Housing Authority of Kansas City Green Home

The Housing Authority of Kansas City Green Home serves as a model for introducing sustainable/green design into the Authority’s single-family housing stock. WSKF’s 1,100-square-foot design will result in the home using about 40 percent less energy than a typical new home of its size. It is a passive solar design, meaning a central space in the home will collect solar energy and distribute it to help heat the home. A ground source system will also provide heating and cooling. Low flow toilets, Energy Star appliances and LED lighting help cut resource use and utility bills. Structural insulated panels used for walls and the roof make construction more efficient and help make the house airtight. WSKF’s landscape architecture design includes rain barrels and a rain garden at the front of the house to help control stormwater runoff and reuse the water for outdoor watering needs. The house is designed to achieve LEED Platinum certification. As part of HAKC’s Green Communities project WSKF Architects led a team of engineers, energy modelers and other experts to perform energy-efficiency assessments of a large percentage of HAKC’s housing stock and make recommendations for improvements that would help reduce electricity, natural gas and water usage and cut utility bills in 1,055 of its housing units.