‘Green’ house could set example

In the midst of a monstrous U.S. oil spill and a precarious national economic recovery, the people of Corning, Iowa, aren’t the only ones who see that energy and personal income are severely limited resources.

But with help from Iowa State University and other groups, the city and its citizens are poised to become a new face of green, sustainable and affordable housing.

“We’ve always thought of ourselves as a progressive community,” said Corning Mayor Guy Brace.

Corning will soon be home to the “Iowa House.” The one-story, 1,080-square-foot, two-bedroom home is designed to be both energy-efficient and affordable — a combination that is seldom achievable in rural areas that have many older homes.

It’s a problem in Corning, where the city has struggled to facilitate affordable housing while also dealing with the dilapidated homes. This project has provided help on both fronts.

“It’s a great program for the community,” Brace said. “It’s allowing us to create some new housing and demolish some of our blighted structures.”

The house’s energy-efficiency will come from its design. Its position will take advantage of sunlight. Its landscaping will preserve water, and its construction will be airtight.

If successful, the house could serve as a prototype for green and affordable buildings across Iowa and elsewhere.

That’s something that Steve Adams of the Iowa Finance Authority would like to see.

“Quite frankly, we’re still living within the oxymoron of affordable housing,” he said. “How do we really have Americans live that dream of homeownership when it really is not affordable to a lot of Iowans?”

The house is the result of cooperation by, among others, Adams’ group, design and architecture students from Iowa State University, the City of Corning, the Iowa Department of Economic Development, the Southwest Iowa Coalition and the Southern Iowa Coalition of Governments.

The home became a possibility after Corning received a $312,000 federal grant. The city also has contributed $31,000, said Martin Olive, the Corning resident who has coordinated the project.

The city has a five-year window in which it can use any remaining funds or income from the program toward building more homes.

The house will be built on half of a double lot that used to hold one deteriorating building. After the old building was torn down, the lot was split into two, and the new home will be erected on one section.

At an estimated cost of $120,000, the home is still on the high end of what is considered affordable in a rural, relatively low-income area like Adams County. When asked, most Corning residents said they considered $70,000 to $80,000 to be a reasonable price for an affordable home, Olive said.

Still, the project brings the basics of green, sustainable design to an affordable level, without the expensive “bells and whistles” often seen in sustainable building, Adams said.

The home was designed by graduate and undergraduate students taking a class taught by Nadia Anderson, an assistant professor of architecture at Iowa State.

The house will be oriented so that its many windows help soak up the sun, she said. Overhangs will block the sun’s rays during the summer but will allow light and heat in during the winter, Anderson said.

Rain barrels on the roof will collect water, and a series of swales, or low spots, will direct water around the house. Rain gardens also will allow runoff to infiltrate into the ground instead of flowing into storm sewers.

Energy-efficient appliances will be installed, but the real key to keeping a house from wasting energy, Anderson said, is to construct a well-insulated, well-sealed building “envelope.”

That’s an area in which local builders and contractors might need some assistance, said Brace.

Projects like Iowa House, which help train local builders, are part of a critical shift toward sustainability, said Lynnae Hentzen, executive director of the Iowa Center on Sustainable Communities.

The house will be built so tightly that a heat recovery ventilator will be needed to preserve indoor air quality, Anderson said. The device connects to the furnace and maintains a constant exchange of air, trapping the heat as stale air is sent outside and using that heat to warm the fresh air coming in.

The City of Corning, which is acting as general contractor on the project, is currently in the bidding phase of the project.

The house probably won’t be ready for sale until next spring, although the city is already accepting names of potential buyers, Brace said.

Anderson, Olive and Adams, among others, plan to track the energy used in the home over at least the first year to see if true energy savings are realized. If over time the savings are significant, the project could help dispel one of the most common objections to green building: It’s too expensive.

Already, Iowa House is spurring similar projects in the area. The Adams County Board has stepped in to facilitate the construction of a green home in nearby Prescott, and the Clarke County Board is interested in doing something similar in Osceola, said Olive.

“The story for me, is that it’s gone from a conversation at the Iowa Finance Authority to design at the ISU School of Design in Ames to reality in Corning and then Prescott and perhaps Osceola,” said Olive. “This is such a happy ending to this process.”

Contact the writer:

444-1310, elizabeth.ahlin@owh.com

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