While all of the previous homes built by Dartmouth Habitat have used some energy-saving techniques, the Big Green House will incorporate an advanced method called "passive housing" that requires very little energy for heating and cooling, according to Dartmouth Habitat student director Peter Hagan '11.
The concept for the building was adapted from a model designed by studio art professor Karol Kawiaka and the students in her community-based engineering course. The model was on display for two months last year in the Hopkins Center for the Arts.
The purpose of the project was to help Dartmouth Habitat find ways to foster environmental sustainability at nominal cost for the homeowners, according to a Tucker Foundation press release.
While the Big Green House will ultimately cost less to maintain than a normal home, it costs more to build. Although previous Dartmouth Habitat homes have each cost around $100,000, the Big Green House requires approximately $30,000 more in funding to accommodate the passive housing structure, according to Hagan.
The passive housing structure incorporates a greater amount of insulation into the house, meaning that less energy is needed to heat or cool the house, Hagan said.
Some changes have been made during the planning process to expand the home to accommodate the family's six children, Hagan said. Due to the high cost of building energy-efficient models and this unexpected expansion, some of the original ideas for the house in Kawiaka's model were cut from the final plans, he said.
Dartmouth Habitat runs three building sessions each week one every Tuesday and two every Saturday with four or five Dartmouth students working at once, Hagan said. A few Habitat volunteers are also present at each build to collaborate with the students, he said.
The future homeowners often participate in the construction in accordance with national Habitat policy, Hagan said.
The house is expected to be finished sometime in the spring, Hagan said. The home's framework is almost complete, and work on the interior of the house is expected to begin soon.
On Friday afternoon, student volunteers constructed a picnic table for the new home next to the Collis Center to spread awareness about the organization on campus and get more students involved.
Hagan said his participation in Dartmouth Habitat has been rewarding and worthwhile.
"I got hooked from the first build combining practical work with really making a meaningful difference in the lives of a family of people who are going to be able to use this house for a lifetime" Hagan said.
In previous years, a large amount of funding for Habitat projects has come from the work of Dartmouth students through the Bike and Build program, in which a group of students bicycles across the country to raise money and awareness for affordable housing. Various national foundations have also awarded grants to Dartmouth Habitat, Hagan said.
"Dartmouth Habitat has always fully funded all its projects," Hagan said. "It's something we have always taken a great deal of pride in."
In order to have a more expansive budget and the possibility of taking on larger projects, Dartmouth Habitat may begin collaborating with the Upper Valley chapter of Habitat for Humanity in the future, Hagan said. Hagan is a member of the Upper Valley Habitat board.
Dartmouth's Habitat chapter is also very involved with the College's "Poverty Awareness Week," sponsored by the Tucker Foundation, which will take place in November.
Dartmouth Habitat will host an event on November 16th, where a representative from the national organization will speak about the benefits of affordable housing, according to an event posted on Facebook by the Tucker Foundation.
