A development team in downtown Philly consisting of a developer, architect, and builder has set out to build a modern, green home for $100K in construction costs and another $100K - $150K for land. They came up with this plan because modern design with an eye for sustainability was important to them, however, homes of this sort currently do not exist in any affordable way. A total cost of around ~$200K seemed to be the “magic number” to them as it was a price they and their friends could afford. Depending on location and cost for the land these can obviously end up being more or less affordable. Here in Arizona it would probably be easier to find more affordable plots of land than in downtown Philly.
The team building these homes is starting with a pair of modest 2 story loft-style houses with 2 bedrooms, 1.5 baths, and 1000 sq ft of living space. This would be a great starter house for young couples, small families, or retirees looking to downsize. Back when I was house shopping a few years ago I didn’t come across any homes with green features for anywhere near this affordable price range and ended up settling on a conventional home that we could afford. Had these been available to us then we would have snatched one up in a heart beat!
The plan is also to make these homes as eco-friendly as possible and even strive for LEED platinum certification by the U.S. Green Building Council. LEED platinum certification is a stringent measure of many different factors, including energy efficiency, water use, building materials, etc. There are very few LEED platinum homes in the U.S. and probably none at the price point they are shooting for. The green features they plan to incorporate are:
- Certification - LEED Platinum
- Energy star - certified
- Solar - solar thermal hot water
- Water - rainwater collection, low-flow, dual-flush
- Heating - radiant in floor
- Air conditioning - passive, ERV & dehumidifier
- Lighting - CFLs (compact florescent lights)
- Insulation - SIPs (Structural Insulated Panels)
- Finishes - low or no VOC (volatile organic compounds)
- Landscaping - ivy “green wall,” drought tolerant & 100% permeable
Lets hope they are successful, I’d love to have options like this if I ever need to move again. To keep tabs on their progress and to get all the details of their plan check out the 100K house blog at http://100khouse.com/.
Here is a video of Nic Darling from the developer of this project, PostGreen, presenting the 100K house idea at Ignite Philly.
Know about any other projects like this? Leave a comment and let us know.
James Towner | Posted in 
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June 27th, 2008 at 4:57 am
Thanks for the great post James. Just to clarify, the $100K figure and $100 psf is the goal for the construction costs only. After paying for the land and all of the soft costs we are aiming to sell for between $200K - $250K.
This is a bit higher than we would like, but still very affordable for Philly, or any major city, and less than half of what any other LEED homes in Philly have been selling for. We are also placing a high priority on finding more affordable parcels of land and streamlining our soft costs on future homes so that we can decrease the sales prices further.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:16 am
Yeah, you are gong to build ahouse for $100 per Sq. Ft.–and I can fly by flapping my arms.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:28 am
Those will be much cheaper in some other parts of the country. Land around my area (south central WA) is dirt cheap by comparison to in the middle of philly.
June 27th, 2008 at 11:29 am
Oh, and to answer Gonzalo, you can build homes for much cheaper than $100/sq ft. Mine was bought at $94. No problem at all.
June 27th, 2008 at 12:41 pm
Home construction can be VERY cheap buying at the right time from a motivated builder. In my case, 1700 square foot house, 142K, on a 35K plot, so 63c/sq ft in raw construction cost, and that’s with a (small) 2 car garage not in the 1700.
I’ll go green when it makes sense for me economically, which probably is when the solar films start getting mass produced. Until then, my electric (which is nuclear) and natural gas bills are reasonably small.
June 27th, 2008 at 3:23 pm
If you are willing to use illegal laborers you can build for as low as $250/sqft in California.
Anything lower is do it yourself, which means these need to be kit houses. So do it!
1000 sqft is still relatively large tho, you should check out http://www.tumbleweedhouses.com/
June 28th, 2008 at 6:02 am
The Habitat for Humanity affiliate in Oakland County, Michigan (a suburb of Detroit), will build two LEED Platinum-certified homes this fall for about $100,000 each (or less). Our goal is to begin building all of our homes to LEED Platinum beginning next year. Since we sell these homes to low-income families at cost (zero interest, zero profit), we have to keep the construction budget below $100,000. Our two prototype projects this fall will help us accomplish this. The next challenge is to began a program that rehabilitates existing housing stock–some of it 90+ years old–to LEED standards. If anyone out there can tell us how to do that, we want to visit with you.
June 28th, 2008 at 5:36 pm
I think this is a great idea and would be a interested in potentially purchasing one of the houses. Please keep me updated by email of your progress. I am hoping to buy my first home within the next 1-2 years and would love to get something like this. Good luck with the project.
June 29th, 2008 at 3:05 pm
Habitat for Humanity Philadelphia is building a row of seven LEED houses that cost around 100K (slightly over due to delays, etc) using insulated concrete forms.
It is possible to rehab old houses to LEED standards, but a lot of LEED points come from location, proximity to public transportation, grocery stores, etc, so sites need to be chosen carefully to maximize LEED score. Other than that, spray foam is your best friend.
June 30th, 2008 at 3:10 am
I’m very into the build and live green concept and I happen to be a conservative politically. I am interested to see how the left side of the aisle grapples with building green at under 100k and the union building industry. I’ve built for $80 sq/ft, non union. I don’t see how I could get under $160-$170 if I build union. If you have 3 union carpenters on a site you have to pay 1 shop steward $32/hr just to watch them work.
June 30th, 2008 at 8:25 am
[...] GREEN CONSTRUCTION: Team in Philadelphia aims to build modern, green, LEED certified homes for $100K [...]
June 30th, 2008 at 3:39 pm
[...] Team in Philadelphia aims to build modern, green, LEED certified homes for $100K | AzSustainability…. (tags: building home green) [...]
July 16th, 2008 at 11:27 am
The 100K house is a really great project and we are looking forward to seeing it come to fruition. We are a green design and development company are currently building our first residential project in South Philly. Like the 100K, it’s also registered for LEED Platinum. Please check out our blog at: http://www.montrosegreen.blogspot.com
Thanks!