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Home affordability and sustainable home-building go hand in hand. That’s why Habitat for Humanity makes sustainable building a priority worldwide. From reducing utility bills through energy-efficient homes and renewable energy sources to cutting waste and construction costs with conscientious building practices, we’re finding ways to optimize our homes to benefit families and the environment.
Sustainable Construction
We’ve taken the initiative in Chester County with green construction methods and appliances. We use superior walls for our home foundations. Superior Walls reduce the number of materials used to build a structure, including wood and concrete, and reduce the carbon footprint of a new home or commercial facility's construction process. The energy-efficient walls help lower long-term energy costs and reduce energy leakage.
We use Energy Recovery Ventilation to assist our HVAC systems. An Energy Recovery Ventilation (ERV) captures the exhausted air from your home and uses that air to create the energy needed to ventilate your house.
Our windows have low-E technology that reduces energy costs. Low E applied to windows helps to block infrared light from penetrating the glass from the outside. In addition, Low E is more energy-efficient, helping you save on heating and cooling costs and costs associated with running your heating/cooling systems.
We also provide homeowners with Google Nest Thermostats. The Nest Learning Thermostat is the first thermostat to get ENERGY STAR certified. It learns what temperature you like and builds a schedule around yours. An independent study showed that it saved people an average of 10% to 12% on heating and 15% on cooling bills.
Sustainable Shopping and Recycling
Moving towards a low-polluting and sustainable society starts with our purchase and waste behaviors. Through shopping and donating to the ReStore, you are helping our planet while assisting families in our community to achieve affordable housing. To date, the ReStore has saved 18.4 million pounds of waste from the landfill.
Our method provides an easy way to donate gently used items so they can be reused rather than thrown away. The ReStore is a great way to shop sustainably for new furniture, DIY project materials, back-to-school move-in necessities, and more.
The unique benefit of donating and shopping at the ReStore is that you can save the planet while helping to fund affordable housing projects in your community. It is a full-circle effect of giving back to the community!
Thank you, volunteers.
Thank you to our volunteers who continue to help us make our mission possible. Volunteer Appreciation Week is April 16th-23rd, and Volunteer Appreciation Day is April 20th.
Thanks to you, we have completed 170 homes and served 520 deserving family members to date. Three thousand four hundred ninety-one volunteers have put in more than 135,700 volunteer hours, saving HfHCC more than 4 million dollars in labor since 1989!
Our dedicated ReStore volunteers take the time to unload, organize, price, and stage items on the floor. This year, 45 ReStore volunteers have donated almost 800 hours to ensure the ReStores look fantastic while assisting each of our shoppers.
YOU can provide brighter futures in Chester County.
You can make a difference by getting involved on our construction site or in our ReStores! If you want to learn more about Habitat for Humanity of Chester County, please visit our website to learn more about our mission.