Habitat for Humanity incorporates "green" into their building

This last weekend, volunteers from all over the city came out to help build Habitat for Humanities’ most recent construction project in North Boulder. CU Students and other volunteers from around the city spent their Saturday morning and afternoon contributing to Habitat’s construction efforts to build green.

Volunteer Hannah Batt said, “Habitat for Humanity is such a great organization that helps those in need. I really had fun getting my hands dirty and contributing to the finished project of a beautiful home.”

On June 6th, Flatirons Habitat dedicated four new homes to the Aguilera, Alcantar, Lucani and Valencia families, all of whom are a part of the four-plex building in Northfiled Village townhomes on the corner of Jay Road and 47th Street in Boulder.

Christiana Lucani, a Habitat homeowner states, “The possibility of owning a house was our greatest dream. It seemed impossible until now.” The townhomes dedicated to these families are said to be finished by early 2011.

Throughout the past couple years, Habitat for Humanity has made a sustainable commitment to green living through their construction. The organization has been working hard to increase their abilities to make “green” homes affordable and lowering utility costs for their Habitat families.

With two grants from the Argosy Foundation and the city of Boulder, Habit for Humanity has been supplied with 450,000 dedicated towards better green living and solar panel installation from Boulder’s Climate Smart grant.

Since their 1993 establishment, Habitat has built 57 homes in the Boulder community for deserving low income families.

In order for a family to receive a home built by Habitat, there is strict family selection criteria imposed by the non-profit organization:

1) They must have an area median income of 25-49 percent

2) Financial needs and structural problems

3) Trouble with living space and safety.

If a family is selected by Habitat for Humanity, they must participate in “Sweat Equity” in which they must help build the home themselves. Single parents must contribute 225 hours to building the home and two parents must complete 450 hours which could take up to seven months if they consistently come out every weekend.

For more information on donations and volunteering, visit www.flatironshabitat.org and explore the website!