Yet another environmental accolade has been added to a growing list of national and state honors earned by On Top of the World Communities with its selection as a finalist in the Sustainable Florida 2011 Best Practices Awards program sponsored by the Collins Center for Public Policy.

One of just three finalists in the green-building category, On Top of the World, 8445 SW 80th St., is the only Florida home builder to reach the finals for displaying "outstanding ... sustainable practice in the built environment." This commitment to sustainability, environmental stewardship and energy-efficient home designs also grabbed the attention of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, which presented On Top of the World with a 2010 ENERGY STAR® Excellence in ENERGY STAR® Promotion Award for its energy-efficient homes and consumer-education programs. The community was the only Florida home builder – and one of just six in the nation – to receive this honor.

On Top of the World landed among award finalists for various reasons including the fact that all new homes built in the community are ENERGY STAR®-qualified and are offered with solar power as an optional feature. This commitment has resulted in 975 ENERGY STAR® homes being built since 2000, and the solar homes built in the community have saved more than 34 tons of coal while generating 87,000 kilowatt hours of electricity ... in the past year alone.

Moreover, On Top of the World recently expanded its sustainability efforts to the community's commercial buildings by installing a system of solar panels to fully power its 8,800-square-foot golf-course maintenance building. This move will provide 115 percent of the building's power to run all electrical equipment, air-conditioning, office space, water-recycling systems and to handle the building's landscaping irrigation.

The Sustainable Florida 2011 Best Practices Awards ceremony will take place June 2 in Daytona Beach.

The Collins Center, named in honor of former Florida Gov. LeRoy Collins, was founded in 1988 as a statewide nonprofit organization to seek out creative, non-partisan solutions to Florida's toughest issues. Throughout its history, the Jacksonville-based center has sought to "uphold the principles maintained by Gov. Collins – public and private integrity, deliberative democracy, environmental stewardship and economic fairness. Named to the list of America's 100 Best Master-Planned Communities by Where to Retire magazine and Best Neighborhood for 55+ by Ocala magazine, On Top of the World Communities has built about 4,500 homes in 14 neighborhoods in this 12,972-acre central Florida location since construction began in the 1980s.

All On Top of the World homes are steel-reinforced concrete block construction, and every home meets or exceeds ENERGY STAR® guidelines ... verified by independent inspectors. In fact, On Top of the World is Florida's first active-adult community to receive 100 percent ENERGY STAR qualification on all new homes.

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Our community’s active-adult recreational and fitness programs took center stage in a BBC documentary pitting young out-of-shape Brits against our active residents in a physical competition called Are You Fitter Than a Pensioner? This program was then renamed and run here in the U.S. on the Discovery Fit & Health channel as Are you Fitter Than a Senior?

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A look at the Colen family’s continuing commitment to intelligent growth, protection of natural resources and the environment as the torch was passed from family patriarch to scion Kenneth Colen upon his father’s death.

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On Top of the World Communities is the only Florida home builder recognized by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency with a 2010 ENERGY STAR® Excellence in ENERGY STAR® Promotion Award for its energy-efficient homes and environmental education programs. It also was one of just six home builders across the country so honored. Read the letter from U.S. Rep. Cliff Stearns congratulating On Top of the World for our accomplishment. Click to view article.

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A profile of On Top of the World Communities and its commitment to environmental protection and sustainable community design. Click here to view article.

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Named one of America’s Top 100 Places to Retire by this national magazine aimed at active adults in 2009. On Top of the World Communities is proud to be recognized by Where to Retire Magazine, recognizing us for amenities like recreation centers, championship golf courses and for activities such as more than 600 continuing education classes and over 200 clubs and organizations that are offered to residents year-round.

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Voted Best Neighborhood for 55+ by the Ocala area’s top lifestyle magazine.
Reprinted from the December 2008 Ocala Magazine publication.

On Top of the World Communities (46.7%)
8445 S.W. 80th St., Ocala. 800.421.4162

Forget The (institutional) Villages. At On Top of the World, it doesn’t feel like anybody’s retired here. The architecture is people-pleasing, Circle Square Cultural Center is one of the best entertainment venues in town, and the lifelong learning opportunities make it all feel like college all over again. Are you sure we have to wait ‘til 55?

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... sponsored by the University of Florida ... recognized On Top of the World Communities as a success story, especially for our Waterwise program and other environmentally friendly aspects of our development plan. Marion County’s Florida Yards and Neighborhoods coordinator Kathleen Patterson praises “the community’s beautiful, but functional landscape” and says she values “working with a developer who is always striving to go a step further.”

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