Green

A Rain Garden at Rieger Homes’ Fox Hill Community

At our newest community, Fox Hill at Sugar Loaf, Rieger Homes is installing individual rain gardens to help to purify storm water.  Yes, a rain garden. Not a vegetable garden or a flower garden, but a rain garden. What is a rain garden?  By definition, a rain garden is a garden which takes advantage of rainfall and stormwater runoff in its design and plant selection. According to the Low Impact Development Center, a rain garden is a small garden which is designed to withstand the extremes of moisture and concentrations of nutrients, particularly nitrogen and phosphorus, which may be found in storm water runoff.

For generations, homeowners and landscapers have used certain trees & plants to balance moisture content of an area.  For example, planting a weeping willow tree in a low area will help absorb excess ground water.  Rain gardens takes that type of common sense one step further.  They are designed to allow water to filter through the plant roots and soil to remove impurities and improve the water quality in surface water and nearby bodies of water.  Rain gardens are most successful when designed for specific soils and climates using native grasses and plants.  The water filters through the garden in several hours, not remaining wet long enough to become a breeding ground for mosquitoes.  And by the way, they can be beautiful to look at and improve the enjoyment of your yard!

Simple or elaborate, residential or commercial, a rain garden is an attractive and natural way to help our environment and our future.  If you are interested in creating your own rain garden, there are a multitude of resources on the internet, such as the New York State Department of Conservation, Low Impact Development Center, and the Rain Garden Network.

Rieger Homes is your Orange County new home builder and Dutchess County new home builder of choice.  We have been a leading home builder in the Mid-Hudson Valley for over 50 years.  A family owned company under its second generation of leadership, we are committed to building a successful relationship between our family of professionals and your family.  Rieger Homes has developed its Energy Efficient, High Performance Home Program that utilizes energy efficient products and building practices in our homes, to make them as cost effective to maintain as possible.  Our goal is to assist you and your family in building a new home of your dreams.  We are proud of our superb reputation throughout New York’s beautiful Hudson Valley and would love to be your builder!  Please check out our beautiful neighborhoods and exciting homes and floor plans and contact us to plan your new home.  Happy home shopping!

In a statement released March 26, 2012, Rieger Homes is proud to announce we are now offering the option of geothermal energy systems in all our new construction homes.  Please see the full press release below.

The Kent with Geothermal System at Stratford Farms

Newburgh, NY—Rieger Homes, Inc. is now offering the option of geothermal energy systems in all of its new construction homes, according to Steven & Ian Rieger, brothers and partners in the building company.  Rieger Homes Inc., based in Newburgh, NY, has been the builder of choice in the Mid-Hudson Valley for over 50 years, having built more than 6,000 homes spanning two generations of craftsmanship.  Rieger Homes has partnered with Geothermal Energy Options, LLC of LaGrangeville to offer this program.

Rieger Homes, long known for building energy-efficient, high performance homes, finds the move to geothermal to be a natural progression in improving its building standards to meet the growing concerns of the consumer to reduce costs and to be environmentally green.  Since 2003, Rieger Homes has participated in the ENERGY STAR program, a joint program of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and the U.S. Department of Energy, created to help consumers save money and protect the environment through energy-efficient products and practices.

“The benefits of geothermal building to the homebuyer are substantial,” explains Steven Rieger,  “with considerable first-year tax savings, annual savings in heating and cooling costs and the satisfaction that comes with knowing you are easing your footprint on the environment.  Also, knowing that you are not dependent on gas or oil to heat your home gives you great peace of mind.”

The Economic Stimulus Act of 2009, which became law on February 17, 2009, contains long-term tax incentives to encourage the use of renewable energy technologies in homes and businesses, including geothermal systems that are “placed into service” between January 1, 2009 and December 31, 2016.

“We are excited that our new home will include a geothermal system,” say Sandi Jensen and Frank Daniberg, recent buyers of a Rieger Home in Stratford Farms in the Town of Poughkeepsie. “Not only will we potentially save hundreds of dollars a year in heating and cooling costs, but we are doing our part to help the environment.”

According to Christopher Ryan, President of Geothermal Energy Options, geothermal energy is a renewable energy source generated by solar thermal radiation. As the sun’s rays bombard the earth’s surface, thermal energy is absorbed by the ground and stored approximately five feet below the Earth’s surface.  It is this energy source that is tapped by geothermal heat pumps to provide heating and cooling. This allows the efficient conversion of this temperature difference into heating or cooling for the home. It is cost effective, reliable, sustainable and environmentally friendly.

In addition to its commitment to quality building and customer satisfaction, this program brings Rieger Homes to the forefront of cutting edge technology in homebuilding.

Rieger Homes is represented by Serls New Homes, a full service marketing firm specializing in the sales of single-family, condominium and town home communities in the Hudson Valley.   For more information on geothermal building, contact Rieger Homes at (845) 561.1300 or visit www.riegerhomes.com or www.hudsonvalleygeo.com.