A Hand Up for the Environment and the Poor

The Department of Energy hosts an annual Solar Decathalon in D.C. on the National Mall. One of this year’s most exciting entrees is Empowerhouse, a superefficient, solar-powered family home, built by a team of students from three universities in the Northeast. It is unique for a number of reasons, including its low cost and real-life feasibility. It will be moved after the competition to a neighborhood in Northeast Washington and become a home for a family from Habitat for Humanity and be a model for future energy efficient and green housing in the future for this organization.

This is the first year that homes will be graded on both their energy efficiency and attractiveness… as well as their affordability (in construction and purchase), moving the competition toward real-life application and not merely a concept that might provide ideas to the construction community. Last year’s winner was a house covered in solar panels, which produced more energy than the house needed. The problem… the house cost over $2 million.

One of the most attractive aspects of Empowerhouse is that employs “passive house” design principles, including thicker walls, insulation and air-tight design, even triple-glazed windows. They can reduce energy consumption by 90% compared to the average home and even 40% less than the average “high-efficiency” home. This reduces the need for expensive renewable energy sources on the home and the repair and upkeep of such systems.

As with energy efficient appliances, the upfront costs for Habitat are greater, but the long-range costs achieve the organization’s goals of making homeownership affordable in the long run. The cost of this kind of home is 10-15% more than Habitat for Humanity currently spends, but over the life of a 25-year mortgage, a family could save somewhere in the neighborhood of $60,000 to $130,000, a dream come true for some families.

The group behind Empowerhouse will host a conference in June of next year for Habitat for Humanity affiliates across the United States to share information about passive house design technology. This could mean a huge leap forward in green design and be a way for the organization to lead the way in giving a hand up to the poor and to the environment.