Building Homes • Building Hope • Building Green
At Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity, we believe that our mission to unite Des Moines citizens around the cause of decent, affordable housing for everyone is linked to the need to support safe, healthy communities and a sustainable environment. And to show that GREEN can be affordable. Building green helps decrease our carbon footprint, improve indoor air quality, promote local products and so much more. We seek to be a model green builder in the affordable housing industry, and an advocacy leader in the growing green building movement.
Greater Des Moines Habitat for Humanity's first LEED home will be certified soon!
The home at 1322 Norton is the first LEED Registered Habitat for Humanity home in Iowa and will be one of only three LEED certified homes in the state.
How does GDM Habitat build Green? GDM Habitat has done the following to focus on sustainable construction: • Waste reduction throughout the build process because of detailed framing documents, cut lists, and lumber orders.
• Meeting and exceeding Energy Star standards
• The use of low-VOC paint and cabinet finishes, energy efficient appliances, Anderson 100-Series windows, fiber cement siding, formaldehyde free insulation, high efficiency toilet, faucet, and showers, and an energy efficient water heater.
• Our partnerships with groups such as COSC (Center on Sustainable Communities) and guidance from green building experts. As well as educating and bringing awareness to the public about environmentally friendly building.
• On site recycling of construction materials, paper, and aluminum products
• Site selection based on access to community resources and open space.
** Click here to find out more about LEED building from the U.S. Green Building Council or click here to visit COSC's (Center on Sustainable Communities) website.