I don't think they're LEED certified, but I've been pretty impressed with the design of what Habitat recently built near 42nd & Ogden. I wish PHA would steal their blueprints.

http://www.habitatphiladelphia.org/house-projects/

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The construction site surrounding my house was started on contaminated industrial land ( coal yard, Railroad loading ramp since, 1878, gasoline station, contractors yard, masonary yard, illegally dumped oil and fluids from heavy equipment into the land and underground stream. Violations against Clean Stream Act. No legal dust control, exposing neighbors to brick dust and contaminated dust and other dust during nearly 2 years of demolition (without permits) and excavation ( before environmental clean up) - non- union construction crew that was drunk half the time and harassed neighbors and invaded their privacy and safety.

Local City Council allowed a zoning change from over a hundred years of heavy industrial and toxic use to residential zoning with NO Environmental cleanup or procedure followed.

City Planning approved this plan with no regard to health and safety of neighbors. Zoning and the City allowed this to happen and closed their eyes, even when the adjacent neighbor was forced from her house to the Emergency Room and doctors ordered her to NOT live in her own house due to exposure to environmental hazards from the construction site.

Adjacent neighbors house was also BENT and CRacked from illegal demolition and continuous earth movement from excavation the adjacent site.

The City of Philadelphia REFUSES to investigate or correct even though overwhelming reports and evidence and eye witnesses have been presented to them.

The City of Philadelphia continues to allow health hazards and damages caused by this deliberate negligence to destroy health and lives.

Im working on a PHA site in the city that is using some of these standards....for example the insulated forms on the foundation and the storm water management with permeable blacktop. I dont know about the rest yet but the building is only half up.

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Chuck Norris can kill two stones with one bird.

“Anybody toting guns and stripping moose don’t care too much about what they do with Jews and blacks. So, you just think this through." Rep. Alcee Hastings (D-FL)

Yes there is a place where you wont be treated like a child.

Why I am voting Democrat!

LEED certification is not granted until construction is complete, so technically, the Habitat for Humanity houses on the 4200 block of Stiles Street are not yet LEED certified. However, they are designed, and being built to LEED standards, are being inspected during construction for LEED certification, so we fully expect they will meet the requirements to receive LEED certification upon completion later this year.

For more information, please visit our website, www.habitatphiladelphia.org Donations are always welcome, and can be made via our website, to support our work in partnership with needy families to build houses, build hope and build neighborhoods.

David Feldman
Executive Director, Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia

I don't get it. I thought LEED certification costs thousands of dollars? Are they really paying to get certified and then turning around and selling as low-income housing? Isn't that a waste of money?

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"We need to come to the defense of Southeast Alaska when proposals are on the table like the bridge, and not allow the spinmeisters to turn this project or any other into something that's so negative." - Gov Sarah Palin, August 2006

"Power does what it wants." - George Carlin

Perhaps that's the point - if Habitat can do this efficiently, why CAN'T PHA or for-profit developers working in the city on a much larger scale? They claim on their site (see the quote at the head of this thread) that a %20 increase per unit is worthwhile if it makes these techqniues and materials more broadly available in the region and draws more interest/donations to their work in town.

In any case, I suspect that Habitat will have some of the required services/materials donated, not to mention the volunteer and new-homeowner labor they use on all of their projects.

I'm just talking the flat fee LEED charges to get certified, not the additional cost of materials. I'm all for spending 15% more on the front end to ensure a green building, but are they really willing to dump money just for a piece of paper?

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"We need to come to the defense of Southeast Alaska when proposals are on the table like the bridge, and not allow the spinmeisters to turn this project or any other into something that's so negative." - Gov Sarah Palin, August 2006

"Power does what it wants." - George Carlin

Most of the affordable housing in the city is heavily subsidized through various agencies, mostly through OHCD. While it's a great idea to use green building methods, most of them are more expensive. It's tough to increase your construction costs without increasing your subsidy (costing the taxpayers more) or increasing your final salesprice (costing the final buyer more).

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For the record: when I said I thought PHA should use Habitat's blueprints, I was speaking in a purely aesthetic sense. I just think Habitat's houses look better in the context of Philly's architecture than the vast majority of the PHA stuff I've seen.

As for LEED certification, I think there's a good chance that it will attract new donors. The piece of paper is the difference between being certified and not being certified. It's sort of like dropping out of college right before getting your degree. Maybe you're just as prepared as somebody who had the piece of paper, but an prospective employer will be expecting you to have it.

I did think about raising the cost for the buyers, though. I imagine energy savings over time should make up for at least part of the extra up-front cost.

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Welcome to Philadelphia. Here's how you can help us make our great city even better:

• Write to your state and local elected officials
• Report suspicious activity to the police department

The cost of LEED certification for the Stiles Street Habitat for Humanity houses was paid for by grants from Home Depot and the ECA (many thanks!). Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia received further donations of materials and systems contributing to LEED certification of these homes. These donations enable us to demonstrate the benefits of providing the latest technologies in homes sold to lower income homeowners, who typically do not share in the benefits of the newest technologies nor of energy and cost saving construction methods and materials.

To learn more about these efforts, please attend our Green Building conference, this coming weekend, being conducted in partnership with the architecture programs of Drexel University and Philadelphia University.

David Feldman
Executive Director, Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia