Deciding to build a new home was a very difficult decision for us. We have loved our first home together and explored a lot of options for updating and renovating it to suit us for the longer term. However after several years of agonizing, we realized that no matter what we did to our house, it was still old on the inside. There was no insulation in the walls. The air conditioning ducts were lined with mold-growing fiber glass.The wiring was aluminum in a number of places. The pipes were rusted on the way in and clogged and broken on the way out.
Before we began to design a new house, we made plans for our old one - investigating the best way to recycle all the best parts of our beloved brick bungalow. We determined that partnering with Habitat for Humanity of Northwest Harris County was the best way to go, and we handed the keys over to them on November 1st. They will reuse, resell, or recycle 90-95% of the materials in the house, from the air conditioning refrigerant to the concrete slab.
We have also decided to design our house for certification under the U.S. Green Building Council's LEED for Homes rating system. In the coming months we'll fill you in on what that means, theoretically and practically. But for now let me tease by saying that our decision is based on our goal to construct a home that is healthier for us and our family, consumes fewer fossil fuels, is more durable, and will have a lesser impact on the environment as compared to a conventionally built home.
