As green homebuilding gains momentum in the U.S., international developer Total Environment will soon take eco-friendly construction to a new level in North Texas. 

By a wide margin, Texas has the most LEED-certified residential construction of any state in the U.S., and more than half of those projects are in Dallas-Fort Worth and Arlington. But LEED-friendly features are usually hidden behind brick and mortar. The new high-end homes in Total Environment’s Frisco development will be visibly green from top to bottom.

According to a Dallas Morning News, the curved roofs of all 122 new contemporary homes in the project will be covered with lush native greenery and rotating seasonal plants.

Though a handful of individual homes with green grass roofs have been spotted around Dallas-Fort Worth, this will be the area’s first-of-its-kind green-roofed neighborhood.

"We are working with the Lady Bird Johnson Wildflower Center, and they have come up with a planting, maintenance, and monitoring plan for this entire project," Jim Knight, a senior principal with the design and engineering firm Stantec, told the Frisco Planning and Zoning Commission, which approved the project. "We know that the seasonal plants will rotate through as we go from spring to summer to [fall] to winter.” 

Rendering courtesy of Total Environment 

Located on Independence Parkway near Rolater Road, homes in the 55-acre project start in the $900,000s and range in size from slightly more than 4,000-square-feet-to-5,000-square-feet. And each house will contain small front and backyards.

Total Environment plans to build on 23 acres and use the remaining 32 acres to develop a sustainable, pedestrian-friendly community that connects with neighbors and nature. In addition to walking trails, a plaza, and landscaped public areas, the development will include three ponds and a bridge crossing the wooded Rowlett Creek. When the project is complete, it will contain more open space and less density than adjoining neighborhoods.

The development is now scheduled to go before the Frisco City Council for final approval. Knight said that if all goes as planned, construction will likely begin in the third quarter.

Total Environment entered the business arena two decades ago in its native India and won awards for its innovative green building concept. Though the company builds a broad range of real estate projects, it has been building green developments similar to the proposed Frisco neighborhood for years in markets abroad.

"If they are coming into Frisco, I want to be the first one to buy into the project," Frisco resident Seema Kodancha told the Frisco Planning Commissioners. "They are eco-friendly, very open space, very green. I have seen their properties back in India. They are a very [reputable] builder in India."

Rendering courtesy of Total Environment