YouthBuild’s green home an energy saver
By Judy MASterson jmasterson@stmedianetwork.com April 25, 2011 8:44PM
4/25/11 North Chicago YouthBuild Lake County celebrates Earth Day by unveiling its first environmentally friendly Green Home at 2108 Wallace Ave.in North Chicago. US Representative Bob Dold (left) listens as 23 year old Patrick Dunn of Waukegan talks of his experience with YouthBuild Lake County in the house he helped build. | Joel Lerner~Sun-Times Media
YouthBuild Lake County
The non-profit YouthBuild Lake County offers low‐income young people in Lake County the chance to earn a GED, learn job and life skills, and secure employment in a construction‐related industry. More than 50 percent of participants dropped out of high school, 80 percent were involved in gangs, and 35 percent are parents.
For more information, visit www.youthbuildlakecounty.org.
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Updated: June 25, 2011 12:16AM
The new house at 2108 Wallace Ave. looks out of place on a tired street of modest, careworn ranches including a predictable sprinkling of foreclosures.
North Chicago’s first green, energy-efficient home should look different. It symbolizes a brighter environmental future, a healthier housing market and the concrete good that results when individuals, business and government work together.
Built by young men and women enrolled in YouthBuild Lake County’s construction jobs training program, the new home, which was feted in an Earth Day celebration on Monday, includes cutting-edge, energy-saving construction techniques. Its foundation walls were built using ICFs, or insulated concrete forms, which protect against heat loss, and the above-ground, exterior walls include structurally insulated panels. The home also includes energy-efficient windows and doors, a high-efficiency furnace, on-demand water heater, and controllable air exchanger and electrical circuitry.
The estimated $200,000 cost of construction was supported by a $117,000 federal HUD grant and $86,000 in in-kind donations — architectural drawings, building materials, landscaping — from approximately 40 companies.
“They say it takes a village,” said YouthBuild Executive Director Laurel Tustison. “It took a village and a half to get this project done.”
The YouthBuild trainees, who began building the house last August, learned how to assemble pre-fab components, put up drywall, lay flooring, do plumbing and electrical. On Monday, young men talked shyly about other things they learned.
“Construction isn’t something I had thought about,” said Maurice Grayer, 19, of Zion. “They had me up on a roof!”
Grayer said that while completing his GED through YouthBuild, he realized that he wants to go to college to become a sign language interpreter. Both of his parents are hearing-impaired.
Patrick Dunn, 23, of Waukegan, said he enjoyed “being around” motivated, dedicated people.
“I just want to tell YouthBuild I appreciate the experience,” Dunn said. “It changed my life.”
The new house will be sold to a low-income family by the Debbie Richards Realty Group. According to Richards, who noted that homes in the neighborhood are going for between $60,000 and $90,000, the new house will offer an incredible value to some buyer, who can expect to save 30 percent or more on energy costs.
“We won’t sell it for what it’s worth,” she said.
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