|
The Wisconsin Builders Association Foundation (with the assistance of members from the Metropolitan Builders Association of Greater Milwaukee) is building the Wisconsin Trend Home™ in 2008. The goal is to build an environmentally friendly home with the technologies and features that should be prevalent in homes in the year 2020. The primary goal is to illustrate to both the construction industry and the public that these technologies can be incorporated into new and existing homes today. Homes account for 23.7% of all energy usage in Southeastern Wisconsin.
The Wisconsin Trend Home™ will be open to the public and to builders for inspection for approximately six weeks in the late summer of 2008. Additionally, the WBA Foundation will document the construction of the home on a website (www.WITrendHome.com), through regular press releases to media outlets and other builder associations throughout the state of Wisconsin, and through film documentation for the development of a DVD. The MBA plans to also feature the home in its publications and on its weekly radio show. Several local television stations and the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel have also expressed an interest in following the construction. The Metropolitan Builders Association also plans to document energy usage and other aspects of the build and utilize this documentation in the Association’s educational programming.
The home will be constructed utilizing Structured Insulated Panels, a tempered passive solar orientation, solar electrical generation, solar hot water heating, ENERGY STAR® appliances, computer operated mechanicals, special windows and more. It will also feature permeable pavement and other water science technologies that will preserve water resources. With rising energy costs and a public that will look at lowering its impact on the environment, energy efficiency must start with our homes.
The following ten core elements will be included in the Trend Home:
- Green Built Home Certification
- Wisconsin Energy Star Homes Certification with Emerging Technologies like Solar Power
- Water Sense - Including Fixtures and Landscaping
- Grey Water Reuse
- Universal Design
- Smart Home features
- Higher Indoor Air Quality
- Permeable Pavement
- Emphasis on Recycling and Recycled Materials
- Affordable / Smaller in Size
Besides of the very important educational aspect to this home, there is also a charitable aspect. The home will eventually be sold to a private homeowner with an agreement that the WBA Foundation can continue to monitor the home’s performance and use such data in future educational efforts. The proceeds from the sale will be utilized to provide a $200,000 grant to La Casa De Esperenza, which will help to train low income workers in the construction industry; the remainder of the dollars will go to the WBA foundation, in a scholarship fund to attract high quality students to a career in the trades.
The WBA Foundation, with the help of the MBA, continues to work with companies in an effort to secure donation of the components of the home. |
