April 16, 2008

NEW YORK - Proof that energy efficiency and affordable housing are inextricably linked came to Brett Dillon in a phone call, at 9:30 p.m. on a Sunday night in 2002.

"This lady who lived in the last house I had built tracked me down," Dillon said. He had recently been the construction manager for a Chattanooga, Tenn., housing non-profit. "She was excited and told me her utility bill for the month of November was only $39."

Dillon decided to build an energy-efficient home for the Chattanooga group after finding out that people in poorer communities spend a greater share of their income on energy and utilities.

Federal figures indicate families on welfare pay an average of 26 percent of their income toward energy, while families of average means dedicate less than 4 percent of their income to energy costs.

"That's why we must look not just at replacing housing following a disaster but also building green," says CWS Associate Director for Domestic Response Bonnie Vollmering. "We can join partners to help re-build destroyed houses but we have to make sure they're affordable to live in, too."

Dillon, now a green-building consultant, was a key presenter at this year's CWS Forum on Domestic Disaster Ministry. He said disasters, ironically, provide the best chance to re-build with energy efficiency in mind.

"You have an opportunity to re-build it right," Dillon said.

Several key CWS projects feature essential elements of green building. CWS joined Habitat for Humanity International in funding the prototype hurricane-proof "Lift House" in Terrebonne Parish, La., which includes better insulation and energy-reducing design elements, such as wider eaves for shade areas. In the Balkans, CWS is helping return those displaced by the Bosnian conflict by constructing homes out of ultra-efficient earthen blocks.

More efficient air conditioning and heating systems, insulation, and other efficient building materials are usually more expensive to purchase and install. Yet Dillon and other green-building advocates including the U.S. Department of Energy say energy savings begin immediately and investments pay for themselves over the long run. For example, for every dollar invested in weatherization, the homeowner can expect $1.53 in energy savings over the life of the measures.

The energy-efficient home Dillon had built in Chattanooga was his first, but it made a life-changing impact. The woman who called him to boast of her energy savings is a single mother of three, who saved more than $100 a month on utility bills. She used the extra money to pay for courses that helped her land a job as a nurse.

"The housing we build isn't just a house," Dillon said. "It goes beyond even providing hope, to provide concrete solutions to economic problems... breaking the cycle of poverty that has been generational for the first time simply because we built a better house."

Media Contact: Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676; lcrosson@churchworldservice.org Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526; jdragin@gis.net