Houston Habitat For Humanity

Houston Habitat for Humanity believes that everyone needs an affordable place to live and that energy efficiency plays an essential role in making its homes truly affordable as well as sustainable. Houston Habitat for Humanity is receiving ENERGY STAR® Partner of the Year—Sustained Excellence recognition for its commitment to building ENERGY STAR certified homes. Key 2015 accomplishments include:

• Constructing 29 ENERGY STAR certified homes for a cumulative total of more than 640. These homes have an average monthly electric utility bill of $110.
• Promoting its ENERGY STAR partnership in all print materials and onsite signage, at major conferences and media events, and on a dedicated web page on its website about sustainable building practices.
• Building all homes to EPA’s Indoor airPLUS, WaterSense, and ENERGY STAR program requirements.
• Training its marketing staff on ENERGY STAR features and benefits to aid them in educating current and potential sponsors, and training homeowners on maintaining their home’s ENERGY STAR systems and features.
• Training construction staff on ENERGY STAR construction requirements, including a partnership with Lowe’s to sponsor a 14 day house build that also trained Lowe’s employees on building an ENERGY STAR certified home.
• Utilizing ENERGY STAR’s inspection checklists to improve quality control measures, resulting in an 80-percent reduction in the number of contractor callbacks made to correct insulation installation deficiencies.