The word “green” no longer just describes a color but
has come to represent an energy efficient way of life. Apparently
the times are a changin’ – more and more people are making
their homes green and now the first green-certified Habitat
for Humanity (HFH) home in the state is in Indian River County.
Indian River County HFH built the house, sponsored by WCI – a
leading builder of communities in Florida, with green certification
as a requirement. It was a success according to Jennifer
Languell, vice president of the Florida Green Building Coalition
(FGBC), which officially certified the house under the FGBC
Green Home program. Now Indian River County HFH
is considering which green features they will adopt as standard
practice. Languell, speaking to TC Palm News said, “This
just shows that affordable housing can be green. That’s a contrast
from the usual impression that pro-environment modifications
are reserved for high-end housing.”
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The first green-certified Habitat for Humanity
house in the state of Florida is located in Indian River County.
Photo: Carlos Colon |
Green certification is awarded
to a house that meets standards set by the FGBC, which uses
a point-based system with eight categories to evaluate the
site, design, and specifications of a house. Preserving trees around
the home, installing ENERGY STAR® appliances
such as dishwashers, clothes washers and dryers, refrigerators
and ovens; utilizing compact fluorescent light bulbs; employing low
water use and providing for excellent indoor air quality are just
some of the ways to make a house green. When it comes to building
energy-efficient homes, most people tend to think that it’s
expensive, but believe it or not, it’s just the opposite – and
certification of the Indian River house is proof.
Additionally, part of green
certification is conducting an energy evaluation called a
Home Energy Rating. The Florida Solar Energy Center (FSEC)
produced the Home Energy Rating, also called an ENERGY STAR rating,
for this home,
as they have done for many Habitat affiliates around the
country. The ENERGY STAR Homes program recognizes homes that
use 15 percent less energy than those built to the International Energy Conservation
Code. Habitat for Humanity International has adopted ENERGY STAR as
a construction best practice, and 50 HFH affiliates have built more
than 2,500 ENERGY STAR homes across the country.
Indian River County is not the only area
in Florida where Habitat is building green homes. Since 2000,
Lakeland HFH, under the leadership of Executive Director Claire Twomey,
has been building homes that exceed ENERGY STAR standards,
saving an estimated additional 5 to 15 percent in whole house
energy use. Fifty-one homes have been built and six more are planned
for this year.
According
to Twomey, installing items in the home such as a radiant
barrier, low E-windows and interior ducts saves energy, a major component
of green building. Energy efficiency can be incorporated even in affordable
housing built by volunteers, as Habitat for Humanity has proven.
“We
reviewed the utility bills for our first house for five years and compared
it to a house with the same square footage and same family size that was
built six months earlier without the energy-efficiency changes. Utility savings
were 60 percent,” says Twomey. “Some of our homeowners are coming
from rental homes where they were paying $400 or $500 per month in utility
bills,” she adds. Purchasing an energy-efficient home that saves in
operating expenses is a big perk.
In addition
to energy efficiency, Lakeland Habitat homes feature an outside
air ventilation system that provides a slight positive pressure in
the house, eliminating infiltration of hot, humid air in the air conditioning
system. This improves energy efficiency as well as comfort and indoor
air quality. Installing a radiant barrier on the underside of the
roof decking can greatly reduce the heat gain in the house, thereby
conserving energy to cool the house. And this is important since air
conditioners make up about 40 percent of home energy use in Florida’s hot humid climate.
“FSEC
research has shown that roof-mounted radiant barriers can reduce ceiling
heat flux by 25 to 50 percent with annual cooling electricity savings of
7 to 10 percent,” says Janet McIlvaine, FSEC liaison to HFH.
For Lakeland
Habitat, it’s about quality and that is why each home is inspected
and tested before being sold. With the help of FSEC, through the Department
of Energy’s Building America Program, testing is used as a checkpoint
to make sure the houses are being built to specification and energy-efficient
items are being installed correctly. Just by looking at the house one would
not be able to tell if there is duct leakage or unsealed joints behind the
drywall that allow outside air to infiltrate. McIlvaine says, “Testing
is a quality assurance procedure and the only way to determine actual air
tightness since a visual inspection can miss small holes.” Twomey adds, “It’s
very rewarding to the volunteers and construction staff when the house scores
high and they know they’ve done it right.”
Although
there is more emphasis on incorporating energy efficient
and green features in building a new home, these features
can be added to an existing home too. “Take small steps and
build on your success. One of the easiest things to do is to replace
incandescent light bulbs with compact fluorescent light bulbs (CFL)
as they burn out. Small investments like this pay off in monthly savings.
In the case of CFLs, they also last five to ten times as long as incandescent
bulbs, which makes them ideal for hard to reach fixtures - an added
benefit,” says McIlvaine.
FSEC advocates energy efficient homes and has done so for
over three decades by producing research and a wealth of
practical information that builders and homeowners can access
online at www.fsec.ucf.edu/en/consumer. McIlvaine says, “The Indian River County Habitat and Lakeland Habitat homes are
great examples of success and we hope they will be a catalyst for change
in their communities.”
Additional Information
For an in-depth look at FSEC’s work with Lakeland Habitat, take
a look at the case study on FSEC’s Building America - Habitat
for Humanity partnership Web page: www.baihp.org/habitat/.
The Florida Green Building
Coalition’s green certification
checklist.
The Florida Green Building Coalition Web site: www.floridagreenbuilding.org