Case Study 4- Habitat Wenatchee Youth Build

Case Study 4- Habitat for Humanity of the Greater Wenatchee Area

House - Ponce Home, Youth Build

3 Bedroom, 2 Bath, garage included

Construction:

2x6 wood framing

Gypsum board interior walls

Vinyl siding

Asphalt shingle roof

Sod landscaping

R-21 High Density Batt insulation

Primary entrance must be covered

Garage only included due to neighborhood covenant

Slab on grad foundation

Wall electric heaters in each room and one wall mounted AC unit located in the living room

Habitat for Humanity Construction Standards:

There is a 3 step process all Habitat homes follow for construction - simple, decent and affordable

·                                 Simple.
Habitat houses are modestly-sized. They are large enough for the homeowner family's needs, but small enough to keep construction and maintenance costs to a minimum.

·                                 Decent.
Habitat for Humanity uses quality, locally-available building materials. Habitat house designs reflect the local climate and culture.

·                                 Affordable.
The labor of volunteers and partner families, efficient building methods, modest house sizes and no-profit loans make it affordable for low-income families to purchase Habitat houses.

No matter where they are built, Habitat house sizes always are designed to meet the homeowner families' needs while keeping costs as low as possible. Doing so keeps the houses affordable to low-income families.

Sustainable/Green Building Habitat Style:

Habitat for Humanity is committed to energy-efficient building practices to conserve natural resources and reduce long-term costs for Habitat homeowners. Habitat builds homes using construction standards that pay attention to water and energy efficiency, safety and health, and materials conservation. Habitat is continually seeking new ideas to build sustainable and to educate the volunteers that work on each build site.

- Energy Star homes

Design Critique:

The Ponce home is a perfect example of a Habitat home following all of the basis standards with the only addition being the garage due to a neighborhood covenant. Typically Habitat homes do not allow a car port or garage due to the extra costs. The floor plan of the Ponce home is a standard 3 bedroom, 2 bath layout. The initial design problem with Habitat homes are that every room is essentially copy and pasted over and over. This is clearly seen in the layout of the bedrooms. It would also have been a better planning decision to have the front door open up into the living space instead of a tight hallway. This would have allowed for better air flow through the living room instead of all the heat being trapped towards the back end of the house.

The sustainability practices of the Ponce home could be greatly increased as well. The home does use Energy Star appliances but that is the extent of the green technology offered in this home. Future Habitat homes could reduce their environmental impact by including simply changes such as CFL light bulbs throughout the home, low-flow water faucets and shower heads, and orienting the house differently to allow for passive heating and cooling. 

Information found at https://www.habitat.org/default.aspx. The Habitat for Humanity National website.