneliness. Designed by architectural firm Schemata Workshop, Sunnyside Village has been meticulously planned to cultivate neighborly connections and nurture an affinity for nature.

Sunnyside Village will offer 32 independent cottages, complemented conveniently located clustered parking designed to minimize the project's ecological footprint. At its heart lies a common house, housing home offices, a children's playroom, and a communal kitchen, among other amenities. What sets Sunnyside Village apart is its extensive outdoor green spaces, featuring a community garden, orchard, and berry patch. These spaces are envisioned as hubs for forging connections and fostering social capital, with harvested organic produce contributing to weekly communal meals shared by residents.

“Cohousing is different from other types of housing, not by the physical form, but rather by the intentionality of the residents to live collaboratively and interdependently,” said Grace Kim, Principal Architect at Schemata Workshop. “Many of us learned through the pandemic that complete independence was isolating and lonely. Cohousing offers resilient neighborhoods where people are more socially connected- resulting in longer lives for those who chose this housing option.”

Partnerships for Sustainability

The shared commitment to sustainability and a deeper sense of community unites Schemata Workshop, Sunnyside Village Cohousing, and Green Canopy NODE in this transformative project. The collective partnership signifies an effort to make better decisions for the community and the planet.

“It’s been a pleasure working shoulder to shoulder with the brilliant people at Sunnyside community and Schemata Workshop in such an inspirational project. Our aggressive social, environmental, and financial goals would not have come to fruition without deep trust and healthy communication facilitated by Karen Gimnig, our process consultant.”

Green Canopy NODE brings its depth of consulting expertise to the development, contributing to conceptual design, risk analysis, and facilitating the community in realizing its vision, in addition to general contracting services to bring the project to life.

Integrated Development Solutions

Green Canopy NODE offers comprehensive development solutions, supporting developer clients engaged in multi-unit residential projects at every stage of the development journey. From pre-development to architecture, construction management, and consulting, Green Canopy NODE is committed to building sustainable homes faster to meet clients’ financial, social, and environmental goals.

###

About Sunnyside Village Cohousing: Sunnyside Village is a cohousing community with a strong focus on its organic garden. Residents will live in 32 cottages and share ownership in a Common House for community activities and some shared meals. Members own their home and the lot it is built on. As a forming community, their mission is to create a cohousing community of diverse people who share vision and values – solidarity, sustainability, and democracy.

About Schemata Workshop: Schemata Workshop is an architecture and urban design practice that empowers people and their communities. The firm values community, equity, and sustainability. Their team approaches each project with the goal of creating resilient communities. They design with integrity, believing in honest, expressive use of materials, and always preferring local resources and production.

About Green Canopy NODE: Green Canopy NODE is a mission-driven construction technology, real estate development, and fund management company. Over its history, it has sought to embrace the innovation required to change the current paradigm of housing development and deliver on its commitment to help regenerate communities and environments. The company works with its clients and investors to develop high-performing, deep green, all-electric, and healthy housing.

For more information about SVC please contact:
jennie@sunnysidevillagecohousing.com

For information about developing similar communities, contact:
developmentservices@greencanopynode.com

Green Canopy NODE and Timber Finance Initiative to Lead Working Group on Carbon Methodology for Mass Timber Construction

Seattle, Zurich, 29th of September 2022 – The Timber Finance Initiative, Green Canopy NODE, South Pole and Gordian Knot Strategies are pleased to announce they have joined efforts in creating the first mass timber carbon credit methodology. They are developing a globally applicable carbon credit methodology for mass timber construction in Verra’s Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) GHG crediting Program. Verra will serve as the independent standard-setter for the methodology.

The Working Group will bring together a team of field and technical experts. Together, it will develop a concept note to be submitted to Verra’s VCS Program, the world’s leading greenhouse gas program, later this year. The final methodology will then be developed by the Timber Finance Initiative and South Pole. A rigorous carbon methodology will help realize the climate value of stored carbon in mass timber construction and help scale mass timber as a negative emissions technology and low-emissions building material.

