Habitat is building energy-efficient, healthy and sustainable houses in communities around the world.

Fifteen years of Energy Star® building
Since 1995, Habitat for Humanity has partnered with the Florida Solar Energy Center and the Department of Energy’s Building America program.

The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency has provided additional funding, support and professional guidance.

With these partnerships, we have produced thousands of houses that are energy-efficient, durable and have healthy indoor air quality.

Building LEED certified homes
The Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) is a third-party certification program and the nationally accepted benchmark for the design, construction and operation of high performance green buildings and homes.

LEED for Homes is a rating system that promotes the design and construction of high-performance green homes. Across the United States, Habitat affiliates are building more LEED certified homes.

Some examples of Habitat for Humanity’s sustainable building

• Habitat for Humanity St. Louis [1] has completed 51 LEED Platinum certified and one LEED Gold certified homes, making them the largest developer of LEED Platinum single family detached housing in the United States. In 2009, HFH St. Louis won the national Home Depot Award of Excellence for Affordable Housing Built Responsibly.
• Habitat for Humanity constructed its first-ever “green roof” [2] in the South Bronx of New York City.
• Students and professors at Drury University’s Hammons School of Architecture in Springfield, Missouri designed and built Habitat for Humanity’s first LEED Platinum house [3].
• Washington State University architecture design students helped Habitat in Spokane design sustainable multi-family attached housing [4].
• Habitat of Metro Denver broke ground on historic, 24-home green community [5] in January, 2010.
• Habitat for Humanity builds solar housing in Oakland, California [6].
• Habitat of New York City [7] is building to Energy Star and LEED standards.
• Since 2007, Habitat for Humanity of Kent County [8] has built and rehabbed 100% LEED for Homes Certified homes.
• Habitat East Bay builds sustainable homes [9] by integrating environmentally preferable materials, energy efficiency, water conservation, and durability into the design of the buildings.
• Chesapeake Habitat for Humanity renovated four row houses [10] in Baltimore, Maryland using Building America’s best practices for achieving increased energy efficiency.
• Habitat for Humanity Uganda has developed tree nurseries [11] to replace trees used in house construction and to provide homeowners with a source of income.