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See the original image at azsustainability.com

Philly team shoots for sub-$100k LEED homes

azsustainability.com — A development team consisting of a developer, architect, and builder has set out to build a modern, green home for $100K in downtown Philly. 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.

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  • veganhedgehog, on 06/27/2008, -0/+20I hope they can pull this off, it sounds fantastic! I wish more builders would take on the same challenge and create some positive competition with more environmentally friendly building practices, particularly those with vigorous certification. I could personally do without the modern feel but they look cool and the concept is great.
  • dougvfr750, on 06/27/2008, -1/+12In CA Bay Area 100k will barely put a down payment on the empty lot
    • swordedge, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2that is an excellent reason to NOT live there. Housing prices are insane.
    • beesaretasty, on 06/27/2008, -0/+0The 100k is for the construction after buying the empty lot.
    • sodade, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2The only reason to live in coastal CA is if you are making the $ or you have the $. Smart people like me telecommute for a job with a SV company while living near a cheap city like Abq where you can get to an airport in 30mins tops no matter what time of day it is.
      • clockdist, on 06/28/2008, -0/+1So you have to hop on an airplane anytime you want to go clubbing?
      • sodade, on 06/28/2008, -0/+1"clubbing" is ***** lame. If I want to hang out with my friends, I have them over to my castle. If I want to meet new people, I do it online. When I wanted to meet a woman, I did it online.
        Beyond that, it is an easy flight to SF or LA from here and considering that my house cost 1/4 (and is 4x nicer) than one in the Bay Area, yeah, I could afford to do that if it was really important to me...
  • joeomar, on 06/27/2008, -1/+4Awesome, inspiring, would love to see this happen. In Los Angeles 100K, is a down payment, but let us have hope!!! Thanks for sharing...Peace, Joe
  • Natitude, on 06/27/2008, -0/+14Man, you can barely get a nice energy draining, resource sucking regular home for 100k.
  • postgreen, on 06/27/2008, -0/+20Just to clarify, the 100K figure is for the construction cost only. After all of the other costs including the land we are hoping to sell for 200K - 250K. We are putting a high priority on finding even cheaper lots in the future to bring future sales prices down further.
    • noahhoward, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1Good for you for trying but why can't something more be done about the obscene cost of homes? I'm not sure who the blame lays with but I can't see any excuse for the prices asked on most homes I've seen.
      • MindStalker, on 06/27/2008, -0/+11) Land, land prices are obscene.
        2) Labor
        3) Raw materials.
        4) Meeting modern housing codes and construction requirements.

        If you can buy the land and build it yourself for cheaper than the going housing price the market is overvalued, but most of that has been corrected, currently housing prices are simply based on the increased cost of actually building a house.
    • gleongelpi, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1A well built home should cost at least $200 per Sq. Ft.. No way to get around that. You have got to buy all the materials, equipment and pay the help. And you definitedly will get crap at around $150 per Sq. Ft. Too bad if you can't afford it. But the expense of building a house is mostly labor, direct and indirect. Direct is the actual workers on the site: plumbers, electricians, etc. Indirect is the ones that work in the factories, mines and drive. If you are going to buy a house, buy one now when many are selling for less than the cost of building. Once the over supply is gone the price will go way up. The pay-off on the energy efficient home, and other features that are green, is down the road, voer the years; not on the building price, and it will never be so.
    • locke2002, on 06/27/2008, -0/+0Since you seem to be part of the operation maybe you can answer my question. Why does it look like a Borg cube? Is it stolen technology from the Borg, or what?
  • manzplan, on 06/27/2008, -0/+3Excellent!! I would love to see more of these.
  • boejangles, on 06/27/2008, -0/+4im all for green...
    But can I even afford 100k ? No.
    I can probably build a green biodegradable home for 1k, using nothing but cardboard, ducktape, and hope.
  • Davinator, on 06/27/2008, -0/+3Direct link to the team doing this - http://100khouse.com/
  • ExGhost, on 06/27/2008, -7/+3I hate green.
  • gleongelpi, on 06/27/2008, -1/+2Nobody can build this house, or any house to meet the lowest of modern standards, for $100 per Sq. Ft.--not even in the South where labor is cheap.

    These guys are just talking. Let them show you the numbers. They just won't be able to do it--not even close. Period.
    • LastDitchHero, on 06/27/2008, -0/+0We build modern houses all the time for around 77 sq ft. Yes, we are in the South too.
    • postgreen, on 06/30/2008, -0/+0The numbers are all on our site linked by another commenter above. We are showing all costs in detail. If we fail to hit the number it will be a public failure and you can be one of the first to know along with everyone else.
  • agenthamsta, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1If they pull this off it would be revolutionary! I hope they do and other's follow suit. No reason everyone can't do their part in helping the environment and maintaining a reasonable lifestyle.
  • serif69, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2I'm definitely going to get dugg down for this, but I feel it must be said. Starting this project in an urban area is asking for failure, especially if they're looking for lower-priced lots. Those lots are going to be in sections where upkeep is marginal at best, and tragic at worst. The people with the right mindset and means to take care of the homes are not going to want to move to the areas that make them affordable. They're going to turn into "ghetto green" homes.
    • sodade, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1I think this is a good point, which bums me out. I want there to be a lot of demand for green prefabs so I can put up a retirement house on my vacation land. If costs could be contained (like using portable install labor for reliability), I'd slap a few up on nice, but cheap rural lots for rental property or maybe start a commune when things fall apart :P
  • megahurt, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2Don't be mislead... the goal is to BUILD the house for roughly $100K. It will sell for around $250K.
  • trunks333, on 06/27/2008, -1/+6Even if the house was $1k, i still would not move to North Philly. Unless i want a death sentence..
    • cizzop, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1Where exactly is it? I couldnt find a location.
  • zoomancer, on 06/27/2008, -0/+0TDL does it again!
  • lattin1, on 06/27/2008, -1/+1Look at all that lush vegetation. Good luck getting the LEED certification with no plants. All they did was put a solar-hydrothermal unit on the roof and said, "Its green!"
  • pstroll, on 06/27/2008, -6/+1The only downside is that you have to live in Philly
    • cizzop, on 06/27/2008, -0/+2You're probably from New Jersey, arent you.
  • mogebier, on 06/27/2008, -2/+11000 sq/ft?? Yeah. That's not a home, that's a box. I've lived in apartments bigger than that.
    So, $200,000 for a 1000 sq/ft house?? I doubt anyone but glorified hippies with too much extra money will buy one to try and impress their friends into thinking they are actually doing something for the environment.
    Good luck getting some investing idiot to give you money for this.
  • useful, on 06/27/2008, -1/+1a two story 1000sq foot house? so you have a 20x25 house thats really 20x22 because of the stairs

    or a 15x33 thats really 15x30 that feels like your living in a 2 story doublewide

    A bedroom, bathroom, kitchen and a place to watch tv is about all you can get. An apartment for $300/month will probably be a better deal because they will have a community pool and maybe a place to do your laundry.

    or you could add another 500 feet, get a roommate and pay 33% less a month
  • AceTracer, on 06/27/2008, -0/+1It just makes sense to design buildings this way, they're more efficient, and cheaper to maintain. Portland has more LEED buildings per capita than any other city, and it's really paying dividends.
  • thekeyofv, on 06/30/2008, -0/+0The housing market in Philly is really ridiculous. I believe people will buy these homes no matter where they are placed. However, I don't believe they'll sell for anywhere near $250K. It's not unusual to find a $700K house across the street from housing projects.
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