BABCOCK RANCH

Babcock Ranch is an eco-conscious, efficiency-focused development in southwest Florida that aspires to be America’s first, fully solar-powered city.

The brainchild of developer (and ex-NFL player) Syd Kitson, Babcock was aquired through a deal that saw Kitson turn 80% of the land into a wetlands preserve (through a sale to the state) and donate over 400 acres to Florida Power & Light to house a massive field of solar panels that produces enough power to run the entire town.

Watch:  PBS NewsHour – Can An Entire Town Run On Solar?

Watch: CBS THIS MORNING – Inside Florida’s Solar Powered Babcock Ranch

In addition to electric, self-driving shuttles traveling along set routes, environmental strategies include water efficiency, native plant and tree preservation, and 19,000 homes built to extreme energy standards.

Timberbuilt was commissioned to construct the main community center.

“We wanted it to be an iconic building because it’s the first you see when you drive into Babcock Ranch. It’s also the most energy efficient building we have in the community right now.”
– Tyler Kitson, project manager for Kitson & Partners

The Lake House, which features our hybrid timber frame construction with an airtight, insulated shell of SIPs panels, was built to withstand the storm season with wind speed construction standards that are 20mph over current codes.

“You walk in that building, you can smell the wood, and it’s absolutely beautiful,”… “It’s actually structurally stronger than masonry and more energy-efficient,” …“We’re trying to show people there are new and efficient ways of developing and building these buildings to help reduce our carbon footprint.”

We also built a model home, a version of our cabin design, for prospective home-buyers to tour. Buy one at Babcock! Or, you can watch a video of our timber frame cabin construction at Babcock Ranch.

Sustainable buildings, renewable energy sources, and forward thinkers like the Kitsons are what Timberbuilt is all about.