The 100k House project is an effort to build a LEED Platinum home for $100 per square foot in hard construction costs (materials and labor). The project is focused on urban infill development in Philadelphia and is intended to create a replicable model of sustainable residential building.
The 100k House will be the first new construction LEED Platinum row home in Philadelphia and likely the most affordable LEED Platinum home ever built. At $100 per square foot in hard construction costs this healthy, energy efficient and professionally designed home will be significantly less expensive than most standard new construction throughout the city.
This project has the potential to change the expectations that consumers have for new construction projects. By questioning the high premium that "green" often adds to home building, the 100k House holds architects, builders and developers to a higher standard.
The most important green feature of the 100k House, other than its location in a dense, walkable, urban environment, is the home's energy efficiency. The envelope of the house is built using SIPs (Structurally Insulated Panels) which provide excellent insulation values while reducing air infiltration and thermal bridging. The combination of this extremely tight envelope with high efficiency mechanical systems makes the 100k House 50% more efficient than the average, new, code-built home. This reduces cost to the consumer and increases the potential efficacy of alternative energy add-ons like solar PV.
There are a variety of other green features and techniques that the project uses to create a healthy and sustainable home. Indoor air quality is maintained through low VOC finishes and a highly efficient ERV (Energy Recovery Ventilator). The domestic hot water is provided by a solar thermal system on the roof. Whenever possible, recycled and locally sourced materials are used in construction, and all appliances have been chosen for energy efficiency. Even the construction process itself is carefully designed to minimize waste and maximize efficiency.
The 100k House project is designed to introduce a model of residential development that prioritizes sustainability, design and affordability. The team behind the project is currently building two 100k homes in the E. Kensington neighborhood of Philadelphia that will be completed by the end of January '09. Three more such homes will begin construction in February in the same neighborhood. Strategies for delivering homes throughout Philadelphia and beyond are currently in the works.
The original 100k House is an AIA Award winning design by Interface Studio Architects. In an effort to accommodate a variety of lifestyles and aesthetic tastes several other designs are in progress. This variety of designs and functions will allow the team to deliver energy efficient, sustainable homes to a larger audience.
The first 100k Homes are under construction and will be finished by the end of January '09. These two homes, built simultaneously on adjacent lots, are 60% complete and currently under budget. One of the homes is sold and the other has an offer pending. There is also a home pre-sold in the second set of houses scheduled to break ground in early February.
The level of public interest and the obvious appeal to homebuyers proves the early success of the project. Sustainable, healthy, well-designed homes are something everyone wants and deserves. The 100k House project's ability to deliver such homes at a reasonable cost is what sets it apart from most other efforts in this area. The process by which these homes were conceived and brought into existence has also been an incredibly successful enterprise.
In addition to actually creating a feasible design, the project has been a source of education and inspiration for people throughout the country. The entire course of the project has been documented and discussed on the web at www.100khouse.com which has 600 subscribers and over 10,000 unique visits each month. In this way, the homes have provided excellent fodder to the public discourse and contributed to a broader movement for change.
The ongoing success of the 100k project relies on the team's commitment to continual improvement and the market's desire for sustainable alternatives in the housing sector. Since both of these factors seem assured, we expect to see the production of homes in this model increase drastically over the next several years. The building industry needs to change and the 100k House project hopes to be a part of it.
