commentHabitat for Humanity Builds LEED Platinum Prototype
For a city that’s used to competing with the hottest spot in Nevada for attention, Henderson just got a whole lot cooler. The Las Vegas chapter of Habitat for Humanity has chosen the suburb as the location for what the U.S. Green Building Council (USGBC) is calling “an ultra-sustainable green prototype home for low-income families.” The 1,200-square-foot, three-bedroom home was completed with financial help from various Las Vegas-area foundations and material donations from local building suppliers and is seeking LEED Platinum certification.
Among the home’s “ultra-sustainable” attributes are super-insulated exterior walls, a high-efficiency HVAC system, a solar-powered hot water system, low-flow plumbing fixtures, low-VOC paints, carpeting, and adhesives, and kitchen cabinets that were constructed by local high school students using reclaimed materials. Solatube skylights, along with strategically placed windows, bring daylight to the home’s interior, drastically reducing the need for electric lighting during the day. Outdoors, the light-colored concrete roof tiles help reflect the desert heat while harvested rainwater irrigates the fruit trees and vegetable garden that lie amid a landscape of drought-tolerant plants.
One of the primary design goals for the prototype was lowering homeowner heating and cooling costs. According to Habitat for Humanity Las Vegas President Guy Amato, the house has double the energy efficiency of a normal home. “We wanted to see how sustainable we could make a home, while still making it affordable,” he said.
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Without the sponsors who donated time, money, and resources to the project, construction costs for a similar residence would have been significantly higher. Southern Nevada has seen 26 Habitat residences built and subsequently sold at cost over the last three and a half years. The organization plans to sell the Henderson home for around $150,000 to a qualifying buyer who earns less than 80 percent of the median income for the region.
“This house had a lot of sponsors because we went for the LEED certification, and people viewed it as a sustainable showcase opportunity,” Amato said. “We want to get the most bang for the buck, incorporating those design elements into future homes.”
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