Habitat for Humanity Builds Solar Housing for Oakland
Habitat for Humanity is turning one Oakland brownfield into several green homes as part of its ongoing East Bay Project. With help from Pacific Gas & Electric (PG&E) and a slew of volunteers, Habitat is building a 54-home development of affordable housing for low-income homeowners. The development site, a former battery salvage yard, was labeled a “blighted property” by the EPA and California’s Department of Toxic Substances.
Yet that did not stop Habitat For Humanity. Roughly 300,000 cubic yards of soil had to be removed and replaced, but you can bet the effort will be worth it for the new residents of Edes Avenue.
Some features of the green homes include:
- Solar power panels
- Double-thick concrete foundation for thermal insulation
- Passive solar design eliminates the need for air conditioning
- Exposed stained concrete floor, which both adds to passive solar design and saves on other flooring materials
- Concrete is 40 percent fly ash content, which lends added durability and requires less energy to manufacture
- Use of blown-in cellulose insulation made of recycled paper scraps for a tight thermal barrier within wood-framed walls
- Milgard fiberglass windows
- Rinnai on-demand hot water heaters
- Compact fluorescent lighting
- No or low-VOC paints throughout
PG&E offered a $15,000 grant per home for the 1.8-2 kW worth of solar power panels, including the inverter. Estimated utility bills as a result of green home design and solar electricity? $9 per month for two-bedroom homes and less than $15 per month for three- and four-bedroom homes. The grants for the solar power panels came as part of PG&E’s Solar Habitat Program, an ongoing partnership between the utility company and Habitat for Humanity.
And there’s more! The entire project is certified as a LEED Neighborhood Development. Six homes are in the process of being certified by the LEED for Homes Affordable Housing Program, three of which reach LEED Gold certification. Every single home is certified by Build it Green.
Homes at the Edes Avenue development will be dedicated on December 12th. On that day, the keys will be handed over to the new homeowners, who, by the way, helped out in the homebuilding themselves. If you happen to live in the Bay Area, the next “Build-A-Thon” will be held around Earth Day 2010 (4/17-4/20). Be there and bring your square!
Photo Credits: Chronicle Books & The Oakland Press
Posted on November 3rd in Solar Funding, Solar News by Dan.
November 3rd, 2009 at 5:58 pm
A community of homes that thrive on solar power- now that’s a good idea. I’m happy to hear that these efforts are being taken to help mother earth and to help low-income earners.
November 5th, 2009 at 6:59 am
Solar is the ultimate clean energy source and Habitat for Humanity is an example of doing things right. I think, all consequences considered, coal and oil are actually more expensive. But the humanity (ex. the “Humanity” in this article
) does not seem to look at the full cost of things. When we say solar is expensive will look at the whole cycle – manufacturing the components, installing it etc. But with solar this is it. With oil and coal – because of their long history, putting it in work is cheap but nobody looks at the cost of, first destroying our planet to extract the fuel and the poisoning the environment we live in when we burn it.
Solar is the answer and 5 – 10 years from now people will be wondering how come we have not done this earlier.
November 5th, 2009 at 11:31 am
Very astute observation vladimir. When we venture beyond a narrow, money-focused approach for a broader, long term, “Earth Equity” sort of viewpoint, solar power gets a heck of a lot cheaper. Many of these Habitat families will be set for life with low utility bills. And it is a powerful example of the inherent compassion and money-transcendence in humanity that organizers, volunteers and the utility went out there and made this happen…exemplary leadership. And I must say that people (myself included) are already wondering why we haven’t done this earlier, but that’s not as important as making sure we keep on doing it!
September 15th, 2010 at 3:19 am
this is a good cause! I’m going to support this cause for its a great way to help humanity! Keep up the good work and thanks for sharing
September 15th, 2010 at 7:12 am
this is really a good housing plan. It will help a lot especially nowadays that many people are suffering from economic crisis.
September 22nd, 2010 at 6:00 pm
Solar is definitely the way to go! This is such a great project – to have people with rooves over their heads (collecting the sun’s rays) and having a bit more certainty about their futures is so wonderful.
August 10th, 2011 at 5:59 pm
[...] Abu’s father already owned a house built by the Houston branch of Habitat for Humanity, and urged his son to apply for the program. At about the same time, the organization was looking [...]