Each new built home will be Shea Certified Green, a proprietary certification initiated by Shea Homes in September of 2007. Shea Certified Green sets new green building standards on a national level and reduces the carbon footprints of homes built in its active lifestyle communities by 20-29 percent per household.

Each home built at Victoria Gardens will include solar technology, green fiber recycled insulation, and wood from certified sustainable forests whenever possible. Homeowners will benefit from the motion and occupancy sensor lighting and energy efficient windows, air conditioning, and appliance in a reduced cost homeownership over time.

With average energy and resource savings of 20 percent compared to conventionally built non-green homes, Shea Certified Green homes exceed by approximately 30 percent the International Energy Code. Among the savings are:

-- 50% reduction in the therms associated with heating water

-- 75%, 40% and 41% declines in energy used from lighting, clothes washers

and dishwashers, respectively

"Our goal is to build every Victoria Gardens home to be more energy efficient and environmentally friendly than those built by any other national builder," said Jeff Gersh, area vice president for Central Florida. "We already feel that Victoria Gardens is unique because of its small-town atmosphere and its proximity to Stetson University, Orlando and Florida's East Coast beaches. The Shea Certified Green program is just another way to increase value for our members while being socially responsible."

Victoria Gardens by Shea Homes is a gated, active lifestyle community for individuals who are 55 years of age and older. It is situated within Victoria Park, a St. Joe Hometown master-planned community. Single-story homes in Victoria Gardens are priced from the $200,000's to the mid-$300,000's and range in size from 1,430-2,210 square feet. Home owners will enjoy a variety of amenities, including a private clubhouse with pool, tennis center, health and fitness facility, and access to the 18-hole Ron Garl-designed golf course. Members can participate in the "Art of Living" program that provides organized activities, events and outings for the community.

Victoria Gardens is in one of the most convenient locations in Central Florida. The community is a short drive to many central Florida attractions, including Daytona and New Smyrna beaches, Orlando's themed parks and family attractions, and the Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral.

Victoria Gardens is one of Shea Homes' Trilogy active lifestyle communities participating in the Shea Certified Green program. The builder expects that the CO2 that will be saved in its anticipated production of 20,000 Trilogy homes over the next 10 years, at just a 20 percent reduction, is the equivalent of: 8,660,000 gallons of gasoline, 177,000 barrels of oil or 3,180,000 propane cylinders used in home barbeques.

The Shea Certified Green standards exceed, by 50 percent, those of the Environments for Living Certified Green Rating, a highly reputed program that has been the benchmark by which builders measure their "green" performance. "The Environments for Living program was a great start for us," said Rick Andreen, president of Shea Homes Active Lifestyle Communities. "It opened our eyes. Then we quickly realized that new, higher standards were needed if we are truly going to make a difference. And making a difference is what drives us."

Shea Homes recently entered Florida as one of the nation's most recognized builders of active adult communities. Trilogy by Shea Homes recently ranked highest in customer satisfaction among the large active adult home builders, according to a J.D. Power and Associates survey. The company was named the 2007 Builder of the Year by Professional Builder magazine.