Fort Collins Habitat for Humanity has always built energy efficient homes. In the past, our homes have been certified by Energy Star. Our Board of Directors and our Construction Committee have supported “green” building in the past, but were hesitant to strive for LEED certification due primarily to cost.
Our Board has held the position that unless we were able to offset the costs of the LEED certification, we were spending donor dollars in a way that didn’t satisfy our mission of providing simple, decent, and affordable homes.
Everbuild PRO has had a significant impact on our affiliate and our building practices. The program has allowed us to seek LEED certification for the first time, as the costs to get certified have been offset with the “tuition” from the PROs (Everbuild PRO participants). We have over 10 PROs registered on our current build, and we have a waiting list of nearly that many for our next build. The PROs have been instrumental in completing the documentation necessary for certification, and have built alongside our other volunteers. Further, Everbuild PRO has spread the word about Habitat throughout the community, and opened the doors for possible donors as well as numerous volunteers.
Fort Collins Habitat for Humanity would wholeheartedly encourage affiliates throughout the country to implement Everbuild PRO into their construction programs. By building LEED certified homes, we are providing sustainable, well-built, and energy efficient homes to our homeowners. And, we are proving to “for-profit” builders that we can build LEED certified homes at very little cost as compared to the way we were building before. Because Everbuild PRO’s tuition costs offset the costs of LEED certification, we feel that this is a “no-brainer” for affiliates, and it is also the right thing to do.
By implementing the Everbuild PRO program at our affiliate, we have taken the lead in residential “green” building in Northern Colorado. We are being contacted almost daily by individuals and corporations interested in participating at some level in the program. Shane has done an incredible job promoting Everbuild PRO and our affiliate in the community. He has spoken to multiple groups at Colorado State University, Front Range Community College, as well as to the USGBC. He is passionate about this program, and our Board voted unanimously to participate in Everbuild PRO. One of our Board members actually signed up to participate in the program and speaks very highly of the process. We plan to continue participating in Everbuild PRO for all of our future builds.
