Spencer's Crossing is the Nation's 1st Residential Development to Achieve Both a...

Spencer's Crossing is the Nation's 1st Residential Development to Achieve Both
a Certified Green Status With the GE Ecomagination Program and a Gold Level
Status With the U.S.G.B.C. LEED for Homes Program

BALTIMORE, June 10 /PRNewswire/ -- MICHAEL PHELPS ISN'T THE ONLY "Michael" IN
BALTIMORE BRINGING HOME THE GOLD: Spencer's Crossing, developed by Michael
Sabracos and BUILDERS One, achieves the nation's 1st Gold Level Project status
with the U.S. Green Building Council LEED for Homes program, along with a
Certified GREEN status in the homes inspired by GE's Ecomagination(SM)
program. By turning the GREEN into GOLD, the homeowners at Spencer's Crossing
can put more GREEN back in their pockets.

A large group of green building advocates, representatives of GE Ecomagination
and the U.S.G.B.C., and Baltimore County Officials celebrated the grand
opening of Spencer's Crossing -- our nation's first residential development to
achieve both a Gold LEED status (Leadership in Energy and Environmental
Design) and a Certified Green status with the GE Ecomagination program.
Developed by Michael Sabracos and the local firm BUILDERS One, these new
carriage homes are guaranteed to cut home heating and cooling costs by 53%
compared to standard construction.

Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith presented a Green Renaissance Citation
honoring Sabracos and BUILDERS One for their commitment to providing the
opportunity for homebuyers to purchase a home with superior energy-efficiency
and minimal impact on the natural environment.

"These homes are not only the beginning of a beautiful new community, but
outstanding examples of Baltimore County businesses taking their
responsibility to our environment seriously," Smith said. "It is this kind of
responsible innovation that will help us achieve our goal of reducing
greenhouse gas emissions in Baltimore County by 10% by 2012."

Homebuyers who purchase one of these homes will be eligible for a new
Baltimore County tax credit that could save them 60% on their property taxes
for three years. Green elements in these homes include eco-friendly tight
construction methods, fresh air ventilation, dual flush toilets, solar panel
options, energy-efficient appliances, highly efficient heating and cooling
systems and more.

"Yes, we want to, and need to commit to preserve our environment for future
generations. But in today's difficult economic times, we also need to put the
GREEN back in our homeowner's pocket," Sabracos said. "Because of our
commitment to the GE Ecomagination program we can guarantee to reduce the
heating and cooling cost in a Spencer's Crossing home by 53%. Because of
Baltimore County Executive Jim Smith and the Baltimore County Council's
commitment to high performance energy efficient housing and the U.S.G.B.C.
LEED for Homes program, we are now also able to offer our homeowners a 60%
property tax credit for a period of 3 years." Sabracos concluded by saying,
"The homes at Spencer's Crossing are truly putting the GREEN back in our
homeowner's pockets. At Spencer's Crossing, GREEN is not an option, it's built
in."

To achieve this success, BUILDERS One is the first developer in the country to
combine the GE Ecomagination program with the Gold Level LEED for Homes
program. The GE Ecomagination Home Builder Program concentrates on the green
elements inside the four walls of the house. The LEED for Homes U.S.G.B.C.
program expands the scope to the green elements outside the four walls onto
the property and its surrounding neighborhood. By marrying both programs,
BUILDERS One was able to achieve substantial economic savings that are being
passed directly to the homeowner.

"It's commendable to see a local builder like Michael Sabracos work with
nationally recognized groups like GE and U.S.G.B.C to build one of this
state's greatest high performance and energy efficient homes," said County
Councilman Kevin Kamenetz. "It is truly amazing to see a home that can achieve
such a high green status and yet maintain the aesthetics and integrity of a
beautiful carriage home."

Homes inspired by ecomagination include advanced features such as:

-- New GE SmartCommand(TM) Enviro Monitor: an interactive wall panel that
provides current and historical feedback on electricity and indoor
water
consumption.
-- GE and GE Profile(TM) ENERGY STAR(R) qualified appliances.
-- GE advanced lighting package: indoor and outdoor lighting, with at
least
60% of the lighting fixtures using GE Energy Smart(TM) compact
fluorescent lamps (CFLs) that use up to 75% less electricity than
standard incandescent lamps.
-- GE Brilliance(TM) Solar Electric Power Systems (optional): engineered
to
install quickly and reliably to provide years of virtually
maintenance-free operation.
-- GE tankless gas water heater (optional): the GE tankless gas water
heater provides a continuous flow of precisely heated hot water.

-- The Environments for Living(R) Certified Green program standards:
tight
construction, fresh-air ventilation, improved insulation, efficient
HVAC
equipment, humidity control, pressure balancing, combustion safety
which
result into two comfort and energy guarantees*.

BUILDERS One uses Intra built system technology SM to give Spencer's Crossing
the green edge. The system is an inherently eco-friendly building practice in
which high-quality components are built in a controlled manufacturing
environment. This process produces superior quality construction that is
inherently tighter and more energy-efficient. BUILDERS One purchases and
transports materials in bulk, saving fuel costs. The computerized building
process in a climate controlled facility reduces normal emission output and
construction waste by 40%.

GE Consumer & Industrial spans the globe as an industry leader in major
appliance, lighting and integrated industrial equipment, systems and services.
Providing solutions for commercial, industrial and residential use in more
than 100 countries, GE Consumer & Industrial uses innovative technologies and
"ecomagination," a GE initiative to aggressively bring to market new
technologies that help customers and consumers meet pressing environmental
challenges, to deliver comfort, convenience and electrical protection and
control. General Electric (NYSE: GE) brings imagination to work, selling
products under the Monogram(R), Profile(TM) GE(R), Hotpoint(R), SmartWater(TM)
Reveal(R) and Energy Smart(TM) consumer brands, and Entellisys(R) industrial
brand.

The U.S. Green Building Council is the nation's leading coalition of
corporations, builders, universities, government agencies and nonprofit
organizations working together to transform the way buildings are designed,
built and operated. Green buildings are environmentally responsible,
profitable and healthy places to live and work. Since its founding in 1993,
the Council has grown to more than 9,000 member companies and organizations, a
90-person professional staff, a broad portfolio of LEED(R) green building
products and services, and a network of over 70 local chapters, affiliates and
organizing groups.

For more information, please visit www.spencerscrossinghomes.com,
www.buildersone.com, www.usgbc.org and www.ge.com/yourhome.

SOURCE BUILDERS One

Patti Cooper of Builders One Corp., +1-410-560-7997, Ext. 3310,
pcooper@buildersone.com