Green steps ahead
Home builders, Central Habitat unite to build six LEED houses
Home builders, Central Habitat unite to build six LEED houses

By Richard Mize

Published: May 24, 2008

It's a giant green step forward.

Six home-building companies, working with Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity, will build six "green” houses in eight days in Habitat's residential development, Hope Crossing, at NE 83 and Kelley Avenue.

It will be a Home Builders Blitz with a twist: Each of the houses will be silver certified in LEED — Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design.

The blitz build will start May 31 and conclude with house dedications June 7. ClimateMaster is donating and installing energy-saving geothermal heat pumps.

With LEED certification, green is as builders do. It's more than a label and involves more than using "green” materials and products. LEED means a building meets conservation-friendly criteria of design, construction and operation.

LEED certification, a program of the U.S. Green Building Council, is based on performance in human-environmental health, sustainability in site development, lot location and how it's situated within the community, water savings, energy efficiency, the selection of building materials, indoor air quality, innovation and general design, and awareness-education.

For the future owners, it all will boil down to affordability through energy savings, said Ann Felton, chairman and chief executive of Central Oklahoma Habitat.

"We are fortunate to be able to not only provide affordable homes to six families, but also affordable living through the LEED certification,” she said. "The sustainability aspects of these homes will ultimately save homeowners thousands long term.”

Creating savings by reducing energy bills is especially helpful for the working people who rely partly on their own "sweat equity” to buy a Habitat home, said Todd Booze, president of construction for Ideal Homes. Central Oklahoma Habitat home buyers must have a gross income of at least $16,000 per year and be within the Department of Housing and Urban Development's low-income limits.

But any homeowner could enjoy savings from living in a LEED-certified home, Booze said.

Booze said LEED certification and the National Association of Home Builders' National Green Building Standard will work their way into public awareness — and become something consumers demand — in the same way the Energy Star program did. Energy Star is the federal government's designation for energy efficiency. People now look for Energy Star products and homes, Booze said.

"This is going to help with awareness out there.”

Home Creations is ready to do its part, said Jan Astani, marketing director.

"We're already an Energy Star-qualified builder, so working on the LEED requirements takes us to the next level. With all the energy-efficient modification being built into these new homes, the Habitat homeowners should realize tremendous savings on their utility bills throughout the year,” she said.

Bob Altmiller of Southcreek Construction, which builds log houses, said he started coordinating a volunteer crew to occasionally frame a Habitat home a few years ago after deciding at church — All Souls' Episcopal in Oklahoma City — that it was time "to start giving back to this industry.”

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