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Cheap green homes“100K House” developer aims to develop house for 100K
The recent post on passive houses sparked an interesting discussion about the costs of ultra-efficient homes. Passive houses are meant to be affordable — that is, the incremental construction costs pay back in energy savings in a fairly short time period — but those relative cost calculations really only apply in a European context. Germany, the birthplace of the passive house, has much stricter building codes than in the U.S., so all houses tend to be more expensive. Assuming the U.S. someday has a functioning housing market, what hope is there for budget-constrained, green-minded buyers? Feast your eyes on the 100K House, “an attempt to build a modern and green home in Philly for $100,000 in construction costs.” The 100K House is not, I hasten to note, a passive house or even close to it. Rather, it’s an experiment in building a LEED Platinum-certified home on the cheap, with an eye toward demonstrating both feasibility and consumer demand before rolling out the program more broadly. The 100K House incorporates a lengthy list of environmental features, from drought-tolerant plants to enhanced energy efficiency. It does not, however, allow you to throw away your furnace:
Construction of the 100K House is actually cheaper on a square foot basis than standard new homes in Philadelphia. Developer Nic Darling lays out his thoughts on how they has been able to buck the conventional wisdom that green construction is expensive:
Building green from the ground up eliminates those excess costs. (To be fair, the house is also a bit more sparse than typical new homes.) A slightly more luxurious version of the experiment — the 120K House — recently went on sale. Hopefully the experiment will prove a bright spot in a bleak housing market. Image by 100K House. Comments
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Finally people are catching onto the fact that "going green" should not cost you money, but save you money! I almost thought this day would never come.
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Hello,
Ya all might have missed the point, I'm thinking. A "it’s an experiment in building a LEED Platinum-certified home" for $100k to $120k, that makes the builder/developer money; great positive steps. When other builders/dvelopers see this value and apply it to the sq ft per value investment and the buyers begin to line up. Well, Brothers and Sisters you have not a 'green fad' but business. This is not to sell short the wafer PVA systems, such as Powerlight/SunPower's invention being employed in Shea and other home builders in CA, it puts new value in the contractor's design book of residential structures. These elements put together is 'just flat' exciting stuff. Thank you Adam.
thxs dm
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Great to have green and affordable. But does it also have to be also ugly? This house is one of the ugliest spotty black boxes I've ever seen! Must be pretty dark inside, too. Which way is south?
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Great story. Thanks for the information. I see nothing wrong with the article or the writer. I am sharing it with my boss, who will also find the info useful.
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Pat,
who cares what it looks like. This is solving our biggest problems. Creates jobs and affordabble housing. Like my wife, she refusses to put up a solar panel until every one else has them up, first. Its the right thing to do. Not a fasion show.
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Forget the awesome greenness - you have no idea how needed and wanted a lower-cost house is in current urban areas! Even with the burst in the housing-bubble, many of us have been priced right out of even the cheese-box "starter-condos." When you can't touch entry-level ownership at over $300K (Boston/Eastern Mass.), that means generations of teachers, police, office-workers, artists, etc. being resigned to a life of lining other owners' pockets by renting. Think it's ugly? It looks like a future for me, and that is *gorgeous*. And trust me, my sweat-equity and future investment could turn that exterior around pronto. Bring it on!!!
~ hb33 ~
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Great, finally! Is there a waiting list because I need one of these in North Jersey, pronto!
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Hello,
Honeybee 33 has a provided a correct overview of current home ownership. Even though many housing markets in some geographic areas have fallen to 20 year lows the ability of 1st time buyers or even buyers wanting to 'trade down' is beyond difficult. Of course there are other variables in this decline, but a home for $110k to $120k that is LEEDs certified and an 'every man' home; this has to be moved along. Does anyone know the local building network of say Habitat, BIA, local Redevelopement Agencies, Green Jobs network, local builders? Or, just talk it up; 'cus this is the most exciting blog I've seen on terrapass, since I started buying carbon off sets for my autos. No disrespect to you Mr. Adam and terrapass. Thanks for all you do.
dm
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This makes me very excited. Here in Seattle these prices are unheard of for anything, especially with green features. I am wondering though... Where do you wind up in total cost with land?
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Hi folks,
Sorry I've been delinquent in responding to these comments. Incidentally, the 100K House web site is great, and a lot of this is covered in their FAQ: http://www.100khouse.com/faq/
In no particular order:
1. Here's what the $100K covers:
"The $100K figure covers the hard construction budget only. The price of the land and all soft costs are separate. Examples of soft costs include architect fees, zoning & permitting fees, LEED certification, engineering fees, general consulting..."
2. The price of the houses will be determined by the market, although the developers seem to be trying to move the first few at slightly below market rates. What's market? About $250k, in that particular neighborhood in Philly. Different markets, different prices, yada yada. If you own your own land, the price would be lower.
3. The developers do seem interested in licensing the architectural plans, so maybe a New Jersey version could be arranged:
"Yes, we have plans to make the building plans and material list available for purchase to be built outside of Philadelphia."
4. The architects have deliberately built the house in a modernist style, which some people have a strong reaction to. I happen to think aesthetics are quite important when it comes to homes, and this house might not be for everyone. The developers have some interesting thoughts on the matter on their blog (Why Modern?)
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Yep, I agree with you - absolutely love the idea of a "green home" but aesthetics do count quite a bit in architecture!! If we can design a truly green home I'm sure we can design one that is pleasing to the eye as well. That thing in the picture has gotta go!!
Oops, Adam just saw your post - thanks for answering the question. Glad to hear green doesn't have to be so ugly!!!
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There is no doubt in my mind that affordable green housing is the way to go. I’m building a green vacation home with Taylor Morrison (http://dreambig.taylormorrison.com/?utm_source=bc) and they’ve helped me both stick to my budget and my green agenda. I really recommend them, and if you request information from their website you’ll be entered in to a contest to win a dream vacation.
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...I just wish 100k House would come to Miami!!!!
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To all who commented on this great article and cool product,
We will be coming to Miami soon!!And New Jersey and New Orleans...
You are right on track with your ideas and comments regarding the affordability of homes.
I commend all of those who are venturing into green building and trying to educate the public on the topic of green building.
One such company is Stalwart Built Homes. The modular home that we construct at a base level is LEED Silver. By adding alternative power such as solar, it easily can go to LEED Platinum.
Take for example a home that we built just outside of Panama City Florida. It was the first LEED Platinum home in the state of Florida and at 1490 sq. ft sold for only 230,000.00. That included the lot and all soft costs. As a general rule of thumb it is the land cost that drives the cost up.
Regarding urban infill, Stalwart was selected as one of two companies that recently received a sizeable contract for the rebuild of Pontchartrain Park in New Orleans, one of the devastated areas from Katrina. The reason Stalwart was picked was on the principle that purchase price is only the beginning as homeowners better understand the monthly cost of home ownership.
By clicking on the link below you can see the monitoring of the homes energy use. The HERS score on this home is a 27 with calculated energy cost at 340.00 per year.
http://infomonitors.com/zep/
Feel free to take a look at our website, www/stalwartbuilt.com
You can see some of our plans, and keep in mind we can change the exterior to fit most communities. We are currently searching for developers with viable projects (large or small) that would be interested in utilizing our product. Developers must be financially solvent enough to build a model home/sales center and provide marketing and sales support.
Janis Boatright
Director of Sales and Marketing
Stalwart Built Homes
850-392-0292
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I don't know what all the complaints are... I think this house looks amazing. But I tend to like the modern simplistic architectural style. I would like to buy one today!
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