Volunteers at HFH of Greater Baton Rouge construction site

The main goals of the Gulf Coast High Performance Demonstration Project were to encourage high performance re-building in areas affected by hurricanes Katrina and Rita and to demonstrate that it could be achieved in the challenging, affordable housing sector. Given the opportunity to impact thousands of houses in dozens of communities, the Department of Energy provided abundant technical resources to builders in the region on how to apply Building America’s proven approach to building high performance homes. In many markets across America, this type of technical assistance to production builders created a ripple of change in a challenging post-disaster environment.

Beginning in 2008, the Department of Energy funded a unique BAIHP effort to build demonstration houses in partnership with affordable housing providers. Seven Habitat for Humanity affiliates in Alabama, Louisiana, and Mississippi participated in the project effort to build cost-effective, high-performance affordable housing prototypes. Affiliates in Covington, Slidell, Gulf Port, Foley, and Mobile each completed two demonstration houses. New Orleans Area Habitat attempted two houses but did not pass the thermal bypass inspection required by the Energy Star for New Homes program.

Follow the links below for detailed descriptions of these affiliates:

• HFH of Greater Baton Rouge (Louisiana)
• New Orleans Area HFH (Louisiana)
• West St. Tammany HFH (Covington, Louisiana)
• East St. Tammany HFH (Slidell, Louisiana)
• HFH of Mobile County (Alabama)
• Baldwin County HFH (Foley, Alabama)
• HFH of the Mississippi Gulf Coast (Gulf Port, Mississippi) (Read Press Release)

Gulf Coast Affordable High Performance Prototype Homes are indicated by the blue markers. Yellow markers show new partnerships and red markers indicate partners that started but did not complete a prototype. Click on each marker for more details.

Improvements

Researchers worked with the builders to evaluate their standard practices and identify a package of improvements to achieve a HERS Index of 70 to 75, while maintaining or improving indoor air quality, durability, and comfort. Special attention was given to the selection of improvements that were appropriate for the construction process and with broad applicability to maximize the benefit of the demonstration. Builders achieved a HERS Index of 59 to 73 when the project was completed in 2009.

*Features:

• No atmospheric combustion heating or water heating equipment (therefore, no combustion safety measures required)
• Low radon potential (therefore, no mitigation system recommended)
  

Workshops

Building America researchers conducted three one-day workshops for builders and affordable housing providers. Participants were encouraged to adopt Building America practices and the high performance package. Materials covered the improvement features in the demonstration houses including building science for the hot-humid climate, an introduction to the home energy rating system’s HERS Index, and the Energy Star for Homes process.

Workshops commenced in the following locations:

Mobile, AL
November 20, 2008

BAIHP presented the Mobile Prototype I project to the general membership of the local chapter of the Air Conditioning Contractors of America (ACCA). A workshop was also produced in conjunction with the Home Builders Association of Metro Mobile. Despite direct mail promotion to over 1700 members of the Home Builders Association, attendance predominately consisted of local raters and other Habitat affiliates from south Alabama and the Florida panhandle. The site visit portion of the workshop generated considerable discussion.