Story Tools
For years, Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk has built homes with energy efficiency in mind. It has used donated solar panels to power them and installed appliances and other materials that meet Energy Star standards. Habitat of Suffolk even installed a geothermal heating and cooling system to add to its green repertoire.
So while energy efficiency is nothing new to Habitat for Humanity, it’s now going one step further: Early this spring, a home planned for North Bellport will get the official “green” stamp of approval from the Green Building Council. The home’s design is LEED-certified, which means it meets the organization’s stringent Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design standards.
There are two reasons why Habitat is launching the pilot program, says Paul Holland, LEED project manager for the Habitat for Humanity of Suffolk. Yes, the organization—which builds homes for low-income families at drastically reduced prices with the support and volunteer efforts of businesses and individuals—wants to promote environmental sustainability and conscientious energy use. But it also seeks to help families cut their energy costs by 30 percent to 60 percent.
Habitat builds and sells homes to families making between 30 percent and 50 percent of Suffolk County’s annual average income and who live in substandard conditions. The houses are sold for no profit, and carry a 0 percent mortgage.
Families selected are required to attend Community Development Corp. of Long Island financial-health and home-maintenance classes and, perhaps even more important, put in 270 hours of “sweat equity,” picking up hammers, saws, and screwdrivers to work alongside carpenters, masons, electricians, and other volunteers—from high-school students to church members—to build their homes.
As of when this story went to print, Holland said a family had yet to be chosen for the house in North Bellport, where 60 other Habitat homes have been built. Habitat’s selection committee will choose a family from its recently updated owner selection pool.
Some highlights of the LEED requirement list include an Energy Star heating and ventilation system and light fixtures, the need for a renewable energy- generation system (in this case, solar power), and a reduction in the amount of waste sent to landfills by at least 25 percent. Habitat accomplishes the latter by selling leftover building supplies to the public at deeply reduced prices. That not only cuts back on trips to the landfill, but further offsets the cost of construction.
The LEED process also requires families to be trained on how to live a green lifestyle by properly using the energy-efficient tools set up for them. They get a comprehensive manual and multiple training sessions with the experts.
The project demonstrates that it doesn’t require tremendous financial resources and a desire to “build a Frank Lloyd Wright home” to go green, Holland emphasizes. “You can be green and still be on a fixed income or low income and work to be environmentally conscious.”
