Habitat for Humanity and ClimateMaster Build a Green Neighborhood

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Hope Crossing in Oklahoma City, Okla., looks like any other housing development.

But look closer. It’s green.

By 2012 the Habitat for Humanity community will have 217 homes. Currently, 80 homes have been built. Each is furnished with a ClimateMaster geothermal heat pump and some have solar panels. All are LEED-certified.

“We thought it was time for us to get involved in our community a little more,” ClimateMaster President Dan Ellis said.

Ellis donated the systems and in March 2008 OG&E bought solar panels for two Hope Crossing homes. Each house had 12 solar panels installed at a cost of $25,000.

Ann Felton, chairman and CEO of Central Oklahoma Habitat for Humanity, said she did not think Habitat could afford the $10,000 ClimateMaster systems at Hope Crossing.

“I wanted to see what else we could do,” Ellis said. “I talked with OG&E and asked them to partner with us to not only do geothermal but upgrade the windows, insulation and lighting and make these state-of-the-art, energy-efficient homes.”

Guaranteed Watt Saver performs the LEED inspections and waives all administrative fees for Habitat homes.

Energy-efficient insulation and Low E glass are additional features that help homes save even more energy.

Ellis said the Hope Crossing houses use about 80-percent less energy than other Habitat homes.

“We’re giving the homeowners that savings for the rest of their lives,” Ellis said.

Felton said she is considering future green Habitat neighborhoods. She said she is also proud that Hope Crossing holds a unique distinction.

“We’re the most energy-efficient builder in the state right now,” Felton said. “Our houses are where we’ve really focused on the environmental and energy-efficiency issues.”

The site’s uniqueness caught the attention of Habitat CEO Jonathan Reckford in June 2009 when he was in town for Hope Crossing’s second Builders’ Blitz. The event, part of a national Habitat program, brings in local builders to construct homes in about a week.

“Hope Crossing is going to be the largest green-build Habitat community in the United States when it’s completed,”Reckford said. “That’s something that is setting the tone and path for the rest of the country as well.”