A holistic approach, Habitat NOVA’s looks to lead and complete a green building process that includes home design, sustainable materials, sound construction methods, environmentally sensitive landscaping, and waste management.
Our goal is to reduce the impact on the environment and build high-quality EarthCraft Gold standards to our future Habitat NOVA homeowners.
Our Green Principles
- Meeting EarthCraft Gold standards for home insulation, windows, appliances, water and lighting fixtures, water heaters, and furnaces.
- Implementing a compact home design that minimizes the house’s footprint on its local environment and is situated in a location connected to the surrounding community via public transportation, bike paths, and parks.
- Using recycled and environmentally friendly materials when possible.
- Reducing landfall dumping by recycling a majority of construction waste.
- Improved framing and insulation techniques to create a tight house envelope for greater energy efficiency.
- Implementing storm water runoff prevention and low impact landscape designs through the use of native plants and trees.
- Indoor air quality enhancements, including use of low-VOC caulks, sealants, flooring, and interior paint.
- Adding outside air ventilators to the HVAC system to cycle fresh air into the home.
Viridiant Sustainable Leadership Award
In 2017, Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia was honored at Viridiant’s Sustainable Leadership Awards as a Top Ten High Performance Homes Winner.
Viridiant’s annual awards recognize the region’s premiere developers, builders, architects, government officials, and other industry professionals for their work in advancing the benefits of sustainable building through the EarthCraft family of green building programs.
Habitat NOVA was recognized for its transformation of a dilapidated 19,670 square foot property, located on Clayborne Avenue in the Lee District of Fairfax County, into two new detached, single-family homes constructed to EarthCraft Gold standards.
Related Content
Four Star Charity
Habitat for Humanity of Northern Virginia (Habitat NOVA) is proud to be recognized as a four-star charity by Charity Navigator, America’s premier independent charity evaluator. Charity Navigator works to advance
Meet Tesfaye and Tigist
Future homeowners, Tesfaye and Tigist, originally came to Northern Virginia for employment opportunities. The household grew with the arrivals of their daughter and son. As parents, they are challenged with raising
Meet Joyce and Her Family
As a clinical technician with the INOVA Health System, Joyce works all day long to ensure the health and stability of patients trusted to her care. Her other full-time job