Solar Habitat for Humanity

[struggle4progress]

September 20, 2005
Habitat for Humanity of Metro Denver has dedicated its first "green home," designed to be energy efficient and environmentally responsible. The new design resulted in significant savings for the homeowner family — their highest utility bill that winter was $45. Now the Metro Denver group incorporates green design features in all of its houses. "Building energy efficient homes is something every affiliate should have as a goal," says affiliate executive director Lori Vaclavik. "By making minor changes in construction, families can save significant money through reduced utility bills. Habitat homes should not only be affordable to purchase, but also affordable for a family to own and maintain. And it sets an important standard for all builders to follow."
http://www.treehugger.com/files/2005/09/_solar_a_key_co.php



"For many of our families, utility payments cost as much as the mortgage," says Kevin Campbell, project coordinator with the Habitat for Humanity (HFH) chapter in Lynchburg, Virginia. "If you can cut such a big portion of the monthly costs, it's hard to overlook it."
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Even without changing the floor plan, they were able to take advantage of solar heat. They simply found a site with good solar exposure and positioned the house so its long side faced south. A few windows were moved to the south side, even though the overall glazed area was unchanged. Full length glazing was added to the back door in the kitchen's south wall. This "sun-tempered" approach grabs free heat without adding to construction costs.
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Orienting the house toward the sun also allowed a solar water heater. General contractor, Al Maddox, collected used solar panels and added a heat exchanger connected to the home's water heater tank. The circulation pump is powered by a small photovoltaic (solar electric) panel.
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http://oikos.com/esb/34/HFHhouse.html

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Grid Alternative's Solar Project on Habitat home (San Francisco)
Grid Alternatives, a relatively new volunteer organization, recently installed 12 solar panels on a Habitat home in Campbell Avenue, Visitacion Valley. The project took place over the space of a weekend in September 2004. The solar panels were kindly donated by BP and are intended to save the homeowners the high cost of electricity, especially during the summer months.
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http://www.habitatsf.org/gridAltern.php


Habitat for Humanity of El Paso has built energy-efficient, passive solar homes since 1994. The affiliate's research shows that these design features save homeowners $25 or more per month in utility bills, while adding only $5 per month to mortgage payments. HFH El Paso became so convinced of the new design's value that the affiliate rewrote its bylaws to require these new criteria.

HFH El Paso is the first house builder in that city to earn the Environmental Protection Agency's "Energy Star" certification. The affiliate reports that El Paso receives more solar energy per square meter than any other city in the United States, making passive solar design especially suitable for local construction.
http://www.habitat.org/env/el_paso_project.aspx


Little Solar Houses for You and Me
Working to develop the Volkswagen of solar homes
By Amanda Griscom
07 Oct 2003

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The most obvious clue to the larger picture -- a two-kilowatt BP Millenia thin-film solar system -- can be seen glinting on the rooftop of the home of Adam Indrajaya and Lina Kinandjar, a landscape worker and pastry decorator, respectively, who moved to Tennessee from Malaysia six years ago. The solar panels were provided by the Tennessee Valley Authority (the public electricity supplier throughout the seven-state region of the Southeast) and the U.S. Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory (located just miles away in Oak Ridge, Tenn.), which teamed up with Habitat for Humanity to build this experimental settlement.

Even more impressive than the rooftop installation is the Oak Ridge-designed technology beneath it: special insulated walls, windows, and floors; energy-efficient lighting, appliances, and ducting; and state-of-the-art systems for heating, air conditioning, and hot water. The laboratory also added more esoteric efficiency measures, such as a system that captures the heat from shower water after it goes down the drain, and even one that captures the warmth that comes off the coils behind the fridge.
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http://www.grist.org/news/powers/2003/10/07/you/

[feistydem]

1. That's fantastic!

Up and until very recently, I was an Exec. Director of a Habitat for Humanity affiliate. We did a green built home too (earth brick). We were talking about trying straw bale next. I am so glad that Habitat International supports the affiliates' creative approaches to building affordable, energy efficient homes for low income families!

Denver Habitat deserves a big pat on their collective backs for trying something innovative in nonprofit homebuilding!

[struggle4progress]

2. I think Pueblo Colorado did a straw bale. Look at what the Virginia ..

.. crowd has done, because they've got about 15 years experience with solar hot water, and the homeowners seemed happy with it ...