Still riding an eco-considerate trend

What's in a name? For developer Chad Ludeman, quite a lot.

His projects include Awesometown in Fishtown, Duplexcellence in South Kensington, and Folsom Powerhouse in Francisville. And now, Pop! - two cork-clad and -insulated houses that feature purifying air-filtration systems and green roofs.

Postgreen Homes, founded by Ludeman and run by him, wife Courtney, and partner Nic Darling, is anything but an ordinary development company.

And quite a few buyers, it turns out, are sold on those distinctive names. Three of the 14 units have presold at Awesometown, now under construction at 425-439 Moyer St. in Fishtown on land owned by New Kensington Community Development Corp. Ludeman is seeking LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) Platinum status for them.

Duplexcellence has sold out at 110 Thompson St., and a second phase is under construction. These homes are within spitting distance of the Frankford Hall/Johnny Brenda's/Bottle Bar East corridor - the epicenter of Fishtown's hipness. Add to that sleek modern design and selection of materials by Manifest A-D, architect of the first phase.

Folsom Powerhouse is already sold out. Postgreen is building 31 homes - 21 for sale and 10 for rent. There also is a small commercial space on the ground floor at the corner of 18th and Folsom Streets that will be leased. Units vary from one- to two-bedroom rentals, to upper and lower duplex units and a few full townhouses ranging in price from $285,000 to $415,000.

Of this particular name, Ludeman said, "We were originally putting some solar on, facing south in the back of the homes, so we could get free power from the sun."

(The real Folsom Powerhouse was an 1895-era alternating-current hydroelectric power station, one of the first in the United States.)

Among the things that separate Postgreen - which gained national recognition in 2009 for its 100K LEED Platinum-certified house in East Kensington - from some others is that it continues to ride the "healthful-living" trend in construction and architectural design. Ludeman hoped his eco-considerate-building philosophy would outlast any fad.

"That's why we named it Postgreen," he explained.

Featured in its projects are extreme energy savings, cutting bills down to $100 a month through airtight construction, super-insulated walls and roofs, triple-pane windows, and high-efficiency heat pumps that offer near geothermal efficiency at a fraction of the cost.

Green roofs, or "permeable landscaping," mean that rain falls into the ground rather than into a sewer. And Postgreen markets its use of low volatile organic compound paints and finishes.

At Pop!, the cork-clad houses at 2037-39 Blair St. in East Kensington, Ludeman installed fiberglass casement windows, rather than vinyl or metal. One unit has a solar array that supplies about 60 percent of energy needs.

"We've had a lot of temptations to cut all that out from our business model. But we've kept the philosophy. When you move in, you can't improve the energy efficiency," he said.

"It's a tough business. It would be easier to build a standard townhome and move on. But this is rewarding and fun."

How did Postgreen Homes choose Francisville for its latest project?

"It met our criteria. It's a fringe neighborhood undergoing transition on the border. We need that for our business model, because we want to keep our prices lower for the level of home that we're building. A modern green home in Northern Liberties would cost more than something in the Art Museum area, and we're trying to keep our price points down."

The neighborhoods where they build, he said, "are walkable and attract new, interesting businesses and entrepreneurs."