There's a street in Pontiac where, if you look closely, you can find two "grand experiments" that may be the future in affordable green housing.
Two needy local families are proud owners of environmentally sustainable and energy-efficient homes thanks to Habitat for Humanity of Oakland. The homes -- one was completed last September and another was completed in March -- are both expected to receive the highest level of Leadership in Environmental and Energy Design (LEED) certification.
Brad Irwin, director of partnerships for Habitat for Humanity Oakland, believes the homes are the first of their kind in southeastern Michigan.
"We wanted to find a way to build a home that would achieve the highest LEED rating, which is platinum," says Irwin. "They were grand experiments that worked out very well."
They're also the start of a trend for Habitat Oakland. Irwin says all future Habitat homes in the county will be constructed to be Energy Star compliant. Trying to obtain LEED certification for every home, he explains, would add layers of paperwork and cost that isn't financially feasible for the nonprofit organization.
"We wanted to show that it could be done," Irwin says of the two LEED-certified homes.
The home completed in September was sponsored by Chrysler Financial and built for less than $100,000, says designer/construction consultant Woody Gontina of Gontina Building & Design in Clawson.
"We just truly believe this is a better way to build homes," says Gontina. "We were able to achieve a very high level certification for this home and it's a Habitat home."
The home Gontina and his business partner, Timothy Risk, designed includes a tankless hot water heater, insulating concrete forms, energy-efficient windows and a dual-flush toilet.
But aside from being good for the environment, the home will help the occupant families save money as well.
"You end up with a home that is significantly more energy efficient, significantly more durable from a maintenance standpoint, and significantly better air quality," says Gontina.
Irwin estimates families living in these homes will save around $1,000 per year in energy costs. "For a family that has lived in poverty," he says, "and is trying to work its way out of poverty, that's money they can invest in health care, education, in things that can make their lives better."
Jeff Ziegelbaur is director of design development for Dominick Tringali Architects in Bloomfield Hills, which sponsored and designed the house built in March. He says the home, larger than the normal Habitat house at 1,767 square feet, was constructed from materials made within 500 miles of Oakland County.
The Tringali house includes cabinetry with handles made of stones found near Michigan lakes. The house is designed to make use of the shade from nearby trees, which will cool the interior without using air conditioning. Like the Gontina house, the home also features a tankless water heater and low-toxicity paints.
Gontina and Ziegelbaur think the homes demonstrate that green housing can also mean affordable housing.
"We like to highlight the fact the Habitat home is an example of these homes really being affordable for the actual consumer," says Gontina.
Ziegelbaur adds the Habitat homes' environmental features are accessible for any homeowner to achieve. "We like to call it 'mainstream green,'" he says. "Anybody can go in and insulate their houses a little bit better, seal it up a little better. Anybody can do it."
Irwin says the family living in the Chrysler Financial-sponsored home (the family receiving the Tringali-sponsored home is expected to move in next month) has nothing but praise for their new energy-efficient living quarters.
"I know they love it, I know they've raved about it," says Irwin, adding that Habitat for Humanity plans to visit the homes in coming months to gauge the actual yearly cost savings for the homeowners.
Meanwhile, the next endeavor for Habitat Oakland is what Irwin calls the "ultimate recycling:" renovating foreclosed or dilapidated homes in neighborhoods hit hard by the economic crisis. Renovation work, especially renovating to meet green and sustainable standards, is more difficult than construction, he says, because each existing home has its own design, quirks and idiosyncrasies that need to be modified.
But despite the challenge, Irwin says, renovating homes is a necessary step to revitalizing lower-income neighborhoods.
"We aren't going to run from it, we will succeed," says Irwin, adding it's part of an overall Habitat mission that aims to stabilize neighborhoods by stabilizing the housing stock.
And with Habitat's new direction, that stabilization will have an eco-friendly flavor to it.
"It's a commitment we've made, and it's a commitment we intend to keep," says Irwin.
For more on the Habitat for Humanity of Oakland County, call (248) 338-1843 or visit www.habitatoakland.org.To sign up to receive Prosper in your e-mail box, click here. It's free.