Environmentally Responsible
Home Construction

AN EPA URBAN & ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT DIVISION,
NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF HOME BUILDERS RESEARCH CENTER, AND
HABITAT FOR HUMANITY PROJECT

Homestead Habitat for Humanities (of Homestead, Florida) is building a 200-home development for families displaced by Hurricane Andrew. This project provides a type of disaster relief that U.S. EPA wants to promote: environmentally responsible development.

Energy Efficiency & Water Conservation

This unique Habitat for Humanities development is environmentally "responsible" in a variety of ways. The homes are energy efficient, resource efficient, and located to take advantage of existing mass transit systems. Preliminary analysis on the energy requirements of these homes indicate that they will use 45% less energy than similar homes in the region. Energy efficiency will be accomplished through several means including: building design, use of energy efficient/water conserving appliances, and partial reliance on solar energy.

Forty homes in this development will also serve as pilots for testing the reuse of gray water, a concept that Dade County government is interested in exploring -- with an ultimate goal of requiring gray water reuse for all new homes in the county.

Building Waste Management

EPA's Urban and Economic Development Division became involved in the Homestead Habitat for Humanity housing project through the National Association of Home Builders Research Center (NAHB-RC). EPA and NAHB-RC have previously conducted joint pilot studies on construction waste management (shifting the flow of construction waste out of landfills and into recycling processes).

As a natural extension of our preliminary work and analyses, we were looking for a large scale construction project that would offer the opportunity to change traditional waste management practices and measure the benefits that accrued. Needless to say, we found a good match between our goals and the fundamental goals of the Homestead Habitat for Humanity project. Through our project, we will be diverting significant quanities of waste away from disposal and into reuse and recycling. Preliminary estimates indicate that this project will yield a savings of $350 per home in reduced disposal/landfilling costs.

Global Climate Benefits

In global climate change terms, our estimates indicate that at this site, construction waste management alone (i.e., not taking the energy efficiency and resource conservation aspects into account) will yield a savings of 2 metric tons of carbon equivalent per home. If the waste management developed at this site was implemented across the U.S. (1.4 million new housing starts in 1993), we could be looking at huge global climate change benefits.

Public Outreach/Information

Homestead Habitat for Humanity is producing an educational "orientation" video for the new residents of the development -- Jordan Commons. The video explains how the Jordan Commons homes differ from typical houses and outlines how residents can have a positive impact on the environment. A video which promotes the environmental features of the Jordan Commons development is also being produced for the general public. It will be used in a model home at the site to educate the general public about environmentally responsible development.

Building plans for the Jordan Commons homes have been presented at many building trade conferences including the Environmental Building Design Charette in December, 1995 where Habitat for Humanities International and Global Green partnered with a number of construction experts to revamp Habitat for Humanity's standardized building plans and make them more environmentally sustainable.

Finally, the National Association of Home Builders Research Center is documenting energy and resource savings at the Jordan Commons site and will present this information at national building conferences across the nation.


Contact:Robin Snyder, U.S. EPA, 401 M Street, SW, Mail Code 2127, Washington, DC 20460 (202) 260-8331 or snyder.robin @epamail.epa.gov