National Affordable Housing Network FOR HABITAT AFFILIATES - OUR FAVORITE BUILDERS   RECENT ANNUAL SPACE HEATING AND COOLING SUMMARY for Habitat High Performance Housing   Actual utility bill from HP2 home in Butte, Montana HP2 PERFORMANCE IN A FRIGID CLIMATE Hundreds of fuel bills have been reviewed, and the HP2 bills with full year data include the following performance results: Space Heat for 1120 Square Feet YR1 was $170 (approx. 23-25 DT a Year) Heating Degree Days 9800.   HP2 Performance in a Cold Climate Space heat for 1340 Square Feet was $170 Heating Degree Days 7200   HP2 Performance in a HOT climate Space Heat for 1045 Square feet Hot Climate was $16 Cooling for 1045 Square Feet Hot Climate was $191. Heating Degree Days 2100   HP2 is an all-in-one certification that typically saves more than 50 percent over minimum property standard. In Montana, for example, this means that HP2 saves significant energy compared to the new Energy Star standard. HP2 insulates the homeowner from future price shocks.   PROGRESS TO DATE FROM THE AFFILIATE UPDATE: Habitat Homeowners Reap the Benefits of Affordable Energy Bills   More than sixteen Habitat affiliates in the U.S. build homes that heat & cool for $250 or less per year, thanks to the efforts of the National Affordable Housing Network (NAHN), a non-profit housing organization. Beginning in 1995, the NAHN began a program called the High Performance Housing Partnership (Hp2). This program partners with low-cost housing producers such as Habitat to develop best-practice approaches for low-income homeowners. The approaches are based on careful field data collection and analysis. To date, Hp2 has developed more than 160 demonstration homes in cold and hot climates. The first Habitat affiliate to use the Hp2 approach was HFH of Southwest Montana in Butte. The extremely cold climate of this area has tested the accuracy of NAHN's prescriptive house packages, confirming that strengthening the building envelope and downsizing equipment pays off dramatically for homeowners. Among the key features of the Hp2 Cold Climate package are: Superinsulation of the envelope, with a double-stud or SIP wall Continuous ventilation with a heat recovery ventilator Sealed combustion gas fireplace as heating source Raised heel truss to insure complete attic insulation Low-leakage, double-glazed, low e vinyl windows Continuous ceiling air/vapor barrier to reduce air flow and moisture Overhang for passive solar control on South windows This cold-climate package provides: balanced pressures to the home; healthy and controlled ventilation; minimal unwanted drafts, lasting comfort; safe gas systems. It is because of this affiliate's continued dedication to providing homes that are affordable to operate, that it earned the Clarence Jordan Award of 2000. The affiliate and its volunteers are proud of their work. While such an approach saves much money in cold climates, Hp2 has succeeded just as well in hot climates. In Texas, a prescriptive package was designed to demonstrate a benchmark of the lowest first cost combined with the best possible overall performance. This particular Hp2 approach was a result of NAHN's Texas study, which identified current construction practices employed by Habitat affiliates, and determined the effects of those practices on energy consumption. After current practice data was collected, five Habitat affiliates constructed 40 new homes using the new prescriptive package. The best-performing home in the Texas study was found to have energy savings of 42% over current affiliate practice. In the new homes, mean cooling costs per house were found to be well under $200 per year.   Among the key features of the Hp2 Hot Climate package are: Greater insulation in building envelope with raised-heel truss HVAC downsized, using a through-the-wall A/C unit, SEER 10+ for more cooling A small sealed gas fireplace, wall furnace, or heat pump for heating Continuous, quiet, Panasonic bath fan wired to breaker panel (50-70 CFM for <$10/yr) Continuous vapor barrier installed above ceiling drywall to control moisture & air Overhead fans installed in most rooms to supplement cooling Slab-on-grade helps cooling with moisture barrier underneath concrete Better vinyl windows with heat rejection and double-glazing Lighter-colored roofing and larger roof overhangs to reduce heat gain Each affiliate in the Hp2 Texas study received $2,000 per home for initial participation costs. The National Affordable Housing Network in the future, plans to conduct a similar study for homes in mixed climates, pending future funding.   LOVE IN ACTION: Energy Efficiency and Indoor Air Quality as a Matter of Conscience The National Affordable Housing Network has been working in partnership with Habitat for Humanity International, as well as regional offices and individual affiliates since our founding in 1994. Habitat wins energy awards because Habitat is a PARTNERSHIP with our families in need, and as a housing organization, it cares deeply about the quality of the homes it is providing. For this reason, many affiliates see HIGH PERFORMANCE investments in their homes as a critically important aspect of this partnership. Our partner families rely on Habitat to insure that they are getting the best deal we can get them. Getting cooperative funding from utilities, governments and others to improve energy efficiency can be very tough. Even worse is when our own Habitat boards on the local level argue against energy efficiency because of lack of funds. For this reason, the Network has made it a key organizational priority to seek energy funding support for affiliates, and combine this with training aimed at providing the best possible performance for partner families, both in terms of energy efficiency and indoor air quality.   MAKING THE CASE TO YOUR LOCAL HABITAT ORGANIZATION Habitat For Humanity's mission to eliminate poverty housing in partnership with very low income Americans has new meaning when it comes to improvements in energy efficiency. Given recent energy price shocks, the organization keenly feels the pressure, both nationally and from the local level, to build the most efficient new homes possible. Yet, federal and utility programs currently offer little or no assistance toward this goal. Habitat asks utilities to consider support for low-income, non-profit programs that can develop high performance housing for very low income citizens. By creating a category of program that is "low-income energy," but not limiting assistance only to existing homes or bill payment programs, money can be better spent with greater result on behalf of families in need. Habitat for Humanity's affiliates build more than 5,000 homes a year, and we would like to see as many of these homes built to the highest level of efficiency and affordability as possible. Habitat plays a unique part of the housing solution, with an approach of building with volunteers and owner-builders. As a result, federal agencies have not provided appropriate support for energy improvements that local affiliates are willing to utilize. Affiliate access to ongoing education and incentive funding helps significantly to achieve climate-based