Habitat chief blesses 'green' housing addition

By Richard Mize

Published: June 4, 2008

Not that many years ago, cynics and doubters thought "green” home building didn't have a prayer.

Tuesday, Hope Crossing, the environmentally friendly and energy-conserving neighborhood developed by Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity, got one from on high.

It came from Jonathan Reckford, chief executive of Habitat for Humanity International, in Oklahoma City for the first time from Habitat's Atlanta headquarters.

At a ceremony midway through the 2008 Builders Blitz, where six companies are building six "green” homes in eight days, Reckford offered blessings attributed to St. Francis of Assisi.

May God bless you with discomfort at easy answers, half-truths, and superficial relationships — so that you may live deep within your heart.

May God bless you with anger at injustice, oppression and exploitation of people — so that you may work for justice, freedom and peace.

May God bless you with enough foolishness to believe that you can make a difference in this world — so that you can do what others claim cannot be done.

The homes will be certified for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design by the U.S. Green Building Council. The home building companies are: Norman-based Ideal Homes, which in 2006 built the first LEED-certified single-family home in the United States; Home Creations in Moore; OL Development in Yukon; Rausch-Coleman in Oklahoma City; Southcreek Construction in Edmond; and 4 Corners Construction in Edmond.

Most of the 215 homes to eventually be built in the Hope Crossing addition, at NE 83 and Kelley Avenue, will be certified, said Ann Felton, chairman and chief executive of Central Oklahoma Habitat.

Certification means they will be built to standards in human-environmental health, sustainability in development and lot location, water and energy savings, selection of building materials, indoor air quality, innovation and design and public awareness and education.

Construction, which began Saturday, has proceeded apace, she said — although a stiff hot wind buffeted the work sites Tuesday, creating wind tunnels and slamming doors and blowing dust and debris.

Such is the work of Habitat for Humanity, said Reckford, a North Carolina native who was executive pastor of Christ Presbyterian Church in Edina, Minn., and previously a retail corporate executive before taking the helm of Habitat in 2005.

"This community is particularly exciting,” he said. "When completed, it will be the largest green development in Habitat history. Energy efficiency is good for the environment, but also makes homes even more affordable for homeowners. I'm so grateful for Ann Felton's leadership and for the work her team is doing.”

Hope Crossing, comprised so far of brick homes with a 2-plus-acre park with playground equipment and enough space for a baseball game, is Central Oklahoma Habitat's proudest accomplishment, she said.

The organization wants to acquire more land and develop more additions — not just more infill lots and houses scattered. Building a neighborhood from the ground up creates a community in a way that is difficult with scattered homes, she said.

Central Oklahoma Habitat is among 100 Habitat affiliates in 34 states participating in the national Home Builders Blitz, Reckford said, and about 1,000 individual builders and volunteers are at work. Since the program started in 2002 in Raleigh, N.C., home builders have constructed more than 780 homes, he said.

Since its founding in 1976, Reckford said, more than 250,000 affordable homes have been built for a million homeowners, and with them, since the owners provide "sweat equity” — work — toward their purchases.

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