Green Building is a Process…
And HFHC has been moving toward “green” for years.
In 2003, Arundel Habitat for Humanity partnered with the National Association of Home Builders’ (NAHB) Research Center and the Partnership for Advanced Technology in Housing (PATH) of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) to build a duplex unit that was built with Energy Star standards in mind.
In 2006, Chesapeake Habitat for Humanity partnered with Building America of the U.S. Department of Energy (DOE) and one of its design teams, the Consortium for Advanced Residential Buildings (CARB), led by Steven Winter Associates, to renovate four row houses using Building America’s best practices for achieving increased energy efficiency. They surpassed Energy Star standards by 17% and were 32% more energy efficient than new houses built to code.
In 2009, the merged affiliate built nine new, modular row house units, with guidance from CARB and Steven Winter Associates. All aspects of the build, from its modular construction to homeowner habits, were reviewed by CARB in a cost-benefit analysis and each unit achieved Energy Star.
During the 2009 modular build, Brandon Little, a student at Duke University, performed “An Analysis of Green Building Practices at Habitat for Humanity of the Chesapeake.” She divided HFHC’s past building styles into three phases and analyzed energy consumption in each phase. Through statistical analyses, she showed that HFHC homes consistently use less electricity and less natural gas than comparable homes in the same neighborhoods.
Habitat’s grounding principle is that its housing is “simple, decent, and affordable.” Especially as energy prices rise, it is becoming clear that “affordable” means affordable to build AND affordable to live in. HFHC is currently working to build or renovate all of its houses to Energy Star standards and more than 20 have received the Energy Star designation.
Energy Star houses are built to 15% more energy efficient than the current energy code requires. Energy Star features include: tight construction and ducts, effective insulation systems, efficient heating and cooling equipment, high performance windows, efficient products, and independent testing.
It’s still a work-in-progress.
As a senior Ecological Design student at Prescott College, I am interning at HFHC this spring. My focus is on energy efficiency and sustainability. I am helping HFHC streamline its building practices and record keeping, ensuring that every new house is more likely to achieve Energy Star than the last. To do this, I created a specs document to keep track of building specifications, both for site staff and for the Energy Star/ HERS Rater. I worked with Nyoka Pierce, an AmeriCorps member, to present “Building Homes to Energy Star Standards,” a presentation of Best Practices, to the construction staff. I edited the Homeowner Handbook with two volunteers, Bob Schultz, of Craftsmen Developers, and Alan Waldman, so that it is up-to-date and so that it includes energy-saving tips for homeowners.
HFHC is continuing to assess its building practices so that its homes remain simple, decent, and affordable and so that it can continue to serve more families every year.
S. Thiel Butner
