The U.S. Green Building Council says it has awarded Coeur d'Alene-based construction and development company ActiveWest Builders LLC the council's top national award for home production using Leadership in Energy & Environmental Design principles.

At the Greenbuild International Conference & Expo held recently in Toronto, the council recognized ActiveWest as the 2011 Outstanding LEED-Home Production Builder for its Meadow Ranch residential subdivision in northwest Coeur d'Alene, the council says in a press release.

ActiveWest currently is developing the second phase of the 80-home, $20 million subdivision, which is one of the first in Idaho to be certified as a LEED Neighborhood Development. In 2011, Meadow Ranch had 32 homes individually certified platinum or gold, the two highest LEED ratings, the council says.

The company has incorporated low-impact, recycled, and locally produced construction materials throughout the development, which was designed by Dennis Cunningham, ActiveWest's president. Homes are compact in design and clustered to reduce infrastructure needs.

The neighborhood design includes mixed uses, open space, walking paths, and a community garden.

Homes range in size from 800-square-foot townhomes to two-story houses with 2,200 square feet of living space, and prices range from $139,000 to more than $300,000.

The largest structure in the development is a 1940s-era barn, which ActiveWest has restored to harken back to the property's history as a dairy farm. That building is used primarily as storage space now.

ActiveWest also designed and constructed an apartment building named The Gee Cooperative Residence near Gonzaga University. The company completed that structure last summer and earned LEED platinum certification on the project.