Current estimates show that up to 40 percent of global carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions originate from the built environment. Furthermore, up to 60 percent of the world’s existing building stocks will be built and rebuilt within the next two decades, laying a tremendous challenge and opportunity to set more sustainable trends in the construction sector. Mass timber has been identified as a renewable and low-emissions alternative to concrete and steel. If timber is procured from sustainable forest management, mass timber mitigates climate change twofold: By removing CO2 (Carbon Dioxide Removal) from the atmosphere and storing it long-term in buildings and by replacing Green House Gas (GHG)-intensive conventional building materials.

About Timber Finance Initiative

The Timber Finance Initiative is the Swiss competence center for timber investments. Timber Finance promotes sustainable investment opportunities of the forest and timber industry through the development of new financial products, carbon removal credits, whitepapers, and advisory services. Timber Finance launched the world’s first timber carbon capture and storage index in February 2022. www.timberfinance.ch

Co-Founder of Timber Finance Initiative, Thomas Fedrizzi: “The United Nations Climate Council has recently recognized the potential of mass timber and its multiple benefits: Timber not only functions as a carbon sink, but – when used in building construction – achieves emission reductions by displacing carbon-intensive materials such as concrete and steel.

About Green Canopy NODE

Green Canopy NODE is a vertically integrated construction technology, real estate development, and fund management company. Over its history, it has sought to embrace the innovation required to change the current paradigm of housing development and deliver on its commitment to help regenerate both communities and environments. The company works with its clients and investors to develop high-performing, deep green, all-electric, and healthy housing. www.greencanopynode.com

Co-CEO of Green Canopy NODE, Aaron Fairchild: “I am encouraged about the potential to further scale mass and cross-laminated timber through building our shared future. Housing that utilizes mass-timber is longer-lasting and can be more cost-effective, making climate-smart homes accessible to people of all income levels.”

About South Pole

South Pole, a social enterprise recognized by the World Economic Forum's Schwab Foundation, is the world's leading climate solutions provider and carbon project developer. Since its creation in 2006, it has developed nearly 1,000 projects in over 50 countries to reduce over one gigaton of CO2 emissions, and to provide social benefits to less privileged communities who are particularly vulnerable to climate change. South Pole's project work spans sustainable agriculture, forest conservation, waste management, energy efficiency, and decentralized renewable energy. www.southpole.com

Associate Director  at South Pole, Nicolas Roduner, “The climate benefit of using timber instead of conventional building materials is currently not monetized. We will change this by developing this methodology and subsequently support mass timber projects with climate finance.”

About Gordian Knot Strategies

Gordian Knot Strategies is a strategic problem-solving consulting company with a focus on natural climate solutions and expertise in climate finance, impact funds, and carbon markets, and has developed numerous go-to-market plans in these areas.  https://gordianknotstrategies.com/

CEO of GKS, Sean Penrith: “Voluntary carbon markets have the potential to route billions of dollars from firms committing to net zero to projects and technologies that reduce or eliminate carbon emissions. The successful introduction of a mass timber carbon methodology is key to help finance the shift to carbon storing, green buildings.”

About Verra

Verra is a nonprofit organization that operates the world’s leading carbon crediting program, the Verified Carbon Standard (VCS) Program, as well as other standards in environmental and social markets. To date, Verra has issued over 970 million carbon credits to over 1,800 projects around the world.

Verra is committed to helping reduce greenhouse gas emissions, improve livelihoods, and protect natural resources by working with the private and public sectors. We support climate action and sustainable development with standards, tools, and programs that credibly, transparently, and robustly assess environmental and social impacts and enable funding for sustaining and scaling up projects that verifiably deliver these benefits.  www.verra.org

The Mass Timber CDR Working Group

The Timber Finance Initiative, Green Canopy NODE ,South Pole and Gordian Knot Strategies have created a Working Group of issue area experts to develop a globally applicable carbon credit methodology for mass timber construction Verra will serve as an independent standard-setter for the methodology. A rigorous carbon methodology will help realize the value of stored carbon in mass timber construction and further clear a pathway to scale mass timber as a climate-smart building material. The final methodology will be developed by the Timber Finance Initiative and South Pole. The final methodology is anticipated in early 2023.

