HUD UNVEILS NEW CONCEPT HOME VISION

Charleston home to be a model for sustainability and green building

ORLANDO, FL – The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development today unveiled its new vision for a sustainable, hurricane-resistant and energy-efficient home at the National Association of Home Builders’ International Trade Show in Orlando. HUD’s Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing (PATH) revealed the design plans for a Concept Home demonstration project to be built in Charleston, South Carolina.

Concept Home Charleston will serve as a model of sustainability, hurricane-resistance, efficient building practices, and floor plan flexibility. The project will incorporate the most advanced products and systems from leading manufacturers to demonstrate and educate both industry and consumers alike how design and technology innovations can create a sustainable, efficient and durable home that’s also cost-effective to build and high in quality.

“The future requires that we build smarter than ever before and that future is now,” said Darlene Williams, HUD Assistant Secretary for Policy Development and Research. “This Concept Home will incorporate sustainable, flexible and durable building approaches with cost-effective and innovative solutions to create a blueprint for generations to come.”

Concept Home Charleston’s design and technical specifications will meet the nation’s most rigorous green building certification programs including Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) for Homes, ENERGY STAR™, EarthCraft House, and the new National Green Building Standard.

“Energy-efficiency is always a central theme among the homes I build,” said Hank Hofford of Bennett Hofford Construction, the firm building the Charleston home. “The Concept Home Charleston with its energy target of forty percent greater than code will enable it to serve as the national example of an efficient home.”

The home’s design and floor plans were created by Torti Gallas and Partners after a design charrette with technology and design experts was held at the Concept Home site last October.

“Torti Gallas has taken the next step towards creating an appealing design that also integrates a systems approach to energy, water, durability, and sustainable materials in the home. We’ve selected innovations that complement and work well with each other to meet the project’s goals”, said James Lyons, Concept Home Charleston project manager and a Senior Engineer at Newport Partners, LLC.

Major manufacturer partners in the program include Whirlpool, Alside, American Clay, Aspen Aerogels, BASF, Blue Marble Project, Broan, DuPont Building Innovations, Georgia-Pacific, Honeywell, the Metal Roofing Alliance and Englert Roofing, PGT, Pulseswitch Systems, Seisco, Viega and Worthington Integrated Building Systems. The Department of Energy’s Building America program will provide energy monitoring of the building once it’s completed.

The Charleston home will be built at Poplar Grove, a 6,000-acre nature conservation community within Greater Charleston’s historic Ashley River Preservation District and is expected to be completed by Fall 2008.

About PATH

The Partnership for Advancing Technology in Housing is a public-private partnership of leading-edge home builders, manufacturers, researchers, professional groups, and Federal agencies concerned with housing. By working together, PATH partners improve the quality and affordability of today’s new and existing homes, and help create the next generation of housing for America’s families.

For additional information on PATH, its Concept Home program, and to see the Charleston designs including floor plans and renderings and a 3-D Sketch-up model, please visit www.pathnet.org/concepthome.

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HUD is the nation’s housing agency committed to increasing homeownership, particularly among minorities; creating affordable housing opportunities for low-income Americans; and supporting the homeless, elderly, people with disabilities and people living with AIDS. The Department also promotes economic and community development as well as enforces the nation’s fair housing laws. More information about HUD and its programs is available on the Internet at www.hud.gov and espanol.hud.gov.