State-of-the-Art High Efficiency
The Eco-Community project will provide housing for 20 families in state-of-the-art high efficiency homes that only use $1.50 per day in utility costs saving low income families up to $100 per month. This program was built on the idea to make affordable housing "affordable to own" and not just "affordable to buy." Utah is suffering from an affordable housing crisis and many families with low household incomes do not see an opportunity to own a home. Habitat for Humanity provides safe and decent shelter for working households making between 30-60% of the area median income. Home owners provide their own down payment through 225 hours of sweat equity. Upon completion of the program they receive a 30 year interest free loan which repays the donation awarded to them for future families to enjoy. The monthly payment including taxes and insurance for an Eco-Community home is about $750. Most families are moving from rent payments near $1200 per month.
Changing Lives
Salt Lake Valley Habitat for Humanity provides an opportunity for home ownership where there was limited hope of ever having a home. It stabilizes the lives of their children by anchoring them into a community and they see improvement in many areas including their education. Home ownership also disrupts inter-generational poverty. To date, Salt Lake Valley Habitat for Humanity has housed 404 people in Salt Lake County, 251 are children.
Affordable and Eco-Friendly
The project aims to expand the concept of "affordable." What if there are construction elements that could save homeowners money? We set out with a bold goal: create a home that met the financial metrics needed to complement Habitat for Humanity's building program and provide a home that only consumes $1.50 per day in total utility costs, saving residents $80 - $100 per month. The first two homes are completed (twin-homes) and independent testing has validated the lowest HERS (Home Energy Rating System) score for affordable housing in the state of Utah (Score = 37). The design is passive (not solar or geothermal). It is the state-of-the-art wall construction that provides such a low score and the qualification to assert that it is the most energy efficient passive affordable home being built in the country right now.
Building a Better Place to Live — For Everyone
Our design is also environmentally friendly with minimal pollution. In the Salt Lake Valley, 47% of our pollution can be tied to our buildings. This revolutionary building concept could change our Salt Lake air quality for the better. This two acre property was the site of two abandoned and blighted baseball fields and is now the location for the state-of-the-art superefficient homes that will house about 100 people, two thirds of which will be children. The twin homes cost just $200,000-$250,000 to build including the land cost with10 homes on both the north side and south side of the parcel with a playground and shared common area designed by Voda Landscape + Planning.
