Habitat for Humanity & Goodwill Industries Join Forces to Build Affordable LEED-Certified Home

On 9/28/10 at 10:00 a.m., YouthBuild Omaha, a local partnership between Goodwill Industries and Habitat for Humanity, will host a Ground Breaking event for a new high-efficiency, green home. The project, located at 2201 Fowler Ave. in North Omaha, is among the first LEED-certified homes in the Omaha area, and the first designed specifically for low-income families.

More than a house, the project will become a real-life learning laboratory for YouthBuild Omaha students, all of whom previously dropped out of high school. While building the house with trainers from Goodwill and Habitat, the students will gain new skills, learn about energy efficiency and sustainable design, and when not on the construction site, attend academic courses leading to a GED or high school diploma.

“In YouthBuild Omaha, we learn by doing,” said Chad Garvis, the program coordinator. “We learn to work by working. We learn math by measuring angles and cutting plywood. And now we’ll learn responsibility by building a home that uses fewer materials, generates less waste, and saves energy. This LEED project epitomizes what YouthBuild Omaha is all about.”

This is the first LEED home built by Habitat and Goodwill, and leaders of the two organizations want to make the current plan into a replicable model for affordable green construction in Omaha. The current home is slated for completion in the spring of 2011, when YouthBuild Omaha students will then begin a study of the home’s cost savings for the new homeowners.

YouthBuild Omaha and the LEED project are funded in part by the US Department of Labor. The architecture firm HDR has also been a critical partner in designing the home. Other partners include: Peter Kiewit Foundation, Wal-Mart and Lincoln Financial Foundation.

Habitat Omaha homeowners are required to complete 350 hours of Sweat Equity before purchasing their homes through 25 or 30-year no-interest mortgages. Through Habitat Omaha, almost 350 families have realized the dream of homeownership and are ending the cycle of poverty for their children. In 2010, Habitat Omaha will build or renovate 26 homes.

“We’re excited to collaborate with Goodwill Industries on our first LEED project.” says Dan Brewer, Habitat Omaha’s construction manager. “It raises Habitat Omaha to the next level with energy efficiency while giving area youth experience in green building.”