Habitat for Humanity building passive homes as affordable housing

What if we could save more energy and lower the costs of home ownership, simply by constructing them in a smarter way? The Habitat for Humanity organization is doing just that when constructing their new projects.

Habitat for Humanity has begun to build “passive houses” across the country in Washington D.C., Kentucky, and Vermont to name a few. What is a passive house? Check out this quick video below that explains it:

As the architect in the video, David Peabody, emphasizes, “that first cost is worth it when they think of the total cost of ownership, so it’s becoming good business to do it instead of just the right thing.” Habitat for Humanity has begun building passive houses with just that in mind: The cost of owning a home doesn’t end when you sign the mortgage. Low income families often use 40% of their income on energy costs, according to Tom DiGiovanni, head of the Passive House Alliance in Washington, D.C. Cutting this cost can be a crucial step that helps more people own homes, as well as stay in those homes once they move in.

It’s past time that we start adopting these energy saving, cost cutting techniques in all of our buildings. And as with most of our country’s energy challenges, there’s no better place to start than at home.