Habitat for Humanity builds green house in Cottage Home historic neighborhood

Habitat for Humanity of Greater Indianapolis is building a house in the Cottage Home neighborhood that will boast several
firsts.

The house in the 1300 block of East Ninth Street is the first low-income home in the state to achieve platinum LEED certification,
according to Habitat. It’s also the first home the Indy Habitat chapter has built in a hi storic neighborhood and, thus,
the first to be approved by the Historic Preservation Commission.

“The Cottage Home Neighborhood Association sold us the land,” said Dean Illingworth, executive director of Habitat
for Humanity. “They invited us into the neighborhood.”

Cottage Home, developed by German immigrants in the 1870s through 1900, consists of about 150 houses east of Interstate 70
and west of Oriental Street, south of 10th Street and north of Michigan Street.

Habitat changed its standard design in several ways to fit in with the neighborhood—creating a steeper roof and adding
extra windows, metal siding and roofing, and a gingerbread attic vent.

Achieving platinum LEED status was not much of a stretch, Illingworth said. The standard Habitat design is so energy-efficient,
he said, that homes would likely qualify for the silver level of LEED certification. Building on an infill site alone scored
big points with LEED, he said. The house also uses porous concrete, native plantings and a rain barrel.

Construction was scheduled to begin July 21. The Central Indiana Real Estate Investors Association donated labor.