Family Receives Keys to Lexington Habitat’s First LEED Certified Home

Hugues Itoula Kifoumba, Carine Tsiba Mayina and their three children received the keys to their new Lexington Habitat home, sponsored and built by Gray Construction, on Sunday, December 18.

“The primary objective of Habitat is to help others,” explained Stephen Gray, president of Gray Construction. “There are few things more central to a good life than to have a home and the comfort in knowing that you own a home. Anytime we can assist with that is fantastic! Secondly, Lexington Habitat wanted to build a LEED house. As a national leader in LEED construction, we have so much experience in commercial facilities and this was a great opportunity for us to get hands-on experience on a residential LEED facility.”

The home was designed and built with health, safety, energy efficiency, resource efficiency and comfort in mind. The family is looking forward to becoming first time homeowners and benefiting from the long term savings created by building the home following LEED (Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design) standards.

LEED features for the home include:

•Drought-tolerant Plants to limit the need for watering.

•A “white” concrete driveway to reduce the heat island effect associated with asphalt.

•High-efficiency water fixtures to reduce the demand on local water sources.

•Panelized construction of framed walls to reduce waste and speed construction.

•The home will meet the EPA’s Energy Star for Homes energy efficiency criteria.

•An efficient, compact, hot water distribution system.

•Low VOC interior finishes.

•Gray recycled construction waste in an effort to divert 25% of the recyclable waste from landfills.

•The home will meet the criteria of the EPA’s Indoor Air Plus program.