Habitat for Humanity Laurens Street LEED Platinum House

Residential, Award Winning, Sustainable

The LEED for Homes Platinum renovation of 1810 Laurens Street in Baltimore Maryland is a collaboration between Sandtown Habitat for Humanity (H4H), UnderArmour (UA), USGBC Maryland (USGBC), and hundreds of volunteers. The project, envisioned as the first prototype of many green affordable H4H renovations, consists of the full rehabilitation of a +/-1500 sf, three story, two bed, one bath, row-home in an under-served neighborhood. This neighborhood is home to more than 400 homes that have been or will be targeted for renovation in an effort to rebuild this once thriving community.

Today 1810 Laurens Street stands out as Maryland’s 1,000th Habitat for Humanity home and is on track to be Baltimore City’s first LEED Platinum home. The project was conceived during a conversation between H4H, UA, and the USGBC which exposed a common vision for Baltimore’s large number of challenged row-home communities. Soon after, over 80 volunteers from all disciplines met for a full day charette to outline a collective vision for the project with the goal of a replicable, low-cost design.

The vision which emerged focused heavily on sustainability and included layout, materials, thermal envelope, mechanical system, lighting, and landscape. This vision was then refined by a core project team tasked with building the project. Construction began in June and was substantially complete in December of 2010. The result is a low-cost home that has very high indoor air quality, uses little energy, has low water consumption, is open and spacious with both natural and artificial lighting, references the history of the neighborhood using salvaged materials, and is durable and safe.

Ziger/Snead provided construction documents, sustainability consulting, energy modeling, and design services to the team of volunteers and supporters. The result is an affordable, sustainable, beautiful home with excellent indoor air quality, low utility bills, and effective daylighting which will be an asset to the neighborhood for generations to come.