How we create sustainable homes

Discover how we build sustainable and affordable homes for families in San Francisco, Marin, and San Mateo counties.

Habitat Greater San Francisco is putting sustainability first for the communities we serve by making our new affordable homes earth friendly. We are committed to building all electric homes, ensuring our homes are energy efficient, and have healthy indoor air quality to breathe. Learn some of the ways we are putting sustainability first in our homebuilding!

Net Zero Energy Homes

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A Net Zero Energy home is when a home produces more energy throughout the year than it consumes.
Achieving Net Zero Energy involves implementing energy efficient designs, technologies, and renewable energy sources such as solar panels. For homeowners, this means significantly reduced energy bills as they generate their own electricity rather than solely relying on the grid.
Two of our developments, Geneva Village in Daly City and Amber Drive in San Francisco, are modeled as Net Zero Energy. Both buildings have the lowest expected energy use of any project we built to date.

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Energy Recovery Ventilator

Our homes in Geneva Village, Amber Drive, and Jefferson Avenue in Redwood City use energy recovery ventilators (ERVs).
ERVs are mechanical systems that pull in air from the outside, filters it, and distributes it throughout the home.
ERVs also gather moist air from the bathrooms to reduce humidity in the homes.

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Heat Pumps

Did you know it’s easier to transfer energy rather than creating energy? In our new homes, we are investing in electric heat pumps to keep our families’ water warm all while using less power! They work by transferring heat from one location to another rather than generating heat directly.
A lot of homes in the Bay Area don’t have cooling systems, so when it’s hot a lot of families experience difficulties staying cool. During warmer months, the heat pump operates in reverse for cooling. It removes heat from indoors and releases it outside!

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Solar Panels with Grid Alternatives

Recently, the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) granted Habitat GSF partner Grid Alternatives funds to expand solar access to low-income communities. This will support renewable energy adoption in the new construction and home repair work we do and reduce electricity costs for homeowners!
Due to our partnership, utilizing renewable energy is now standard practice in Habitat GSF developments. In our recent findings, we have even found that making a building all-electric is now cost-effective in comparison to gas!
Our partnership with Grid Alternatives means that Habitat GSF and other organizations can come together to build more affordable homes with the best-in-class solar panels regardless of income or socioeconomic status. When everyone has access to energy efficient technologies in their homes, we can all reduce our carbon footprint and have a better world.

Your donation today can help us reach our goal of future builds achieving a Net Zero status in all of the counties we serve. In return, this creates a smaller carbon footprint and saves our families dollars so they can create equity and stability for generations to come.

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