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When most people think about energy savings in a new home, their minds move almost immediately to solar power. Yet many of the smaller, less headline-worthy technologies readily available today are what really make the difference in one’s energy bills.

The Real Story is talking to Chuck Schoenberger, Executive Vice President of O’Brien Homes, about his company’s multi-family home community in Sunnyvale, Fusion. Fusion is being built inside the environs of a business park—a new direction for homebuilding, but surely one that makes sense when it comes to promoting an energy-conserving lifestyle. Chuck says that the residents can walk or bicycle to work, to retail or to public transportation. What’s more, because this community is considered “infill” in an established area, there are plenty of mature trees and greenbelts to blur the lines of the architecture and create a welcoming streetscape.

Chuck confesses to be hugely interested in solar, yet made the decision not to do solar roofs for the Fusion community. Why? The payback is too far out—some 10 - 15 years—to make solar installation a plus for most homebuyers. Instead, the features that are decidedly low on the sex appeal-scale—Energy Star appliances, more and better insulation, high quality vinyl windows and zoned thermostats—are the real heroes in the drive to consume less energy and enjoy lower energy bills.

Our talk with Chuck continues next week.  In the meantime, you can download this week’s conversation on iTunes or hear it on Facebook.

On this Thanksgiving, The Real Story thanks YOU for your interest and support. We’ll return next week with more from Chuck Schoenberger of O’Brien Homes on building for the new generation of homebuyers. Log on and listen in!

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One of the best insights about green building for tomorrow comes from a builder who has been focused on quality building for decades. Chuck Schoenberger, Senior Vice President of Operations for O’Brien Homes, could write the book on quality homebuilding. So it’s not too much of a stretch to see O’Brien Homes take on a leadership role in the green building movement as well.

Chuck talks this week about participating in focus groups with prospective homebuyers to understand how a homeowner perceives “value” in different aspects of green building. Surprisingly, most of the prospective buyers couldn’t name a green feature after solar panels and tankless water heaters. Given the enormous undertaking of researching and selecting construction vendor partners who understand the materials and have the installation know-how, Chuck wants to spend more time educating the new home buying community about the kinds of things that can make a house healthy, and more energy and cost-efficient.

“Today’s buyer equates saving energy to saving money,” he says. Yet in a new home community, like O’Brien’s “Fusion” neighborhood in Sunnyvale, which has been built in excess of Build It Green’s 50-point checklist, the homebuyers—mostly first-timers—also have an opportunity to live a greener lifestyle by bicycling to work and using community-designed recreation and gathering areas instead of driving around town.

“Human behavior will work itself out,” says Chuck. But in the meantime, Chuck sees cities like Sunnyvale leading the charge for the change to green.

Next week, The Real Story talks to Chuck about the economics of green development in a recession, and how green construction translates into dollars in the consumers’ pockets.  You can download this interview on iTunes or listen in on Facebook.

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The Real Story had the opportunity to sit down with Chuck Schoenberger, Partner and Senior Vice President of Operations for O’Brien Homes. In his 20 years with the company, Chuck has overseen the construction of more than 2,000 homes. These days, he is a homebuilder dedicated to improving the quality of the built environment, and in doing so, a leader in green construction.

In Chuck’s experience, today’s homebuyer is looking for a home whose construction quality and features provide a healthier and more efficient living environment, with reduced energy bills. Not only has his company had experience in building homes in every price point and almost every locale in the Bay Area since its founding in 1976, O’Brien Homes has been an industry leader in quality controls. Often, says Chuck, the company’s commitment to quality has led to whole new approaches to building. To ensure that new ideas are embraced by trades and suppliers, O’Brien has helped educate its trade partners in changes in the building sciences.

Chuck’s conversation this week points out the ways in which homebuilders are matching up technological advances with the features that matter most to their buyers. As the conversation progresses this month, Chuck will be discussing how the Fusion neighborhood in Sunnyvale is delivering a green lifestyle to a high-tech buyer profile.

You can download this interview on iTunes or listen in on Facebook. The conversation continues all month, so be sure to log on.

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The Real Story got into a passionate discussion with Jane Warner of the American Lung Association of California. The topic? How the movement toward New Regionalism in California government could change the way we live, the way our children learn, and how many miles we put on our automobiles to carry out the tasks of daily living.

Jane talks this week about SB 375, and how this bill could change the guidelines for development in the state, moving new housing closer to public transportation hubs. An old idea, whose time has come again, is the notion of people living within walking distance to schools, parks, the grocery and other conveniences.

What can Californians do right now to reduce air pollution? Simple, says Jane: reduce the number of daily car trips. Combine all of your errands into one trip with several stops. Or get into the habit of participating—as a driver or a rider—in the many carpools, formal and informal, around the state.

For more information, downloadable materials and articles about lung health, check out: www.lungusa.org.