Building Innovation for Homeownership
Award Winners: District of Columbia

PROJECT: GreenHOME/DC Habitat for Humanity

SUBMITTER: Kim Schaefer, Co-Director, GreenHOME, Washington, DC, and Wes Blaney, Design Chair and Advisory Board Liaison, GreenHOME, Washington, DC

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: GreenHOME, a partnership between DC Habitat for Humanity and a volunteer coalition of design and environmental professionals, is developing two affordable, energy efficient and resource conserving three-bedroom homes on an urban in-fill site in the heart of southeast Washington, DC. House plans include a variety of proven techniques to reduce life-cycle costs for the homeowner. The methods and materials are not new, but are typically reserved only for upper-income homes. GreenHOMEs homes will have a passive cooling system, with a whole-house fan to ventilate both house and attic heat at night. An innovative combination gas furnace/domestic hot water heater will supplement winter sunlight coming in large southeast-facing windows. Insulation in the walls, roofs, and floors will be increased about 40 percent above the typical Habitat homes to maximize heating and cooling benefits and reduce cost.

Construction waste will be minimized by careful accounting and management of materials. An on-site recycling program will provide a simple method to store and reuse materials. Used products will be incorporated wherever possible. For example, GreenHOME will use concrete rubble instead of mined gravel fill around the homes' foundations. Wood blocking, insulation, nails, and other small items from other Habitat sites will be reused. Vinyl siding, vinyl flooring, PVC piping, asphalt shingles, gypsum board, and carpeting that include recycled materials will be selected as is feasible.

GreenHOME will use these two homes to educate the local building community and DC public about sustainable building and landscape design and will cooperate with non-profit housing developers and Habitat for Humanity International to develop their green building programs.

PROJECT PARTICIPANTS: Wes Blaney, GreenHOME, Design Chair and Advisory Board Liaison with DC Habitat for Humanity (design); Kim Schaefer, Co-Director, GreenHOME (architect); DC Habitat for Humanity (developer); volunteers.

PROJECT: DC Habitat for Humanity: GreenHOME and Park Skyland projects

SUBMITTER: Kim Schaefer, Co-Director, GreenHOME, Washington, DC; Wes Blaney, Design Chair and Advisory Board Liaison, GreenHOME, Washington, DC; and Carolyn A. Casperson, Executive Director, DC Habitat, Park Skyland project

PROJECT DESCRIPTION: The DC Habitat for Humanity is incorporating innovative environmentally sound technologies in two affordable home projects--Park Skyland and GreenHOME. The Park Skyland project features two steel-framed demonstration townhomes in a development of 34 townhomes on a 1.92 acre site within the city. Although steel has been used in commercial construction for many years, its use for framing homes is growing due to the volatility of lumber prices. Metal studs, floor joists, and roof trusses are commercially available in a variety of dimensional shapes and sizes. Metal framing contains recycled materials, is recyclable, provides termite protection, and will not shrink or split. The 1,250 square-foot Park Skyland homes sell for $61,000 with average monthly mortgage payments approximately $170 due to Habitat financing. The homes were built by DC Habitat in cooperation with the American Iron and Steel Institute (AISI) and the National Association of Home Builders (NAHB).

GreenHOME, a partnership between DC Habitat for Humanity and a volunteer coalition of design and environmental professionals, is developing two affordable, energy efficient, and resource conserving three-bedroom homes on an urban in-fill site in the heart of southeast Washington, DC. The methods and materials used in the homes are not new but are typically reserved for upper-income homes. GreenHOMEs will have a passive cooling system with a whole-house fan to ventilate both house and attic heat at night. An innovative combination gas furnace/domestic hot water heater will supplement winter sunlight entering through large southeast-facing windows. Insulation in the walls, roof, and floor will be increased about 40 percent above the typical Habitat homes to maximize heating and cooling benefits and reduce cost. Construction waste will be minimized by careful accounting and management of materials. An on-site recycling program will provide a simple method to store and reuse materials. Vinyl siding, vinyl flooring, PVC piping, asphalt shingles, gypsum board, and carpeting that include recycled materials will be selected as is feasible. GreenHOME will use these two homes to educate the local building community and DC public about sustainable building and landscape design and will cooperate with non-profit housing developers and Habitat for Humanity International to develop their green building programs.

PROJECT PARTICIPANTS: Wes Blaney, GreenHOME, Design Chair and Advisory Board Liaison with DC Habitat for Humanity (design); Kim Schaefer, Co-Director, GreenHOME (architect); DC Habitat for Humanity (builder/developer); American Iron and Steel Institute; National Association of Home Builders; volunteers.