Hartford Habitat for Humanity Celebrates its 30th Anniversary with Unveiling of First Zero Energy Ready Home

Hartford Area Habitat for Humanity and partners Eversource, Home Energy Technologies, Posigen and Connecticut Green Bank recently celebrated the construction of Habitat's first Zero Energy Ready Home, located at 153 Roosevelt Street in Hartford. 

Unveiled during a dedication ceremony on May 31, the Roosevelt Street home was built to U.S. Department of Energy Zero Energy Ready home standards, and is so energy efficient it can offset all or most of its energy consumption.

"For many years, we have built homes that meet the ENERGY STAR ® standard and these are energy-efficiency homes we are proud of. For Hartford Habitat's 30th anniversary, we wanted to go even further to make homeownership more sustainable and more affordable for our clients," said Hartford Habitat Executive Director Karraine Moody. "Thanks to Eversource, our volunteers and other partners, we achieved our goal and are proud to be the first Habitat organization in Connecticut to build a Zero Energy Ready home."

"We are thrilled that Hartford is home to Connecticut's first Zero Energy Ready Home by Habitat," said Mayor Luke Bronin. "Habitat for Humanity changes lives and lifts up communities by expanding home ownership opportunities, and combining that mission with cutting-edge green building and sustainability efforts is really powerful." 

"It has been a privilege to work with Habitat on this new home," said Eversource Vice President of Energy Efficiency Tilak Subrahmanian. "Being able to extend zero-energy construction into the affordable housing sector is exciting and it helps all of us reach our shared goals of saving families money and energy and reducing carbon emissions."  

The 1,900 square foot, three-bedroom home features advanced thermal and water protection, high-performance heating, cooling and ventilation equipment, ENERGY STAR-certified appliances, low-flow fixtures, a heat pump hot water heater, air tight construction and solar panels. It achieved a Home Energy Rating System (HERS) index of -15, which is the industry standard for measuring a home's energy efficiency. The Roosevelt home will be at least 40 to 50 percent more energy efficient than a typical new home, leaving the homeowners with a net zero energy bill, and a home that does not add to our region's carbon emissions.

Habitat for Humanity | www.habitat.org