“We Built It Green,” is a Habitat for Humanity orientation project that started in 2009. The focus of this project is to help new homeowners deal with the less familiar aspects of energy efficient and environmentally responsible homes. The three components of the orientation—a video (DVD-format), paper manual, and an in-home visit—aim to create a safe and energy efficient home.
As part of the Clean Energy Entrepreneurs interview series, Brittney Bray with CERTs recently interviewed Molly Berg—the “We Built It Green” lead—about this project.
Brittney: You are a sustainable building specialist for Habitat for Humanity. What is a typical day like for you?
Molly: That is a great question. Sometimes I wonder myself. My time is roughly divided into five categories, so a typical day will incorporate between one and all of these things:
- Onsite technical assistance in construction (building with affiliates, planning/testing builds with affiliates, reviewing specifications for compliance with code and/or program compliance)
- Data collection and analysis on build activities, home performance, costs, and benefits.
- Material and partnership sourcing and research.
- Coordinating regional and/or statewide training opportunities and educational resources on the topic of sustainable building.
- Locating local building expertise and potential financial resources that may assist affiliates in building more healthy/sustainable homes.
Brittney: What do the in-home visit, the manual, and the DVD cover?
Molly: The curriculum was designed as a four-module process for the homeowner (plus a one-part train-the-trainer module referenced earlier): Classroom session, Manual, DVD, In-home orientation. Affiliates can take advantage of all four modules as a process, or just take the ones they need. Each module is designed to reinforce the material presented in the others, so each module covers the same basic topics in similar order and format, but with slightly different learning “cues”, levels of detail, and (I suppose obviously) delivery systems.
Each module goes over home system operation (space and water heating, plumbing, electric, etc.), health and safety issues (carbon monoxide, indoor air quality, etc.), maintenance musts (filters, annual checklists, etc.), conservation behavior (thermostat settings, water conservation, etc.), and cost saving potential.
Ideally, the process begins with the classroom session. It is a PowerPoint presentation with props (filters, faucet aerators, etc.) and group activities, and meant to be a group learning experience (and based on a session hosted by Twin Cities Habitat and the Green Institute in winter of 2010). The design is for the homeowner to get a copy of the DVD and the manual in that session.
The DVD is hosted by Ray Bills (SE CERT member), who takes the viewer through a house and goes over systems, maintenance, conservation behavior, and cost savings. The DVD is organized in chapters, which the viewer can jump through in any order or watch in sequence.
The manual is the piece with the highest detail in each topic; it includes labeled pictures, references for further information, and an index/glossary.
Finally, the in-home orientation is conducted at the homeowner’s residence (or residence-to-be) and uses the manual as a guide. The homeowner and the site supervisor go through the home and locate all relevant systems mentioned in the manual. The homeowner can make sure she/he feels comfortable (or at least familiar) with system parts and functions, and perform maintenance tasks. It is recommended that the orientation be conducted over two separate days, of no longer than 45-minutes each day.
Brittney Bray: Have you heard any feedback about the orientation?
Molly Berg: Most notably, the evaluation results of the train-the-trainer module, which debuted at our statewide conference in 2011, are available here. Otherwise, we have just anecdotal feedback from homeowners saying the orientation was useful. Our long-term evaluation includes utility-use monitoring of completed homes—as it happens this isn’t a very good indicator of education success as there are quite a few variables. Overall, the homes are doing well energy-wise, but it would probably be spurious to suggest that this was a direct result of the amazing homeowner education program (as much as I’d like to).
Brittney: Any last thoughts?
Molly: This curriculum is an essential element to creating and maintaining sustainable, affordable homes. It was definitely something that had to be created, but it certainly could not have been completed in as timely or complete a manner without the financial assistance of the seed grant (and additional funding sourced by CERTs from Xcel Energy) and the excellent technical support of the CERTs folks. THANKS! If people want to learn more, they can check out our green programs and our resources for affiliates.
Learn more about Habitat For Humanity’s efforts in a recent case study from CERTs, They Built It Green – Habitat For Humanity’s Green House Homeowner Orientation
