Neal Communities Awarded Builder of the Year by the Florida Green Building Coalition
The Florida Green Building Coalition (FGBC) recently honored Neal Communities (www.nealcommunities.com), Southwest Florida’s most experienced homebuilder for over 40 years, Builder of the Year for the second consecutive time.
At last week’s awards ceremony, held at the Ritz-Carlton, Sarasota, Neal was dubbed the best builder of single-family homes. Awards were given out in eight categories including best commercial builder, best local government (city and county), best home, best builder (single-family and multi-family), best certifying agent and best volunteer of the year.
“We are extremely proud to accept this award for the second time and to lead the homebuilding industry with green initiatives,” said Cathy Engels, the purchasing director for Neal Communities. “We strive to offer our homeowners the benefits of green and energy-efficient living at a reduced cost. We have several green certified communities, including Grand Palm in Venice, Central Park in Lakewood Ranch and Fairfield in Bradenton,” she said.
The FGBC is a nonprofit dedicated to improving the built environment and continually looks for new and innovative ways to educate builders, developers, local governments and consumers about how to achieve an environmentally sustainable future. The member-based organization is the leading certifier of green projects in Florida, with over 8,000 certified projects.
Drew Smith, Florida Building Commissioner – Green Building and founder of Two Trails Green Building Consulting, accepted the award on behalf of the builder.
“Neal Communities has by far become the leader in FGBC certified production homes, and we are very proud to have certified all of their homes and become a part of their award-winning team,” said Smith.
The FGBC Green Trends conference is a two-day event, which educates local business professionals about green building, with information focused on advancing technologies and their implications. Topics covered included: building science principles, site development, building envelopes, resource and energy efficiency, water conservation, indoor air quality, effective operations and maintenance and marketing the value of green.
About Neal Communities
Neal Communities was named one of 2012’s “America’s Best Builders” by BUILDER Magazine and voted the “2013 Best Residential Builder in Southwest Florida” in a readers’ poll sponsored by Gulfshore Business Magazine. The company is ranked No. 1 locally by Metrostudy and by Hanley Wood Market Intelligence based on number of home sales and ranked No. 50 nationally among homebuilders by BUILDER Magazine. To date, Neal has built over 10,000 homes in southwest Florida. As the area’s largest and most established, locally owned and operated private builder, Neal Communities is continually striving for excellence in every aspect of the home building and development business. Neal Signature Homes, Neal Land Ventures, Charlene Neal PureStyle, Waterscapes Pools & Spas, and Allegiant Title Professionals all contribute to the firm’s continued, record-setting local success. The company’s honors and accolades include 42 Parade of Homes 2014 awards, 50 Aurora Awards, 5 Best in American Living Awards, and hundreds of local and regional industry awards. For more information, please visit www.nealcommunities.com.