Hamilton Herald Masthead

Editorial


Front Page - Friday, July 6, 2012

More Chattanooga homes to be better built




Chattanooga’s Green Home Rating System, “better built,” last week announced a partnership with Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga, who will build 100 percent of all new Habitat homes in the Chattanooga area using “better built” standards. The announcement came in conjunction with the certification of Habitat’s first “better built “home in Chattanooga.

“Our partnership with ‘better built’ stems from our mission to provide low income families affordable housing. By using the ‘better built’ rating system, we are able to build more energy efficient homes that remain affordable for families by lowering utility costs,” said Dennis Neal of Habitat for Humanity of Greater Chattanooga.

A program under green|spaces, “better built” is a local certification program that provides standards for environmentally responsible, high performance homes that keep costs low for home dwellers. Several area builders and developers have likewise committed to build new home projects to meet “better built” certification criteria.

“With Habitat’s partnership, we are illustrating how easy and effective it is to build high performance homes,” said Brandi Hill, “better built” program director. “We make it realistic for anyone building a new home to use these advanced standards – resulting in real value for homeowners as well as our community.”

Led by local architects, contractors, Realtors and homeowners, “better built” is a local program that benefits Chattanooga and its citizens.

“Because ‘better built’ is a local program, we can bring true impact by changing the way homes are built in Chattanooga,” said Anj McClain, executive director of green|spaces. “Through ‘better built,’ we are able to address local concerns as well as keep dollars and expertise right here in our community.”

Learn more about the “better built” program at www.betterbuiltchattanooga.org.

Source: better built