Habitat breaks ground in Feb.
BY PETER B. BRACE INDEPENDENT WRITER

In early February, Habitat for Humanity is hoping to break ground on its affordable housing unit for prospective homebuyers on Nantucket.

A three-bedroom, two-bath home will be built on a portion of a 2.2-acre lot at 11 Monohansett Road that Habitat will lease from Housing Nantucket.

"We essentially worked out a deal with Housing Nantucket where we're leasing just under an acre from them, but it's not HDC-approved," said Jesse Glidden, president of the Habitat for Humanity Nantucket board.

Habitat Nantucket will be leasing this parcel for 99 years. A clause in the lease places a covenant on the land so the house remains affordable in perpetuity. To further insure that the lucky family that gets this house can continue to afford to live in their new house, Glidden said that Habitat is striving to make this latest house, which is being designed by Chip Webster & Associates, as green as possible.

"It's going to incorporate some green features and was approved for solar heat, electricity and hot water, using the vacuum tubes on the south side," said Glidden.

Chip Webster & Associates' architect Ethan Griffin said that this Habitat house will be as efficient as they can make it, rattling off a laundry list of green building methods and amenities that would make any homebuyer envious.

Griffin is designing the house as a tight envelope with blown-in insulation made of recycled materials. The house's airflow is controlled by a pump that recycles the heat from its exhaust into the heating system. Taking the insulation one step further, the foundation will be built of Stryofoam blocks with reinforcement steel bars placed inside their hollow cavities into which concrete is poured. There will also be double-stud walls with a thermal break in between to trap air for further insulation.

In the basement floor, Habitat Nantucket will install radiant heat pipes and there will be a back-up ondemand propane heater for the house, said Griffin.

For the construction of this house, unlike Habitat for Humanity Nantucket's other units - a duplex on Saratoga Lane and its single-family dwelling on Norquarta Drive - Glidden said they are striving to use more volunteers than subcontractors.

"In the past we've had to rely a lot on subs; with this we're really trying to make a concerted effort to use more volunteers and unskilled labor," she said. "The family who gets it has to contribute 350 hours of sweat equity."

To qualify for Habitat for Humanity Nantucket units, residents must:

· Not currently have adequate housing (substandard, seasonal, etc.),

· Have lived on island for over one year,

· Be a first-time homebuyer with a minimum family size of three,

· Contribute at least 350 hours of "sweat equity,"

· See table at www.habitatnantucket. org/ for family size/income relationships,

· Have good credit, no felony convictions and no more than one conviction for a misdemeanor.

Glidden added that they just signed the lease with Housing Nantucket in the third week of December and are hopeful for a groundbreaking in about a month.

"My hope is that we will be able to break ground in 30 to 40 days. It might be closer to 45 to 60, but I'm hoping," said Glidden. I