Oakwood Creek is located on North Hadaway Road, half a mile from Stilesboro Road. This community is a small enclave of only 18 homesites.

Homes in Oakwood Creek by Traton will feature exteriors with architectural detail highlighted by brick, cedar shake, stacked stone and fiber cement siding. Kitchens feature granite countertops, maple cabinetry, recessed lighting and stainless steel appliances. Hardwood flooring runs throughout the foyer, powder room, kitchen and breakfast areas.

Two homes are already underway at Oakwood Creek and are estimated to be complete in November. The Glenstone is a four bedroom, three bathroom home with a large media room on the upper level. The owner’s suite features trey ceilings, a large sitting area and luxury bath. The Knollwood is an inviting four bedroom three and a half bathroom home with a two-story foyer, mud room and covered deck. This plan also features the popular master-on-main layout, which includes a sitting room and access to the deck.

Children at Oakwood Creek will attend some of the most desirable schools in Cobb County: Frey Elementary, McClure Middle and Harrison High schools.

To visit the community, take I-75 to exit #269 (Barrett Pkwy.) Turn left on Barrett Pkwy and travel 3.2 miles to Stilesboro Road. Turn right on Stilesboro Road and go 4.5 miles. Turn left on North Hadaway Road. Travel 1/2 mile to Oakwood Creek.

For more information on Oakwood Creek, visit the Traton Homes website or call 770-420-1470.

Recently, Traton Homes opened Davis Farm, a private enclave of only 30 homes, 21 which will be built by Traton. Traton Homes is offering spacious single-family homes from the $330,000s. The first three pre-sale buyers in the community can take advantage of a free third-car garage, and for a limited time all buyers can receive $5,000 in closing costs plus price reductions up to $23,000.

Children at Davis Farm attend Hayes Elementary, Pine Mountain Middle and Kennesaw Mountain High schools.

To visit Davis Farm, take I-75 North to exit 269 (Barrett Parkway), turn left and travel 3.2 miles to Stilesboro Road. Turn right on Stilesboro and travel 2 miles. Davis Farm is located on the left.

Visit the Traton blog for more information about new community openings and incentives.

Rarely does an opportunity come along that is this affordable and special. The Escavera house boasts a spacious, one-story floor plan that is large enough to accommodate any buyer’s needs. The home spans 3,905 square feet and offers four bedrooms, 4.5 bathrooms, a three-car garage and Guest Casita for overnight visitors. And, buyers will love enjoying breathtaking golf course views from the home’s large, covered outdoor living space.

Those who enjoy getting outdoors for a little exercise will value the community’s focal point: The prestigious Jack Nicklaus designed Flintrock Falls golf course.

Plus, with more than 20 years as one of the area’s premier Austin home builders, buyers will appreciate Sterling Custom Homes’ craftsmanship and quality building.

For more information about the Escavera at Flintrock Falls home, visit the Sterling Custom Homes website or call 512-263-2214.

“So many times it doesn’t cost any more to implement a change like the driveway/garage apron improvement,” said Vick Pope, vice president of construction at Sterling Custom Homes. “It only requires the desire to constantly improve, and the mindset that never accepts things as the way they’ve always been done.”

In other methods of construction, driveway material is poured only to the exterior of the garage apron. leaving an exposed joint where the driveway meets this foundation. The driveway and foundation are often made with two different finishes, which throws off the driveway’s continuity. This exposed joint is seen when the garage door is closed.

Sterling Custom Homes’ new and improved process leaves garages and driveways with a seamless flow from the driveway to the foundation of the Austin luxury real estate.

During this process, the builder drops the foundation at the garage apron and allows the finished layer of driveway material to end where the garage door meets the concrete. This method gives the two a seamless flow and a professionally finished look.

Sterling Custom Homes understands the importance that new home buyers place on detail, and demonstrates the level of care it takes to design custom homes to suit individuals’ needs. The builder offers design solutions for all buyers from site selection all the way down to details like driveway construction.

For more information about Sterling Custom Homes, visit their website.

Americans consume more than 1 billion gallons of paint every year, and in many cases, the leftover paint from projects is still usable. Recycling this latex paint is now an affordable and sustainable alternative to sending it off to a landfill. It’s also the hottest new green design trend.

Specializing in fine wall finishes, California-based Metro Wallworks is the first company to launch a line of recycled paint. The new line of recycled paint consists of 15 colors and holds many advantages over buying virgin paint. In fact, using one gallon of recycled paint is the equivalent of saving 100 kilowatt hours of energy that would otherwise have gone into producing virgin paint. Recycled paint is generally acknowledged to be much cheaper than buying new latex paint.

But how is the paint recycled and is it of the same quality as what you buy from the store?

In order to begin recycling, filterable solids are removed from the paint. Most paint is then mixed with new standard paint, creating a 1:1 ratio of recycled to new paint. However, some paint is completely recycled without adding new paint. Pigments are then added to create the new color and the pH is adjusted. This new recycled paint is the same quality as virgin paint, just more environmentally conscious.

To learn more about Metro Wallworks line of recycled paint, visit their web site.

If you’re looking for a place to house your overnight guests, then adding a Guest Casita when constructing your new home may be the right option for you. Located on the main level of a house and accessed by an outside entrance, this custom home addition gives your guests extra privacy and comfort.

