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Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven to Expand its Scope by “Building Green”
Filed Under Habitat News
Habitat for Humanity of Greater New Haven has been building homes in New Haven County since 1986 and has kept pace with the national trend towards designing and building more environmentally friendly structures. Habitat will expand the scope of energy-efficient features when it begins construction on two new homes in New Haven this fall.
Currently, Habitat homes, designed by nationally acclaimed architect Duo Dickinson, are Energy Star-certified. This means that each of the 3-bedroom, one-and-a-half bath, single family homes is built with energy-saving features such as Energy Star-rated appliances; water saving fixtures; energy conserving windows, Energy Star light fixtures and bulbs; and high efficiency hot water heaters and furnaces to name a few.
According to Bill Casey, Habitat’s Executive Director, the goal is to build future homes that will be prototypes of non-profit “Green Building”. This will include using state-of-the-art building materials and techniques that will decrease the energy needs of the house, the selection of a location for the homes that is within walking distance of a variety of mass transit options, and initiating an intense recycling program to minimize construction waste.
“Our aim is to be at the forefront of the current move toward energy efficiency in affordable housing. There has been a misapprehension that building green is too costly for non-profits such as Habitat to support. We want to prove that energy-saving devices and durable building materials do not significantly increase the construction costs and will be more than justified because they will undoubtedly creat long-term savings and improve the quality of environment within the home for our Habitat families.”
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On June 11, Habitat held a casual summer cocktail party at the beautiful waterfront Owenego Inn in Branford. 170 guests enjoyed an evening of live music by The Langley Brothers Band, delicious hors d’oeuvres, drinks, and a silent auction.
Fusco Corporation was the main event sponsor. Additional sponsors were Turner Construction, Webster Bank, Yale-New Haven Hospital, NewAlliance Bank, DiBlasi Associates, Blum Shapiro, and the Owenego Inn. Proceeds from the event will be used to build two new Habitat homes this fall.
At the party, Habitat awarded its Master Builder Award to four honorees. The award recognizes individuals and organizations that have made outstanding contributions to Habitat.
This year’s honorees are Knights of Columbus and Health Net for their sponsorship of two Habitat homes. Robert J. Lane, KOC Supreme Secretary Emeritus, and Peter Gladitsch, Chief Financial Officer, Health Net of the Northeast, Inc., accepted awards on behalf of their organizations. KOC and HealthNet each sponsored the building of a new Habitat home on Rosette Street in New Haven. In addition, their employees donated their time as volunteers to help build the houses.
Individual honorees Don Deloge and Lorraine Martin, both North Haven residents, are long time Habitat volunteers. Ms. Martin is a past president and former treasurer of Habitat’s Board of Directors. She has been active with Habitat since 1992. Mr. Deloge currently serves as co-chair of Sleeping Giant Build, one of the sponsor groups that raises funds and provides volunteers to build Habitat homes. He began regular volunteering with Habitat in 2000, after retiring as an assistant principal at North Haven High School.
Habitat plans to make the Summer Party an annual event.
Habitat for Humanity hosted the second of three Youth Days on Saturday, June 14. The first was held on May 10. The day was organized by Sleeping Giant Build (SGB), one of Habitat’s house sponsor groups. 19 youth volunteers from New Haven, Hamden and North Haven spent the day working on a variety of tasks–painting porch posts, molding, baseboards and windows for a Habitat home under construction on Hallock Street in New Haven; loading cabinets and flooring into a trailer; and cleaning up outdoor space at Habitat’s warehouse. They were supervised by Don Deloge, co-chair of SGB and a long-time Habitat volunteer himself.
Funds for the three Youth Days are being provided by a $5,000 grant from the International Association of New Haven (IANH). The purpose of the grant is to bring together 14- and 15-year old suburban and urban teens to perform community service on Habitat for Humanity projects. The third Youth Day will be held sometime in the fall.
The International Association of New Haven is a cultural and educational organization dedicated to supporting local projects that foster cultural understanding. IANH’s mission is to benefit local institutions that promote intercultural awareness and communication among groups of diverse ethnic, racial, cultural and linguistic backgrounds. Visit their website at www.ianewhaven.org for more information about their work.
Youth Day #2 Volunteers at work