Habitat Kent partners with GRCC students to wrap up construction on MI's first LEED Gold v4 home

Dedicated back in April, Habitat for Humanity of Kent County has completed construction on the first home in Michigan to meet new LEED Gold v4 standards from the U.S. Green Building Council located at 730 Oakland Ave. SW. 

“We had a started this process looking at LEED v4 when USGBC was announcing it was going to come out as mandatory within this year,” says Corri Sandwick, a Habitat Kent construction team member and LEED standard specialist. “We started going down his path and then USGBC has delayed the official date until October 2016, but we decided to go ahead to continue to pursue LEED v4.”

In additional to the previous LEED requirements, the updated standards include higher energy, water and resource efficiency standards. Under the new LEED Gold v4 standards, Habitat Kent homes are armed with specific features that reduce carbon footprints; for example, water heaters that use a closed combustion system to pull fresh combustion air in from the outside, reducing the need for fresh air intake and improving efficiency and additional testing measures — including pre-drywall, infra-red camera testing and blower door tests, which help ensure quality of the thermal envelope. 

Brandyn Deckinga is project manager for Habitat Kent’s 730 Oakland Ave. SW project and says the newly certified LEED Gold v4 home was part of the Grand Rapids Community College 100th anniversary build, with the majority of construction led by students studying green construction in the GRCC Tassell M-Tec program. 

“We brought the class, along with their professor, out (to the home) and they did all of the things we do with the volunteers,”  says Deckinga, adding that during the build, students gained more practical experience in learning about sustainable design, the LEED for Homes program and efficient building practices that go beyond typical code-built homes. 

“One of the big parts in making a house energy efficient is the air seal, so we took an extra step and did blower door tests, which basically test how air-tight the home is,” Deckinga says. “With the students, we could look with an infrared camera and a smoke pen to see where the leaks were.”

Though USGBC will not officially launch LEED v4 until October 2016, Deckinga and Sandwick say Habitat Kent plans to continue to certify all new homes using the upgraded standards.

“We want our homeowners to be able to live in our homes comfortably and we want them to be able to live them 40 or 50 years. We want our homes to be safe and energy efficient so they can afford the utilities,” Deckinga says. “…When people stay in their homes, we see that helping the community by people taking ownership of their homes.” 

Click here for more information on LEED v4 standards or visit www.habitatkent.org. 

By Anya Zentmeyer, Development News Editor
Images courtesy of Habitat for Humanity of Kent County