Homebuyers who need play space for their children (or for themselves) will love the combination media and game room. It’s a versatile room that allows homeowners and guests to mingle between two spaces, usually divided by a heavy theater curtain.

One of the most popular rooms in the new homes in Austin built by Sterling Custom Homes is the outdoor living space. It’s a viable space all year long because the temperature can be regulated by misters and heaters; and it provides an area where homeowners can relax, enjoy beautiful weather or entertain.

These are just some of the many custom home options offered by Sterling Custom Homes. For more information, visit the home builder’s website.

Several important topics and courses that will be offered include:

• Advanced Green Building: Building Science (two-day session)
• Advanced Green Building: Project Management (two-day session)
• Business Management for Building Professionals
• Green Building for Building Professionals (two-day session)
• Power Hour Breakout Sessions with product demos

People who attend the Advanced Green Building sessions will be happy to know that they count towards receiving the new Master Certified Green Professional designation. In addition to these sessions, there are networking opportunities, breakout sessions and over 100 exhibits for people to meet other green building professionals and learn about the latest trends. Attendees will also be taken on a Home Tour where they will see real-world examples of green principles. And for those who want to see who’s been making a splash in the industry, the NAHB Green Building Awards Dinner will be held at the Hilton Salt Lake City Center.

Whether you’re a builder, remodeler, developer, product manufacturer or home inspector, the National Green Building Conference & Expo can benefit you. The conference takes place at the Salt Palace Convention Center  from May 1 through 3 with pre-conference courses on April 27 through 30.

For more information and to register, visit the NAHB website.

On the surface, social media may not seem like an integral or even necessary piece of green building marketing. However, more and more, consumers are turning to the internet to find out about the latest in energy efficiency and green building practices. Those in the green building industry who use tools such as Facebook, LinkedIn, blogs and Twitter to promote their products and services will find that they can drive more traffic to their sites and set themselves apart from their competition.

To help RESNET attendees navigate through the world of social media, Mitch Levinson, mRELEVANCE, LLC managing partner, is presenting a seminar today. During his discussion, Mitch will teach participates how to use social media and key words to promote their businesses and develop relationships with consumers.

The session will teach:

• How to increase exposure through the use of social media tools
• What social media tool are out there and what works best based on individual needs
• Real-life examples of social media and their influence on the marketplace

For more information about RESNET, visit the website. If you’re unable to attend the conference, but still want to incorporate these tools in your marketing plan, contact Mitch at mRELEVANCE.

A ceremony was held on FAMU’s campus where two memorandums of understanding were signed, making the partnership official. Gwen Keyes Fleming, the EPA regional administrator for Region 4, was on hand as were several members of the university’s administration. FAMU became the first Center of Excellence for Watershed Management in Florida and the eighth in the Southeast.

To be recognized as a Center for Excellence by the EPA, an institution must meet several requirements that include showing expertise in identifying and addressing watershed needs, involving students and faculty in watershed research that explores all aspects of problem management, delivering and accounting for results and forming partnerships with other organizations.

Benefits of becoming a Center for Excellence include technical assistance from the EPA, letters of support for grant opportunities and promotion of the Center to stakeholders.

For more information about watershed management visit http://water.epa.gov/type/watersheds/index.cfm.

The 2010 WasteWise award winners were:

Better World Books, Georgia — This company collects and sells new and used books online. They also donate a portion of each sale to help literacy initiatives worldwide.  In 2009 alone, the company recycled 7,090 tons of materials, which is equivalent to removing 2,900 passenger vehicles from the road for one year in terms of carbon dioxide output.

Freightliner Custom Chassis Corp (FCCC), South Carolina — Freightliner is the nation’s largest producer of diesel-powered chassis for the RV and walk-in van industry.  By taking a ‘green’ initiative, the company has gone from dumping 125 tons of solid waste per month in January 2008 to zero landfilling in September 2009. Not only is this great news for the environment, but it has also saved FCCC $157,598 in 2009 alone.

Fetter Group, Kentucky – Fetter Group, a printing company out of Louisville, has switched to reusable plastic shipping boxes and no longer uses “proof approval stickers,” eliminating the production of more than 10,000 proof stickers per year.  In 2009, Fetter Group was able to add $250,000 to its bottom line through its efforts to reduce waste.

Florida Department of Financial Services, Division of Legal Services –The Division has implemented several environmentally friendly practices. Its paper reduction efforts saved Florida taxpayers more than $1 million in 2009.  TBy switching to electronic processing tools, paper use was reduced by 1.5 million pages per year, saving  more than $85,000.

Georgia Environmental Protection Division, Tradeport Complex – In 2009, employees recycled 100 tons of traditional recyclables and diverted one ton of used coffee grounds for use in home compost bins. These efforts saved taxpayers almost $6,500 and eliminated greenhouse gas emissions equivalent to nearly 37,000 gallons of gasoline.

The WasteWise program is a free, voluntary partnership that helps businesses reduce their environmental impact and find cost savings through innovative waste reduction and recycling activities. Currently, over 2,700 participants and endorsers are involved in the program.

For more information on the WasteWise program and the award winners, visit http://www.epa.gov/epawaste/partnerships/wastewise/events/2010awardees.htm.