Questions? Contact:

Susan Fairchild
Chief Marketing Officer
susan@greencanopynode.com

SEATTLE, Washington & PORTLAND, Oregon (October 4, 2017) – Green Canopy, Inc., a proven urban infill deep green homebuilder, announced the launch of its newest affiliate company, Cedar.

“Meeting the challenges of global warming and the housing crisis in our high growth cities requires us to develop disruptive, integrated, and inclusive solutions. We are proud to offer a for-profit model for building resilient, inclusive and sustainable net-zero energy micro-communities without reliance on direct government subsidies” says Aaron Fairchild, CEO of Green Canopy.

The Company will acquire, develop, manage and market third-party certified green built, net-zero energy residential homes over the course of a 7-to-10-year period in Seattle, WA and Portland, OR. A minimum of 25% of the homes in every project site will be reserved as affordable rentals to households earning 80% of area median income (AMI) over the life of the Company. A final disposition process will result in selling a minimum of 25% of the remaining portfolio into community land trusts, or similar model, to be held permanently affordable to households earning 80% of area median income.

“Ecotrust is delighted to be a shareholder in Green Canopy, Inc. The Team has been terrific and we look forward to seeing where they take walkable residential infill development in the years to come. Green building, along with regenerative farming and forestry, are promising potential ‘drawdown’ technologies that pull CO2 out of the atmosphere and help reverse the devastating trends of the Anthropocene,” says Spencer Beebe, Founder & Executive Chair of Ecotrust.

Green Canopy's Cedar is poised to act on this opportunity. The urban infill home-building market is a highly fragmented marketplace with hundreds of small, independent homebuilders in both the Seattle and Portland markets. The February 2017 McKinsey Global Institute report, Reinventing Construction: A Route to Higher Productivity, found that “$10 trillion (is) spent on construction-related goods and services every year. But the industry has an intractable productivity problem and ... an opportunity to boost value added by $1.6 trillion.” “Fragmented markets and inefficiency go hand in hand. Our team at Green Canopy has long been aware of these inefficiencies and has spent considerable amount of time developing the processes and systems to contain costs and scale,” says Aaron Fairchild, CEO of Green Canopy. He further adds, “This ability allows us to lean in further to our mission and bring to the market net-zero energy homes alongside affordable home ownership. As a for-profit company, this puts us in a unique position to not only drawdown carbon, but to also lift up our communities.”

Samantha Lamb, of Lake and Company Real Estate sees the company as an innovative leader.  “Green Canopy is indisputably one of the leaders in the Green Home movement in Seattle and beyond. It is founded by passionate people who truly want to make a difference in the world. They don't just go for minimal standards in Green Construction; they are actively educating the market and realtors about the benefits of building and buying Green,” says Lamb. As evidence of this, Green Canopy will amplify Cedar’s impact through an 18-member stakeholder group, calling it the Impact Collaborative. The Collaborative will bring greater transparency to Cedar – its processes, best practices and outcomes – then conduct research and broadly promote their findings and advocate for new and better approaches.  

​
About Green Canopy
Green Canopy, Inc. runs a homebuilder, Green Canopy Homes, in Seattle and Portland whose mission is to inspire resource efficiency in residential markets. Green Canopy Homes began building in 2009 and has successfully sold over 125 third-party certified, green homes with over $80 million in gross revenues. Green Canopy Homes has highly developed home designs, project management processes, checklists, and systems of cost containment specific to the challenges and needs of building attractive, resource-efficient, micro-communities in walkable, urban places.
 
Contact: 
Aaron Fairchild, CEO
206.792.7281
aaron@greencanopy.com
 
Andy Wolverton, CFO
206.792.7287
andy@greencanopy.com