Habitat for Humanity LEED Platinum Homes

Habitat for Humanity Portland/Metro East owned an empty corner lot in
NE Portland where a single-family house once stood. The Cascadia Green
Building Council asked Habitat to use the lot as the proposed site for
the 2007 Natural Talent Design Competition open to the Emerging Green
Builders membership of the USGBC. The two LEED Platinum homes that
occupy the site today are the culmination of a unique collaboration
between the regional winners, Habitat staff, and a host of donors and
volunteers who created a demonstration project that balances
sustainability, affordability, and quality of life for denser, infill
housing

The Webster LEED Homes are two single family detached homes on a 50 x
80’ urban lot that was then divided into two smaller lots. The corner
site is in a diverse, close-in neighborhood where gentrification has
made new homes out of reach for many families in the neighborhood. The
homes are a 4-bedroom , 2-story, 1300 nsf unit and a smaller 750 nsf
one-story unit that are designed for solar access, cross ventilation,
and rainwater collection with a high performing envelope and low-energy
systems to reduce energy consumption and operating costs.

The greatest energy savings came from design and construction responses
such as careful site planning, building orientation, right-sizing, and a
good envelope instead of complex systems. Many of these strategies
contribute to the quality of life as well: access to the sun, a porch
with a view, private outdoor spaces, copious amounts of light and air
combined with simple natural materials and harmonious proportions. Units
are arranged on the lot to provide private outdoor space for each family
and a strong visual connection to the outdoors.

As the first Habitat homes to seek LEED-Homes certification in Oregon,
the project team tested a variety of new materials and strategies to
make efficient and attractive homes available for hardworking families
who may be one step away from homelessness.