Friday, February 11, 2011

Yesterday was the Ground Breaking for the "Net Zero" Habitat for Humanity of Kent County project at 335 Freyling Place in Historical Weathy Height district of Grand Rapids. This will be Michigan's first Habitat "Net-Zero" Energy Home and the 300th home for Habitat For Humanity of Kent County.

The project is being used as a "Green Learning Laboratory" for more than 120 students at Grand Rapids Community College's Leslie E. Tassell M-TEC and other departments, and students from Ferris State University Energy Department, will be doing Energy Modeling on the project and collecting data on the house and sharing it with the community, the State of Michigan and the nation through the United States Green Building Council (USGBC).

The homes is a 1,519 square foot, 5 bedroom , Passive Solar , Super Insulated home. Some of the key features include ICF Construction, SIP Panel Roof, Advance Framing , Solar Hot Water, Solar Photovoltaic, Radiant Floor Heat, Passive Heating and Cooling, High R-Value Serious Windows, Dow Corning Foam product and CertainTeed cement board siding. This home is a projected Leed for Homes "Platinum" project along with Green Built Michigan "Gold, ZeroStep, EPA Indoor AirPlus, Epa WaterSense and Energy Star certifications as well as to adhere to all historic guidelines set in place by the Historic Preservation Commission. You'll all be able to visit this home on the 2011 Spring Parade of Homes tour May 27th - June 11th hope to see you their.

Please check out all of the Habitat Zero Energy projects at www.habitatzero.org

Thursday, February 10, 2011

Since 1983 Habitat for Humanity of Kent County has built 300 homes and 68 of those homes were LEED certified. We are proud to have designed their 300th Home and their most energy efficient home to date. Grand Rapids Community Collage's Building Trades program has partnered again with Habitat for Humanity as they build its 300th home in Kent County. this will be Habitat's first zero-energy home and will be their second  LEED for for Homes "Platinum" project. Please take a minute to watch the video below.