Green Homes on the Market in Lewisburg

By Stacy Lange

6:03 p.m. EDT, October 20, 2011

There is a home for sale on one of Lewisburg’s busiest streets.

The duplex looks like most of the houses on Market Street, but there is much more to it.

“It’s been very specifically designed for energy efficiency and for people with limited incomes. It’s very unique. I can’t speak for all of central Pennsylvania but it’s definitely the only one in Union County,” said Union County Housing Authority Executive Director Jere Engle.

There are four homes in Lewisburg that the Union County Housing Authority has put on the market specifically for people over age 55 and on a limited or fixed income.

They are designed to be twice as efficient as an energy star home and come with a kilowatt meter that measures just how much energy is used and how much it costs.

“So, it’s a constant reminder in front of the homeowner that, ‘Wow, maybe we should turn some lights off, or maybe the kids don’t need to take a 30 minute shower,’” said Engle.

The homes are made with a lot of local products. The pine floors are from Lycoming County. The walls are super insulated, made with recycled steel siding from Schuykill County.

“And because it’s so energy efficient as far as the building envelope goes, we’re able to downgrade the heat plant, needed to heat and cool this,” said Engle.

In fact, Engle said, the highest a heat bill would be in one of these homes is $75. The home’s designed so that solar panels can go on the roof in the future, but, they are not necessarily needed, the housing authority made these homes green on the cheap.

“It doesn’t have to really jack up the cost of a house, in fact, we were able to build this for about $110 per square foot. Which is very much in keeping with the range of new construction in our area,” Engle said.

The Union County Housing Authority is now taking applications from people interested in these green homes.