and energy-efficient construction approaches. Since the Universal System Benefit (USB) funds have been collected, utility support for low-income persons has been limited primarily to weatherization and utility bill payment assistance. Studies show that weatherization saves no more than 15 percent of energy consumption, while LIHEAP is geared at keeping the utility bill paid for those who may have services discontinued. Unfortunately, there is a lost funding opportunity in new low-income homes built currently, most of which meet only minimum property standards and which are likely to need weatherization assistance in the future. A wide range of federal agencies produce or impact lower-income housing, including: the Department of Defense (housing for lower-income military personnel); the US Department of Agriculture (formerly Farmers Home, now Rural Development); the Department of Housing and Urban Development (which currently advocates meeting minimum property standards at Model Energy Code 93 or current local code level); the Department of Health and Human Services; which oversees the Low Income Heating Energy Assistance Program (LIHEAP) as well as a variety of renewable energy programs; the US Environmental Protection Agency which advocates for the "Energy Star" program for new construction; the Department of Energy, which operates the Low Income Weatherization program, the Building America and the Re-Build America programs, which all recommend differing approaches; the US Department of Commerce, which operates the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), which recommends Green Building programs for housing producers, as well as the programs that affect homes built on Indian reservations through HUD and Department of Interior programs. Obviously, it is difficult to coordinate the output of these diverse agencies, and they present a wide array of potential "energy solutions." The resulting diversity of recommendations causes confusion over which methods make the most sense, to both taxpayers and to low-income households. While Habitat has tried its best to partner with any available energy program, the organization's attempts to get federal support or foundation support for improvements in new construction have met with lack of support. Generally, Habitat received federal attention as a way of getting other for-profit builders to consider energy-efficiency. Our goal is to eliminate poverty housing, not to create more of it inadvertently, through lack of attention and lack of proper resources invested in appropriate energy-efficiency programs.   Rationale for Energy Investments in New Construction developed for Very Low Income Households   When invested at the time of construction, energy efficiency measures are far more effective at producing savings than later under weatherization. However, due to tight budgets, most low-income housing producers are forced to attempt to meet only minimum property standards. Investments in new construction for very low income households can bring substantial overall system benefits, benefits that help stretch weatherization funding and funding for Low Income Home Energy Assistance Program participant households. At present, new construction is supposed to meet MEC 93 or 95 (Model Energy Code 93 or 95). However, current practice reviews indicate that most new construction meets only MEC 93, or worse. What this means is that very low-income consumers are more likely to still need LIHEAP assistance, and more likely to need subsequent weatherization in the following decade. Weatherization, if applied, is likely to save less than 15 percent of the overall energy bill. By contrast, "high performance" energy features installed at the time of new construction can save the consumer more than 50 percent of the space heating energy, and save dramatically more and provide a greater "universal system benefit" - dollar for dollar -than investment in weatherization. Weatherization is the only option for older homes, but there seems little point in building homes that are at minimum property standards and become likely candidates for weatherization within the first 20 years of occupancy. For example, if $2,400 is invested in new construction energy measures that are the most cost effective, the total energy bill is likely to be far more affordable over the life of the mortgage. The energy savings over minimum property standards can easily exceed $10,000 over the life of a 20-year mortgage. By contrast, due to the fact that Habitat families can qualify for home purchase at 25 percent of median income, the lack of such investment in the case of a very low income household can translate into the need for on-going LIHEAP subsidy, along with the lost savings to the family due to the lack of investment in the home beyond the current Model Energy Code. Thus, the $2,400 investment at the outset can prevent the later investment of an on-going $200-$300 per year in LIHEAP funding. Translated into the total number of households built by Habitat on an annual basis, the savings quickly snowball into a more substantial number. Worse, without the investment, due to the very low income nature of these households, the state, the utility or the USB funds are tapped for bill-paying (Energy Share) purposes. For example, over a 20-year span, 26 homes built a year may well cost LIHEAP an additional cost of $130,000 in subsidy. If $52,000 were spent, instead, on making the homes "high performance" at the outset, the net savings to LIHEAP could easily exceed $70,000 over the first 20 year period of these homes using current prices. These numbers rapidly inflate when looming energy price hikes are considered. Many Habitat affiliates feel that investment in energy efficiency is a matter of ethical importance. Habitat seeks to eliminate poverty housing, not inadvertently create more of it by lack of attention and resources to energy investments at the time of construction. Yet, affiliates are plagued by the Tower of Babel effect, where it is hard to tell what works or what is the best way to proceed. It is important to recognize that the Model Energy Code is the minimum property standard, NOT THE CONSUMER'S BEST VALUE. While LIHEAP and weatherization are essential, it is time to expand these and other resources with those who seek to permanently preserve these resources by proper investments in energy efficiency at the outset of construction for very low income households. Most Habitat homes are purchased by households with incomes that are under 50 percent of area median income. This meets the discount thresholds, as well as weatherization thresholds for income. There is no harm to other low-income households or to the organizations (such as community action agencies) that serve them by making this cost-effective investment. In fact, it helps preserve and stretch critically needed funding for these other organizations and households. Cold-climate houseplans || The Dayton || Plan 901 || Plan 1092 || Plan 1092A || Plan 1288 || Hot-climate houseplans || Plan 1045H || Houses for Butte || Texas HP2 Project || Central Butte Neighborhood || MT SI Project || Who We Are || Our Favorite Links