The first phase of Vertical Modern Urban Lofts, a 22-home development in downtown Little Rock, Arkansas, is being touted as the state’s first, and so far only, residential project to earn a LEED for Homes Platinum rating.

That is icing on the cake for the project’s developer, Matt Bell, because his original goal was for the project to qualify for LEED Gold. The results of energy-efficiency tests, he said, pushed the rating for the first phase – seven homes – into Platinum territory.

The homes range in size from 2,125 to 2,580 sq. ft., with three bedrooms and two and a half or three baths. Current prices on available homes range from $355,000 to $424,900.

Bell, a partner in Little Rock-based energy-efficiency and environmental consultancy Viridian USA, helped design the lofts to include low-water landscaping, double-glazed low-E windows, tankless water heaters, high-efficiency heat and air, Energy Star appliances, and structural insulation by ICF specialist Smart Structures Distributing.

The second phase of the project, consisting of eight homes, is scheduled for completion in late 2009 and, says Bell, will also seek LEED certification.